Labor on car repair (1 Viewer)

[trogg78]

After I dropped my children off at school the sliding door to the van came off the tracks and would not close all the way. I take it to the dealer since it's near by. They quote me 2.5 hours of labor and parts. The labor only took one hour, but they still charge me 2.5 because it is a flat rate for the sliding door repair. I feel im being over charged, but maybe this is typical. Any recourse, or should I just suck it up?

 

[culdeus]

I take it to the dealer since it's near by.

suck it up

 

[Dan Lambskin]

Maybe they had 2.5 guys working on it?

 

[Abraham]

That's what you get for going to the dealership.

 

[3C's]

It's standard dealer practice.

 

[Da Guru]

All dealers use a standard labor book that quotes how long each repair should take. If they quote 1.5 hours of labor that's what you pay even if it is fixed in 45 minutes. That is not counting the 100% markup on the parts if needed.

There was a local Honda dealer that was famous for gouging for labor on repairs. A news crew went there with hidden cameras and he was tacking on .5 hours to almost every labor cost. Does not sound like much but is probably 50.00 or more per job. Adds up...

 

[matttyl]

Curious, what is their per hour rate? My local guy is $60 per hour for auto labor.

 

[trogg78]

Curious, what is their per hour rate? My local guy is $60 per hour for auto labor.

$95/hour

 

[fantasycurse42]

If you agreed to it and it is done, just pay it and move on. For future reference, you can haggle at a dealer just like you can haggle at Joe's Automotive.

 

[matttyl]

Curious, what is their per hour rate? My local guy is $60 per hour for auto labor.

$95/hour

Damn......

 

[Ignoramus]

Would you prefer they work more slowly?

 

[johnnycakes]

My understanding is they have list of standardized billing rates for any particular job... if that standard says 2.5 hours labor, that's what they charge regardless of how long it takes.

 

[arrow1]

fix it yourself? ::man-up::

 

[saintfool]

$125/hr with my mechanic but he's really good with my Saab.

 

[Foosball God]

All dealers use a standard labor book that quotes how long each repair should take. If they quote 1.5 hours of labor that's what you pay even if it is fixed in 45 minutes. That is not counting the 100% markup on the parts if needed.

There was a local Honda dealer that was famous for gouging for labor on repairs. A news crew went there with hidden cameras and he was tacking on .5 hours to almost every labor cost. Does not sound like much but is probably 50.00 or more per job. Adds up...

It's much worse than 100% markup. I used to work in a parts department at a Pontiac/Buick dealership in my youth.

 

[comfortably numb]

After I dropped my children off at school the sliding door to the van came off the tracks and would not close all the way. I take it to the dealer since it's near by. They quote me 2.5 hours of labor and parts. The labor only took one hour, but they still charge me 2.5 because it is a flat rate for the sliding door repair. I feel im being over charged, but maybe this is typical. Any recourse, or should I just suck it up?

How do you know it only took 1 hour?

 

[trogg78]

After I dropped my children off at school the sliding door to the van came off the tracks and would not close all the way. I take it to the dealer since it's near by. They quote me 2.5 hours of labor and parts. The labor only took one hour, but they still charge me 2.5 because it is a flat rate for the sliding door repair. I feel im being over charged, but maybe this is typical. Any recourse, or should I just suck it up?

How do you know it only took 1 hour?

I was there.

 

[trogg78]

Would you prefer they work more slowly?

No

 

[E-Z Glider]

yep, set rates for set projects. the mechanics get paid this way as well.

sometimes they win (when it gets done quicker), sometimes they lose (when it takes longer or needs to come back in the shop when not done right).

 

[comfortably numb]

After I dropped my children off at school the sliding door to the van came off the tracks and would not close all the way. I take it to the dealer since it's near by. They quote me 2.5 hours of labor and parts. The labor only took one hour, but they still charge me 2.5 because it is a flat rate for the sliding door repair. I feel im being over charged, but maybe this is typical. Any recourse, or should I just suck it up?

How do you know it only took 1 hour?

I was there.

Ah, how do you know 2 people didn't work on it?

2 men at 1 hour= 2hours

Either way, as everyone has said, flat rate yadda yadda yadda

 

[trogg78]

After I dropped my children off at school the sliding door to the van came off the tracks and would not close all the way. I take it to the dealer since it's near by. They quote me 2.5 hours of labor and parts. The labor only took one hour, but they still charge me 2.5 because it is a flat rate for the sliding door repair. I feel im being over charged, but maybe this is typical. Any recourse, or should I just suck it up?

How do you know it only took 1 hour?

I was there.

Ah, how do you know 2 people didn't work on it?

2 men at 1 hour= 2hours

Either way, as everyone has said, flat rate yadda yadda yadda

The advisor told me the mechanic was able to complete the job in an hour because all the parts had already broke off. He did not mention any other mechanics working on it, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. I couldn't have been happier with how fast they fixed it and got me on my way when I dropped it off without any appointment. Just a little miffed I paid 2.5 hours of labor when it only took one.

 

[cstu]

Curious, what is their per hour rate? My local guy is $60 per hour for auto labor.

$95/hour

Damn......

$110 in Los Angeles...

...at a non-dealer shop.

 

[snellman]

Most shops will go by a job book. (Chilton, Mitchell, All Data are some options) They list most repairs on a vehicle. When we quote a repair we go by that time guide. If we quote a job at 2.5 hours and it takes the tech 1 hour they come out ahead. If we quote a job at 2.5 hours and it takes them 4 hours, they lose. Most techs get paid flat rate, which means they are paid by what the job pays.

 

[Fat Nick]

Would you prefer they work more slowly?

This.

Dealer "rates" are misleading. You're really paying for the job based on their expectation of the amount of effort it takes. If they do it quicker, good on them...now if it was a case of your door just being slightly off track and someone just adjusted it in 10 seconds, then that's pretty shady, but you shouldn't get a discount because they did their job more efficiently.