Mechanics rates ?

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carpman

Member
Posts
24
I've had my bill of my normally reasonable priced mechanic for doing a leak back test on my injectors and changing my cranckcase breather to the B.M.W. one and taking my E.G.R. off and fitting a bypass kit he also took a faulty injector out and put in a reconditioned one.... I supplied all parts and took the inlet manifold home and cleaned it myself....My bill for Labour only is £300 !!!!! do you guys think that this is reasonable...????
 
5 hours at £60 per hour inc vat...

I've spent a fortune recently and that is a cheap bill compared to mine. 😂

My garage didn't charge me for about 6 hours work....... Thankfully. I've spent enough with them recently.
 
5 hours at £60 per hour inc vat...

I've spent a fortune recently and that is a cheap bill compared to mine. 😂

My garage didn't charge me for about 6 hours work....... Thankfully. I've spent enough with them recently.

Its more than double what I was expecting......his rate is £35 an hour.
 
He did quite a bit of work - probably took him 1/2 hour to write up the invoice, an hour chatting you you about it... Some of the things he may not have done on that type of engine before and if he charged a bit for reading up - I'd rather pay that extra than the the types that learn by screwing up customers cars. If he's got a workshop, tools, insurance etc to pay for £35 ain't a bad rate. A lot of garages (here at least) will only fit parts they supply.

If you want to save the labour costs, its a case of rolling up your sleeves. I got fed up with big garage bills - and them not fixing problems anyway, so I rolled up mine.
 
Supplying parts does kick them in the teeth a bit. He wouldn't get a huge discount on most of that. But it does make a difference. I try not to make my customers feel violated, if they want to supply their own parts I tend to ask em what they've been quoted then match it as generally I can still make a bit on the parts and they save on hassle.
 
a garage i used to use showed me the different parts i could get them to use, with all the trade prices on the screen.

the markup they had was pretty small like 10%

on tyres it was teeny
 
If you want to save the labour costs, its a case of rolling up your sleeves. I got fed up with big garage bills - and them not fixing problems anyway, so I rolled up mine.

Well for me it's two issues, both tied up with bitter experience. #1 job not being done correctly and an unwillingness to do anything about it, #2 the cost/quality of the bits used.

I have no problem with their hourly rate which is about £35/hr here as some jobs are absolutely ****ty to do. A qualified pro can do a tricky job much faster than i can.

I love getting my hands dirty as it helps me to understand my vehicle. Plus I love tinkering and experimenting:D
 
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