Auto mechanic dopers: How much would you charge for this?

[Gary_T]

@Dog80

If you ask me, I believe the 30 euros quoted were a reasonable price.

However, I’ve seen ridiculously low prices quoted by garages around here lately, like 20 euros per hour including vat, (16 euros vat excluded).

Obviously, at those rates it is not even possible to pay for the expenses and make a profit. So most of the garages cut corners and do hackjobs.

For example, when a car comes with a blown gasket they won’t measure and resurface the cylinder head and block, flush or replace the radiators, replace the thermostat, replace bolts if aplicable etc.

They simply slap a new gasket for 100-200 euros and the car is good to go!

Chances are that the car will blow the gasket again very soon but the customer is happy because he was not ripped off (or so he thinks) by the other garage that asked for 1000+ for the same job.

You make a good observation. As the old saying goes, “You get what you pay for,” something I find true most of the time.

There are customers who seem to hold low price as their highest priority. There are shops willing to cater to them. In the balance of the universe, they seem to deserve each other.

[Rick]

Hey I can do that.
You want to pay $30/ hour for me to work on your car?
No problem. Tighting that belt will take 1.1 hours. That will be $33 dollars please.

[Bam_Boo_Gut]

It’s a minimum charge I would suppose. As my mechanic friend would say: pay me for what I know, not just what I do.

[Rick]

Not really but it does point out that the price per hour does not tell the whole story.

[Kenm]

The price is not for spinning a spanner alone. It’s for renting the knowledge of which nuts to spin.

[Ruby]

@Enderw24

He could ask for an itemized bill. I imagine it would go like this:

Fixing steering pump belt: 1 Euro
Knowing where to look: 29 Euro

This and other quotes in the thread as well.

My husband is a technician who specializes in high end European cars. The amount of equipment and training he need to be able to fix these cars is phenomenal and expensive. I wish more people would understand that and appreciate his knowledge and skill rather than bitch when they get charged a minimum labor charge or a diagnostic charge. Many people still think that the diagnosis should be free, but what they fail to understand is that diagnosing the complicated machines we call cars today is a helluva lot different than when you were working on your dad’s 1971 Chevy Impala in the driveway.

[Rick]

@Ruby

This and other quotes in the thread as well.

My husband is a technician who specializes in high end European cars. The amount of equipment and training he need to be able to fix these cars is phenomenal and expensive. I wish more people would understand that and appreciate his knowledge and skill rather than bitch when they get charged a minimum labor charge or a diagnostic charge. Many people still think that the diagnosis should be free, but what they fail to understand is that diagnosing the complicated machines we call cars today is a helluva lot different than when you were working on your dad’s 1971 Chevy Impala in the driveway.

QFT
When I stopped wrenching for a living in 1992 my personal tool inventory was about $75,000.
To duplicate it today would be over 100K. Probably well over.
And I got out before everybody got their own scanners and computers…

[Dog80]

Ok, I have a new one:

The car was an Audi A4 1.8T. 30,000km service

Oil…brought by customer
Oil filter…12 euros
Air filter…16 euros
A/C filter (activated carbon)…16 euros
Brake cleaning spray…5 euros
Wiper fluid+deionised water…3 euros
Labour…58 euros

All prices (and labour) include VAT.

Also, free emissions test and checked gear oil level and added 0.5 liters for free, plus various checks here and there.

The customer in this case was happy with the prices but if you ask me they are ridiculously low. Also some of the parts seem to me suspiciously cheap, especially for an Audi (chinese knockoffs?)

Any opinions?

[lisiate]

110 euros all up for an oil & filter change? Sounds pretty reasonable to me. The filters are no doubt generics (rather than branded as ‘Audi’) but IMHO that’s not a big worry so long as they fit well.

I defer to the more knowlegable about that thought.