What would you charge for this work?

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Falken
^doubling parts cost has been a well known rule of thumb forever, I totally agree.

But they don't double the cost that the Shop gets the parts for with their secret discounts.

They double the "street price" on the part.

Then if someone insists that they supply the Shop the part, wow, that NEVER goes over well.

"Well, if there is a problem with your part, there is no guarantee, you buy our part..."

Even me, I would worry about providing my own part. The repair doesn't go as planned, your supplied part will most likely end up burning you in some way.


Maybe at some places. I work at a GM dealer in parts. Our standard retail markup on parts is 100% over our cost, not store price. A lot of times it will be more than 100% over the cost of the part online though, because that's a totally different marketplace. I can buy parts from all kinds of places at wholesale prices through work, but I still buy many things online. I've got plenty of Rock Auto magnets.

Some things do get marked up a lot. We got an LPO (dealer installed accessory) body kit for a new Spark, and cost was in the $200s but list was in the $900s on the window sticker. A lot of times though, I discount parts. If I get 40% over cost (warranty rate), I am fine with it, though I'd like to get more. 20-25% over cost is as low as I want to go. When I sell aftermarket parts, markup is anywhere from 25% to 100%, depends on the situation and how much money is involved. I'm probably not going to mark up a $300 A/C compressor by 100%, but a $5 seal that's part of the job? Yes.

Things like GM reman engines and transmissions, I might not even mark up 10%. More than that and it probably won't sell because it's cheaper elsewhere. The good thing is, another dealer buys truckloads of common part numbers and sells them below cost, and there are perks for buying them like American Express gift cards. Even though the markup isn't much, I am more than happy to sell most part #s of GM reman engines and transmissions.

Our shop installs customer supplied parts all the time. We just can't guarantee a part that we didn't buy, and therefore can't make a warranty claim on. Usually when someone brings in their own part, it came from a junkyard. The used car dealers that bring their junk in are the worst about this.

As for the OP...

Our shop labor rate is I think $100 an hour. I am guessing you would want a vehicle inspection more detailed than what the oil change guy would do, so figure an hour diag for that type of thing. $100.

Bulk Dexos 0W20 is priced at $4.25 a quart. If the RX needs full synthetic, It would get Kendall GT1 at around $6 a quart. Conventional bulk oil for the ES is priced at $2.25 a quart. The oil for the Mercedes would probably be around $8-10 a quart though, and that's after marking it up maybe $1 a quart. 0W40 is not something we use much of, so we don't buy in bulk. I'd have to get Liqui Moly or Castrol from Napa if the car just showed up without notice, and it's not really a steal for me either. Probably $6.50-8 a quart for the Liqui Moly and $9 for the Castrol. Napa's markup to us varies as well, so we aren't always getting a killer deal.

On the brakes, shocks, and O2 sensor, I'd have to look the parts up at work to see what my price would be. I'd probably mark them up 50% over my cost if I can get them aftermarket. If I have to get them from the dealer, I'd just mark them up to whatever their retail/list price is.

 

[AirgunSavant]

to Wolf359

I see why. The obvious reason of getting a part that fails and not being a mechanic day to day you most likely don't know when to buy after market or OEM- they do because they see the durable stuff daily and the not so as well.
If your parts guy gives you the wrong part that in itself is a fiasco and most likely would ruin any savings you may have received. In the end unless you write down the stock-serial numbers you may not even get your parts.
And it may sour the relationship with your mechanic. Bad idea!

 

[Chris142]

I deal with this every day. People are cheap! They seem to think we designed the piece of junk ourselves and in a way that makes it hard to access certain things. Bmw,mercedes and jag owners are the worst! They want to drive the pile but don't want to spend the necessary money to do so. For normal stuff like pad replacement,oil changes etc $90/hr as long as I don't need to buy an expensive scan tool to tell the computer it has been pads or whatever.

Any actual work on the pile should be no less than $150/hr. If they don't like it they can take it to some Craigslist hack.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
to Wolf359

I see why. The obvious reason of getting a part that fails and not being a mechanic day to day you most likely don't know when to buy after market or OEM- they do because they see the durable stuff daily and the not so as well.
If your parts guy gives you the wrong part that in itself is a fiasco and most likely would ruin any savings you may have received. In the end unless you write down the stock-serial numbers you may not even get your parts.
And it may sour the relationship with your mechanic. Bad idea!


It's an interesting theory and just more FUD. We're on a forum here, I'm on the car specific forums. Lots of people talk about different parts. Sometimes I even print out the instructions on how to do the repairs, sometimes the forums are good for some short cuts that a mechanic that works on all cars wouldn't know. Most indys work on a variety of cars and have lower rates. Pretty much all dealerships don't let you bring your own parts so I'm automatically excluding dealership and it's the dealership that probably knows more than a run of the mill mechanic. As for the occasional bad part, it can happen, you just end up eating it. People here go nuts of specific types of oil and filter parts, why not go nuts over the parts you put in the car? It basically boils down to whether you want to spend the time to do the research or not. It's the information age, the info is out there.

 

[VeeDubb]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
I don't understand why people would supply their own parts unless it was, say, an upgrade. For example, VW used plastic impeller water pumps so some people would get the upgraded ones with metal impellers from a tuning shop. But outside of that, supplying your own parts to save a few bucks just doesn't seem like a smart strategy. The mechanic has all kinds of hidden ways to screw you or not put in their best work if you nickle and dime them.

I always pay my mechanic well for good service. Once he flushed my brakes for $50 and did a thorough job including bleeding the clutch. I told him to boost his price to $80. A quality mechanic is hard to find and when I find one, I want him to stay in business.


I don't understand why people wouldn't supply their own parts. You can get the parts cheaper online and they may have a lifetime warranty. You're not going to get the lifetime warranty from the part the mechanic supplies. Lots of parts have them, struts, brake pads, front end parts, lots of moog stuff, etc. I wouldn't supply parts to a mechanic that I think was trying to screw me, I wouldn't use one that was. I usually find mechanics that don't mind if I supply my own parts. Sure they give you that line that if it fails, I may pay twice, but I've never really had that happen. Plus when you supply your own parts, you show up and the parts are already there, lots of times the mechanic doesn't have the part in the shop anyway and they have to order the part so what's the difference? With AAP codes, you can actually get parts cheaper than the mechanic can with his standard business account.


In some circumstances, I think it's okay to supply your own parts (e.g. upgrades, specialized tuner parts, etc). But if the motivation is to nickle and dime to save a few bucks, you are basically taking money out of your mechanic's pocket. Why would he want to do his best work for you even if he is a stand up guy? It's a two-way relationship and I just don't see how nickle and diming the mechanic builds that relationship if you want good service long term.

 

[Andrew1972]

To pay someone on the side on #1 about $150 labor if cash.

I pay a Subaru expert $65/hr who pays taxes. If a person wants cash I discount about 15-20% as they are getting away with tax fraud and I have the risk of work is shoddy.

 

[JustinH]

Originally Posted By: madRiver
To pay someone on the side on #1 about $150 labor if cash.

I pay a Subaru expert $65/hr who pays taxes. If a person wants cash I discount about 15-20% as they are getting away with tax fraud and I have the risk of work is shoddy.


I agree, the only one I would be knowledgable on is the Lexus SUV, I don't know Mercedes.

For Job 1, if you are a backyard mechanic you would charge $150-$200 in labor, and the customer pays for all parts. You can supply the parts at a 25 percent markup, just for gathering the parts together. I assume you are using OEM parts and top quality lubricants.

If you are going to be working on cars regularly, I know a guy who was in a similar "business".

He rented a storage garage to park his hot rods and his toys there. To pay for the rental of the unit he did work on cars from the local car club. I was friendly with him for a few years. He used a computer program to determine amount of labor for each job, then he would charge a set rate per hour of labor. I think it was 50 dollars per hour, about 5 years back in Buffalo NY.

Anyways, he would procure the parts from Rockauto, or locally for a 25 percent fee, or he would let me buy my own parts. There was no warranty on anything, but he did good honest work.

I stopped going there after he got too busy with work, and had one of his buddies run the "shop", and he did poor work with cheap advance auto parts. One bad brake job on my saturn, I never went back.

Be careful doing this kind of work in California, especially if out of your own house. I know my HOA does not let people run businesses out of their home garages, etc. I don't agree with it but there are some people who complain.

My uncle was well known in the central Ohio area for doing work on exotic/high end import cars. He worked for a speed shop for about ten years. He got tired of working for someone else, and built a huge steel building on his property.

For the past 15 years, he has been servicing vehicles out of that shop on his property in rural ohio. Every time I go there he has a BMW, Rover, or something else interesting in the garage. He saves the owners money, and does quality work. It's all folks with good midwestern roots, sometimes a job is traded for a load of firewood, or a plumbing job on his house.

He also makes quite a bit by doing Honda/Acura and other import timing belts. He does a great job, and beats the book, and uses OEM parts.

My aunt is an accountant, so she keeps the books for his business and it is all legit.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
In some circumstances, I think it's okay to supply your own parts (e.g. upgrades, specialized tuner parts, etc). But if the motivation is to nickle and dime to save a few bucks, you are basically taking money out of your mechanic's pocket. Why would he want to do his best work for you even if he is a stand up guy? It's a two-way relationship and I just don't see how nickle and diming the mechanic builds that relationship if you want good service long term.


You are making assumptions that aren't valid. The indy I use likes it when I bring my own parts, that way he doesn't have to run around and get them/order them. As others said, the indy doesn't care that much about brand name, he just gets it from whoever happens to have it and whoever can deliver it to him the quickest. If he gets the part, he doesn't do any mark up on it. It really just boils down to the business model of the guy doing the work. He knows up front that I'm getting the part and he quotes me a price for the job. In the end, we're all happy. I think I found him on CL and he advertises this way.

 

[VeeDubb]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: VeeDubb
In some circumstances, I think it's okay to supply your own parts (e.g. upgrades, specialized tuner parts, etc). But if the motivation is to nickle and dime to save a few bucks, you are basically taking money out of your mechanic's pocket. Why would he want to do his best work for you even if he is a stand up guy? It's a two-way relationship and I just don't see how nickle and diming the mechanic builds that relationship if you want good service long term.


You are making assumptions that aren't valid. The indy I use likes it when I bring my own parts, that way he doesn't have to run around and get them/order them. As others said, the indy doesn't care that much about brand name, he just gets it from whoever happens to have it and whoever can deliver it to him the quickest. If he gets the part, he doesn't do any mark up on it. It really just boils down to the business model of the guy doing the work. He knows up front that I'm getting the part and he quotes me a price for the job. In the end, we're all happy. I think I found him on CL and he advertises this way.


I made the assumption because you responded to my post about supplying parts to save money. So I thought that's what we were talking about. But in your case, I can certainly see why it makes sense. If your mechanic is cool with it, then it's win win.

 

[Vikas]

TheCritic, you need to build your client base where you do the job and the customer pays the amount asked. This assumes customer values your work and trusts you not to overcharge him.

I don't ask for a quote when I bring my car in for specific repair. At the end of the job, I had him the credit card without even looking at the bill.

You should try to find customers like me.

 

[SatinSilver]

Shouldn't the book rates on the brake jobs be a lot less when replacing rotors? I can see 2 hours book time when turning rotors but not when replacing them. Probably one hour book time when replacing rotors.

 

[turtlevette]

Some of the pricing I'm seeing here would get you reported to the attorney generals office.

 

[RooflessVW]

Oil changes on the two Lexus are $95. The Mercedes is $125. The tire rotation/wheel inspection is $25 unless I do brakes, then the charge comes off. Rotate + balance is $50.

All parts prices are retail less 15% because they came to me. All parts are OEM.

Labor rate is $125/hr.

Questions?

 

[andyd]

The mileage on these cars is close to or within the warranty. I would be upset if my Merc needed rear shocks at 40K or my Lexus needing an O2 sensor @ 50K. On ex. one, I bet the vibration was pad material. Wire wheel the rotors and replace pads only.

 

[Vikas]

I wonder if federal emission warranty would have covered that O2 sensor.

 

[KrisZ]

I think the answer is pretty obvious, anything over $200 is a rip off, $250 if you feel charitable

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Double your cost on parts


Even domestic parts don't come with anywhere near a 50% wholesale discount. A good wholesale discount for Jaguar parts is 15% - should a shop charge 170% of MSRP for Jag parts in order to preserve the parts gross?


Some do. Then if the part is defective and they have to eat the job they're glad they did. I've seen $30 rotors billed out at $100. I had a friend who recently retired from and sold his auto repair business. Every part he sold with the exception of batteries, oil and a few other select items he doubled his price. I guess you could use your discretion. People driving a Jaguar typically pay through their teeth for parts and service.

If you don't feel comfortable doubling money on parts mark them up as you see fit.


Industry standard seems to be 50% mark-up over cost. But many facilities have gone to a pricing matrix where lower cost parts (like drain plug washers or oil filters) are marked up significantly, while larger parts (e.g. transmissions, steering racks) are sold at a lower mark-up. For OE parts, I am personally a fan of the approach where the shop obtains parts for 20-25% under MSRP, and simply charges the customer MSRP for the parts.

Originally Posted By: Wolf359

I don't understand why people wouldn't supply their own parts. You can get the parts cheaper online and they may have a lifetime warranty. You're not going to get the lifetime warranty from the part the mechanic supplies. Lots of parts have them, struts, brake pads, front end parts, lots of moog stuff, etc. I wouldn't supply parts to a mechanic that I think was trying to screw me, I wouldn't use one that was. I usually find mechanics that don't mind if I supply my own parts. Sure they give you that line that if it fails, I may pay twice, but I've never really had that happen. Plus when you supply your own parts, you show up and the parts are already there, lots of times the mechanic doesn't have the part in the shop anyway and they have to order the part so what's the difference? With AAP codes, you can actually get parts cheaper than the mechanic can with his standard business account.


The problem with customer-supplied parts is that they are almost always the cheapest possible parts (and the wrong ones). The last time I left someone supply their own parts, they showed up with Sensen Struts....of the wrong part number.

Originally Posted By: Vikas
TheCritic, you need to build your client base where you do the job and the customer pays the amount asked. This assumes customer values your work and trusts you not to overcharge him.

I don't ask for a quote when I bring my car in for specific repair. At the end of the job, I had him the credit card without even looking at the bill.

You should try to find customers like me.


I already have the type of customers you described.

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Shouldn't the book rates on the brake jobs be a lot less when replacing rotors? I can see 2 hours book time when turning rotors but not when replacing them. Probably one hour book time when replacing rotors.

No, it really does take 2 hours per axle to do a proper brake job. By proper, that would involve cleaning the hubs with a wire wheel until they are spotless, checking runout (and indexing as needed), removing all clips from the bracket and cleaning those areas, cleaning all of the old grease and/or corrosion from the slide pin bores, assembling the new OE pads with a new OE shim kit (with the proper grease, or cleaning the old shims and re-using) followed by the recommended burnishing procedure.

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Some of the pricing I'm seeing here would get you reported to the attorney generals office.



Please explain this further.

Originally Posted By: Vikas
I wonder if federal emission warranty would have covered that O2 sensor.


O2 sensors are not covered under federal emissions warranty. This one is already past that date anyway.

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I think the answer is pretty obvious, anything over $200 is a rip off, $250 if you feel charitable

Now you sound like a BITOG'er!

 

[Vikas]

Quote:
I already have the type of customers you described.

Then why on the earth did you start this topic? You are happy, your customers are happy, what in the world do you care what some two bit BITOGer think about your billing practice?

Really???

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Quote:
I already have the type of customers you described.

Then why on the earth did you start this topic? You are happy, your customers are happy, what in the world do you care what some two bit BITOGer think about your billing practice?

Really???


It is interesting to see the labor rates from around the country. My work is $140 an hour and we have a bunch of work. Across the street at the BMW, Porsche, Audi, MBZ dealer they range from $150-200 an hour depending on the brand and model.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
[
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Some of the pricing I'm seeing here would get you reported to the attorney generals office.


Please explain this further.


California has the best consumer protection laws.