A girl and her ride

My hands are clean....

My sister found a shop to do this work for $500 instead of $850. Since the gasket set cost about $100 and I don't even have a torque wrench, it's not worth it to save $400.

Her: I cant' believe a mechanic wants over $800 to install a $17 part...even $500 is too much. They have no right to be ripping people off like that!

Me: It's more than $17 worth of parts and they don't shop at Autozone. If you knew what kind of work was involved, you wouldn't have a problem paying $500, even $850 is reasonable. A mechanic is in business to make money and they offer skilled labor, it's not something anyone off the street can do.

Her: Well, it's thier choice to be a mechanic, no one made them do it! They don't need to charge so much to install a $17 part......

Flynntech - tell her you know how she can save $400.. do it herself <grin>

dbdraggin - $70/hour is low for this area.. the independent shop I help out at is higher then that. Few months ago I saw a Lexus dealer bill.. labor rate was $100/hr. I'm told that Range Rover is $125/hr. Cars are getting more complicated, and are requiring more specialized equipment to work on them. Ask your Dad how much he has invested in tools and equipment. According to one of the tool truck dealers I dealt with, to replace what I've got would run around $20k.  The diagnostic scanner the shop has cost $7k, and needs to updated on a yearly basis. Alldata information services software is $200 a month.

 It's an expensive field to be in.. I was talking with an old boss of mine and he told me that the pay (in his area) is approaching a living wage for mechanics.  Good. Seems that the average joe can't work on the car anymore, and the 'shadetree' mechanic is getting squeezed out too.

 Regards,

 Jim

How about $300 all inclusive?

It's good to be connected! 

I couldn't be happier if the Red Sox won tonights game and wiped that smile off of Jeter's face....oh wait they did!

$70? That's not crazy....that's business! It sucks to be on the wrong end of the deal...but people need thier cars to run and your dad earns his money.

Well, as far as how much mechanics charge, it all depends on what kind of work they do and what area their shop is based in.  For example my friend's shop charge $89/hour for labor and they do superb job/installations, but their monthly rent in San Francisco is over $10,000/mo so you have to count in their expenses too when you talk about "they overcharge."  If the quality is there and they are honest about the cost of products or allow you to bring the parts to be installed, the labor rates usually justify themselves.  Automotive aside, as an example when I re-install someone's computer OS/software I generally charge about $120 - $140 for the whole process - one flat fee.  I charge that much because I know what I am bringing to the table, years upon years of experience.  The systems I build and repair will last for more than a year running well, but I set the system up to maintain itself since most people forget to defrag and do  alot of other little things to keep good performing status.  If someone were to watch every little adjustment, configuration, and optimization I make and the hours and effort I throw into it, they would wonder why I don't charge $200+ for the job.  I have never had someone come back to me because "you did not set my printer up right...., AOL does not work after you fixed it....., it ran fine for 2 months then started acting sluggish."  In general, the only reason something actually does go wrong would be because they installed a program that corrupted such n' such or disable anti-virus software and forgot to turn it back on, etc. 

I say all of this to show you that there are technicians/mechanics out there who are just phenomenal with cars.  If you were to sit down with a good mechanic and watch them work on your car, and I mean sit there as if you are performing some or all of the work, you would be blown away.  Also your car would run for a very long time before any problems occur, if you do regular maintenance (oil change,  filters, tire pressure checks, etc...) after such a job is done.

So, I agree with Mad Scientists (Jim) that yea, experience and tools and all other things makeup for the high-cost.