They’re always inflated when the customer doesn’t know how to do the job. If the customer knew how, then the repair dude would not be able to charge a damn thing. Sorry for revisiting your window repair against your wishes, but he could haved charged you $5,000, and if you had consented beforehand - and if your window did indeed get repaired - then there was no ripoff, even if he only spent 5 minutes to install a 5-dollar part.
Ripoffs happen when people get lied to - about the nature/duration of the work, the specific breakdown of costs for parts/labor, or the nature of the problem that you called about in the first place.
So when you get the diagnosis and repair quote, start asking questions.
It can be hard to tell if someone is lying about costs, but the standard business practice involves getting multiple quotes for parts and/or labor. Broken car window? Call three repair shops with no connection to each other (e.g. don’t call three different Honda dealerships), and ask what they’ll charge. It’s unlikely that all three are lying - and even if they are, someone will be low, and your best bet is to go with them. Not a guarantee that that guy is being honest, but better odds than the other two.
Want further assurance? Ask him specifics on his costs. How much for the parts? How much for labor? Do some investigation on parts prices at your local auto parts store. If his parts prices are higher than the local AutoZone parts store, maybe he’s picking it up himself, and so it’s entirely fair for him to charge a premium for his time investment before he even goes to work installing it in your car. If he’s charging a $100 premium, ask him wazzupwidat. Maybe he’s got a valid reason, or maybe he’ll come down if you tell him you’ll just get the parts from Autozone yourself and pay him to install them.
If the time estimate for a repair seems suspiciously high, ask one of your friends who is knowledgeable about such things, or visit a discussion forum dedicated to your particular vehicle (I don’t give a shit what your vehicle is - somewhere out there, there’s a forum where enthusiasts are chattering away about it). Be aware that for car repairs, access is often half the battle: a mechanic may need an hour just to remove parts so that he can access the broken part, then another hour to put it all back together.
Some (all?) states require than if a car part gets replaced, the shop has to give you the part they removed from your car. The exception is if it has to be sent back to the manufacturer for a warranty claim, or you voluntarily surrender the part for a core refund (some used parts, like brake calipers, get sold to be rebuilt). And in those cases, you should still be allowed to inspect the part yourself. If you’re smart, you’ll have the mechanic point out the broken part on your before the work starts. Look for identifying marks and unique nicks and dirt smudges so that you’re more likely to notice a substitution later on. The broken part might get cleaned up before it’s presented to you for inspection later, but if you do see those sorts of marks, you can at least be confident that that’s the part that used to be on your car.
Some people freak when they notice a car dealer charges $100+ per hour of labor. They thing “holy shit, that’s more than I make,” without realizing all of the expenses that need to be covered above and beyond the salary of the mechanic. Tools, supplies, building maintenance, electricity, liability insurance, property taxes, the list goes on and on - and if you want them to work on your car, you’ll need to pay your fair share of those expenses, along with the mechanic’s time. Greasy no-name car repair shops may charge substantially less, but don’t expect soft music, coffee and cookies in the waiting room.
