Quick question as I haven't done a non warranty repair on a vehicle in a while. Knew the Rover was leaking coolant but wasn't sure where as none was hitting the ground. Took it to a local European independent shop. Told them the symptoms and asked them to advise and quote. Get the quote back They found 3 leaks and an estimate to repair. All seems fine they quoted for parts from dealer but I can work around that. They charged 1.2 hours to diagnose. would this typically be credited to the repair hours or no? Do the flat rate hours only account for the repair or usually diagnose and repair? Just trying to confirm what the norm is these days. If it matters it probably took them 10 or 15 minutes to find and confirm leak points but to be fair they probably pulled it into a bay popped the hood and did a walk around etc. 1.2 hours seemed rich but again I don't know in today's world.
I run a small specialty garage where we only work on Honda and Toyota vehicles. I am old school and only charge $40 to check them out because it only takes 15 minutes. My mechanics wish I would charge more. If the customers buy the work we don’t charge them the checkout fee. All of the bigger shops around me that have high overhead expenses usually charge $150-$200 to misdiagnose the car lol. The auto repair business has gotten out of control. It’s ridiculous. The shops around me, steal from people every day.
My local diesel semi guy is 200/hr My local mom and pop custom machinist is 350/hr Paying the guys is easy. It's keeping the building heated and insured and paying the leaches that work for the township that's the hard part.
If you knew what you were doing, you wouldn’t have taken it someplace to be diagnosed. So pay the man.
Big killer is insurance anymore. How do you know they only had 15 mins in diag? Seems like it would take more then 15mins to get Tech info of job and tech to pull job in, pressure test and identify 3 leaks, along with relay information of parts need and labor that will be spent on repairs .
They called me 15 minutes after I dropped it off and confirmed the leak was exactly where I told them to look first. Like I said I have no issue paying what is standard but in my dealership years we never charged for diagnose and then full flat to repair. My question was is that normal practice now? It's a learning experience for me because 5 years ago I would have just fixed it myself.
The last time I had something checked at the dealer...local chevy about 4 years ago...it was maybe $120-150 for diagnostics...and if they did the repair you didnt pay it or maybe paid half...something like that. Its an incentive to get you to do the work at the shop. The independent shop I used for a few things years ago in ATL was the same. Diagnostic fee and it was waived or reduced if the fixed the car. I didnt feel like paying 3-6K for them to half fix my bent push rod, bad lifters with crappy stock AFM parts so I paid the bill and did it myself and deleted that beyotch. If a shop told me it was 1+ hrs to diagnose and then added that full amount to the repair bill...that would be the last time I ever went to that shop. Look, I get it...you gotta pay your bills and make money. But we all know that you are billing people at book rate and not what the job actually took. So there is some slack in the process. Dont get greedy,
Hmmmm, you must own a business to understand this? With forklifts, a much smaller industry, we don’t have book rates like car shops do. We travel out to you in a van getting 7-12 mpg and charge for the diagnosis. If you choose to repair it, we charge for that too, but it is an estimate of the hours it takes and is separate from the original call. If people drove the lifts to our shop, I could see waving the diagnosis. But sometimes new customers expect us to do that and we don’t.
'Sorry Doc, I'm not paying for that MRI, unless I let you do the surgery' You asked whats the "norm these days", well... If you work for someone, you get paid. You do. Right?
Yes we do charge for diag and do not include it in repair. Everything, from equipment to labor and bennies is more expensive. Especially if you are talking about electronics or computer systems. Of course AZ and the like have convinced people you just plug in the machine for a code and put a part on....and they do it for free....lol Reading codes is only the start of a diagnosis. If we are inspecting visually, then no, unless it has to be racked. I personally have no problem paying a knowledgeable to diagnose . It`s what they trained to do . it`s their job. I don`t ask for discounts from real professionals.
Thanks, I'm not even going to ask them about it then. Appreciate the feedback. Normally I wouldn't care but this is a $2000 repair job with a couple other pricey jobs to follow. Wanted to be sure they were credible and worth starting a relationship with.
It's possible the diag fee is a flat rate and it went towards the repair it just isn't itemized on the bill as such. Diag fees is a bit of a win/lose some game. Some stuff takes minutes and some take hours. Some shops spread the love.
This... not easy to do. Some shops care and you can be an on-going customer, others just don't really give a crap. Figure out which one this is and if necessary, try another reputable shop. I've found personal recommendations to be more useful than online reviews.
So far the main guy is cool and easy to work with, the lakey at the front desk is a bafoon to the point that I just did my own parts order for the job. They tested the battery and the lackey said yeah it's good it's reading 12 volts. SMH
At my shop it all depends on the situation. There isn’t a one size fits all. Many times it’s cut and dry and I diagnose those myself and price it out before it ever goes to a tech. If it’s a leak I’ll have the guy in bay one rack them up and look for leaks, if it’s a regular customer that’s free also as it’s always done during services as is bulb replacements and the like. If it’s not a regular customer that costs $20 typically. If it’s something we have to spend time chasing, as in washing everything down then driving it that costs a hour labor plus shop supplies. If it’s a drivability issue, NVH issue or DOA that requires a in-depth look, breaking out the lab scope and EWD’s that turns into Time in at the diagnostic rate of 179.38 a hour. I try to always do what’s fair to the customer and the guys getting paid to do the work. Any extended warranty work is billed a non included hour of labor also for me making the phone call to get the work approved. I kept track on one lady’s car, had over three hours on the phone with them before I got paid. That company is now on our will not work with list.
If it takes me 30 min to diagnose and repair an issue with someone’s house, and my bill is $150, they are not paying for those 30 minutes. They are paying for my 30 years of sweaty, bloody, hard earned skills and knowledge that allowed me to do the repair properly and quickly.
100% this. And us professionals also know that the penny pinchers will hold your balls to the fire if it's not a brand-new car after they squeeze barely enough out of their dusty wallet to repair one out of 10 things wrong with their unmaintained POS. 'YOU fixed my wheel bearings, and now my radio doesn't work! Fix it for free, or I'll never come back!'. Do I sound triggered? Honestly 99% amazing clients... You were correct when you called it a "relationship". It is the couple of bad ones that get the frustration levels up after a few decades of hard work.
