Re: wacko service writers

[Huw Powell <human@nh.ultranet.com>]

> > To put in those exhuast hangers is an easy job and should only take 10-15
> > minutes MAXIMUM!  I'd also be a little concerned about the $99/hr labor
> > charge.  Most good shops (i.e. dealer) charge $55 - $60 a hour (which ain't
> > small potatoes) but $99 is absurd!
> 
> Some shops have a 1 hr min labor charge, so it could have been
> worse.  I understand the issues involved, and I'm not siding with
> the dealer, but I'd say that's pretty typical for a dealership...

If you don't get an estimate first...

Actually I justify a lot of what I do to my car myself by how much I'm
"earning".  Say changing the f struts and r shocks would be 3 hours for
a pro at $50/hr, if I do it in 6 I'm "earning" $25/hr (before tool and
fluid costs).  If I can't do it, surely I must have to pay more than I
can earn to pay someone who can.

A lot of these "little" jobs like exhaust hangers can involve a bunch of
time "setting up", etc.  I could lie and say I could change one in 5
minutes, but from a cold start I'd have to find it, get the part, maybe
lift the car (I realise the car in question was already in the air for
tire rotation/oil change...), crawl under it, get back out and get
tools, crawl under again, get back out to get the new hanger, crawl
under again, reposition my work light 2 or three times, and by then it's
time for a cigarette and a swig of coffee...

but $99/hr???  I can see a higher labor rate for work that a mechanic
had to take a lot of classes for, at the dealers expense, or whoevers,
but this work definitely seems to be in the category where a *lower*
labor rate should apply.

eh?

-- 
Huw Powell

http://www.thebook.com/human-speakers

82 Audi Coupe; 85 Coupe GT
http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~human