Originally Posted By: kingrob
And what's with the shops that charge a 75.00 "OBD II" service? The ads say to come on in and we'll hook your car up to our machine and perform a "computer diagnostics" to determine why your check engine light is on. News flash... most part stores do it for free!
Parts stores pull codes, and nothing more. Any moron can hook up a scanner and pull codes. The real job is actually diagnosing the problem once you have the codes. That is when the experienced tech with the right background is worth his weight in gold. If some shop is just pulling codes without any diag and charging $75, then yes, you might be getting taken.
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Back to the original question, a reasonable labor rate would be about $30-$35 which is $20-$25 for the mech and $10 for the cost of the shop.
And you will never keep the doors open, at least not for long. That $4K/month rent, $1K electric bill, $400 insurance, equipment payments/lease payments, maintenance, non tech payroll, credit card process fees, advertising, garbage/sewage all adds up to big numbers that most in this forum are clueless about. I was so glad when the property my shop was on was sold. It forced me to take another direction.
And what's with the shops that charge a 75.00 "OBD II" service? The ads say to come on in and we'll hook your car up to our machine and perform a "computer diagnostics" to determine why your check engine light is on. News flash... most part stores do it for free!
Parts stores pull codes, and nothing more. Any moron can hook up a scanner and pull codes. The real job is actually diagnosing the problem once you have the codes. That is when the experienced tech with the right background is worth his weight in gold. If some shop is just pulling codes without any diag and charging $75, then yes, you might be getting taken.
Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Back to the original question, a reasonable labor rate would be about $30-$35 which is $20-$25 for the mech and $10 for the cost of the shop.
And you will never keep the doors open, at least not for long. That $4K/month rent, $1K electric bill, $400 insurance, equipment payments/lease payments, maintenance, non tech payroll, credit card process fees, advertising, garbage/sewage all adds up to big numbers that most in this forum are clueless about. I was so glad when the property my shop was on was sold. It forced me to take another direction.