In alt.home.repair, on Mon, 11 Dec 2017 02:14:09 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

On Sunday, December 10, 2017 at 6:17:44 PM UTC-5, pjp wrote:
In article ,
says...

I was told that there is a manual auto repair shops look up to find the
number of shop hours they charge for a job.

To be fair, I'm told they all charge that many hours even if it doesn't
take that many hours.

For example if three jobs are done, and even if they associate with each
other, they just add up the shop hours and then charge by the $200/hour
that the local shops all seem to charge for their shop rate.

Where can we car owners get that manual online?

I'd be surprised if any such page exists that would/could remain valid
for entire country. Too much "local" pressures etc.

What I dislike about their fixed cost repair arrangements is that if it
doesn't take that long we are giving them money for nothing but if it
takes longer you can be damn sure it's tacked onto the bill. And Yes I'm
sure if there's three separate repairs that they charge you for three
hours yet it's done in two saves you nothing but does put money in their
pocket for nothing.

Next new car I buy will be partially determined by my negotiating legal
requirement by them about markup on parts (100% no way), cost of repair
and labor.

Good luck with that. I'd like to be there to watch.

Me too.



they pay the mechanic approx. $25 Hr yet charges over $125
locally here. We are paying so management can drive a free car and owner
can generate equity in his company. neither of which makes the car any
better, e.g. last longer with fewer repairs required during it's
lifespan, for me.

Work at a dealer, you are not welcome in my house.

I would bet that mechanics at a dealer that's charging $125 an hour
are making more than $25. Then they also have all those service advisers.
The BMW dealer here has half a dozen, at least. I'll bet they are
commission, making sure to recommend the max service possible. They
have to get paid. I'm not too happy with the rates charged by the
stealership either, but I don't see much we can do about it. I used
to use a independent decades ago, when they were substantially less
both in labor rate and parts cost. But they jacked their rates up
to with $10 of the dealer hourly rate and they put the BMW part #
on the bill, God only knows if it's a real BMW part or aftermarket.
They used to use aftermarket and charge less. I concluded that since
the indy works on all kinds of cars, but charges almost the same as
the dealer, you're better off going to the dealer. Presumably the
mechanics there see more of your particular car, have more experience,
better diagnostics, etc. If they fix it in 3 hours instead of 4 or
5 at an indy, you wind up saving money.

But I thought both used the flat rate manual and both charged the same
number of hours.

Anyhow, 2 years ago after I replaced the right half-axle, right ball
joint, right rotor, and one other part, I took the car to the dealer for
wheel alignment, on the theory he could do the best job. He even had an
offer that made him as cheap as Firestone. (That alone should have made
me suspicious.) They told me that I needed right and left CV boots,
even though the right boot had only 50 miles on it, and the left boot
was perfect too. They said I had a major oil leak, even though I didn't
have to add any oil in the next 3000 miles. And they told me a bunch of
other crap they claimed needed repair.

While most shops have "insurance" rules that you're not allowed where
the cars are fixed, they still let you in, show you the problem on the
car, before it's fixed. But the dealer makes you park the car in one
place and they drive it 80 yards to another place with 30 bays. No way
to see your own car or even talk to the actual mechanic. Instead they
have some pretty girl dispense the crap, so if she can be proven wrong,
she can say she misunderstood the mechanic. What a racket.

That was my first time at a dealer and I'm never going again.