Installing a passenger side mirror?

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

some dipshit kicked/punched my side mirror off and I had to go to ebay to buy a replacement...

I am not savvy enough (I'm a dipshit) to install it myself and I am getting a little bit of work done tomorrow at an auto shop and I'm going to bring the mirror with me and ask them to install it for me...

how much should I be expecting them to charge me for that labor since I have already bought the part?

I quoted a bunch of your posts so I can help explain a few things for you, since you are extremely misguided about how the auto repair business works, so I'll be highlighting a few points here, hopefully it'll enlighten you, and the rest of the community so they don't get the foolish notion that "Since they are already doing work, maybe they'll do this for practically nothing".

First things' first, bringing a part in will not earn you a discount. In fact, it is almost insulting to every business out there, and a good majority of them WILL NOT install "your" part for a number of reasons, but make no mistake about it, the largest reason they will not, is because they cannot mark the price up. The next biggest reason is because the manufacturer of that part probably doesn't adhere to the same quality standards that the repair facility (usually dealerships in this case) will stamp their warranty work on.

As most places will have a general warranty coverage on all work done, we're not going to warranty a used part, and we certainly aren't going to warranty a cheap reproduction or reman part from an inferior quality supplier and add our warrant to it.

Also, since we aren't making a single CENT off of your mirror, we won't be obliged to discount the time it takes to put your mirror on. Most places, as it turns out, are going to charge you a MINIMUM 1 hour labor to do ANYTHING on a car, short of a flat rate service (Oil Change, Brakes, Exhaust, etc.)

Depending on where you live, that labor hour could be anywhere from 50 dollars in labor (BFE midwest) to 95 dollars an hour (KC metro stealership)

Originally Posted by mlyonsd

1 hour service work.

Minimum, unless the tech or manager are a close friend.

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

what I'm trying to say is...I'm on tap for about $100 of work tomorrow and with that I don't expect to pay more than $20 for them to install the mirror...is that reasonable? If they want to charge me more I already have a friend who said he'd do it free of charge but I rather not use his time if I can just pay $20 or so when I'm already taking my car in tomorrow as is

This is the next bit that I'll touch on.

First, you sound like a cheap ass. You sound like the individual who will fight me (the mechanic or manager) tooth and nail for your business because you don't want to pay what I'll charge everyone else, because you can't afford it. I'll try to fight for your business to a degree, and you'll try to drag me to that point and then go further. I will have a line I won't do the work for, and you're likely going to get me to that line, or just above it. Once we've established that, I'm not cutting you a discount on ANYTHING ever again.

Second, 100 dollars is NOTHING in the automotive repair business. Generally speaking, that's about 1.5 hours of labor or just a little under at most "mom and pop" shops.

I don't even think I can go anywhere in the KC metro and get all 8 of my plugs changed in my mustang for 100 bucks. I'm not sure what your service is, but I've written tickets for an Oil Change and Air Filter for nearly as much as you're spending, and those are 15 minutes In and Out all day long.

I realize 100 dollars is something to you, but understand that 100 dollars is NOTHING for a business that needs to earn it.

What you don't understand is that labor hour generally goes to paying a huge portion of the business, as a lot of the parts barely have any true "room" to make up that kind of "markup".

Say I sell you a distributor for $250 dollars, chances are I picked that distributor up for about $210-220, but I'm probably going to charge you an hour to put that on, 16-24 of that is going to my mechanic to put it on, he's only going to take about 20 minutes to do it, and the 40-50ish remaining goes back to the shop. In most medium sized repair facilities, I'm going to have to have about 5 of YOU a day, to pay for my business all said and done.

So to answer, no, you aren't being reasonable.

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

really?

when they are already working on the car as it is?

my friend said he'd do it for free I suppose I'll just go that route...it can't be much work whatsoever...it needs to be plugged in and bolted down...that shouldn't take someone with the necessary tools/knows what they are doing more than 10 minutes

The next issue I have, and this will be true enlightenment.

Just because something takes 7 minutes and 24 minutes to install for the trained professional, does not mean I should be charging you 7 minutes and 24 minutes of my labor hour.

You didn't pay for his training, you don't pay for the facility, you don't pay for the advertising, you certainly don't pay for overhead at all, yet, you think you should only be charged for the time it took to repair?

When it comes to repair of ANY KIND, you're paying for the service, not the time. If the service calls for 3.5 hours, you'll get charged 3.5 hours. But, should your trusted repair facility employ some very knowledgeable, very fast mechanics who can get the job done in 1.7 hours, you aren't going to pay less because they are that much better and efficient.

You'll just get your car back that much sooner and be on your way to the life of whatever it is you do, that much quicker.

If repair facilities charged you for the actual time it took them, they would be out of business, or............you'd see labor hours doubling or tripling the current labor hours, just to get back to the same "profits" they have right now, but you'd see a new breed of mechanics that are rushed and more mistake prone.

You don't wan that, wise up.

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

I was wondering what a fair price to ask for at the shop tomorrow...that's why. Pretty ****ing simple, no?

I'm not going to ask them to do it for $20 if that is an insult. I have the part, I've already spent $105 on that...I would rather not waste my friend's time at his work to do me a favor so tomorrow when I'm getting some minor work done was going to have them do it as long as it didn't cost much more than $20.

if it costs $50+ for labor on something that shouldn't take more than 10 minutes then forget it

Forget it then.

I'm guessing that your car is a shitbox based on the aforementioned repair costs, that, or you are getting preventative maintenance done.

But I'll give you an idea of a real life scenario.

A friend of mine had his mothers' car come into MY business to get a tune up and to replace her sway bar. After all was said and done, I think we knocked the car out in like 2 hours, but HE (the friend) also brought in a mirror to have it replaced at the last second. He asked me for a quote and gave me the number to call her to get the go ahead on the purchase.

I quoted her in the neighborhood of 115 dollars to remove and replace the mirror.

Do you know why?

The labor hour came out to about 1.5 hours, I had to remove the door panel (wasn't easy, required special tools that I had to buy because this is the business I am in), and re-pin (I did this for free) the connector to her heated mirrors.

Therein lies the issue in some cases. Newer cars cost more to fix. She was driving a 2011 fully loaded Acura TSX, this thing had Heated, Power Mirrors, Power door locks, everything, which is more shit for me to remove and/or **** up when I take her door panel off.

The connector in this case was broken, and I had to remove the connector (depin) and fix it (repin to the new one), I charge $125 dollars a labor hour for electrical work and/or invasive work. I did it for free because he brought me a ton of business my way.

Still, it cost her $115 to replace it. Do you know what other places had quoted her?

$400+ Dollars for 1.5 hours labor + 1 hour electrical/diagnostic

Yet you want that shit done for 20 dollars or "**** it, I'll do it myself"

$20 isn't shit anymore kid, I wipe my ass with 20's.

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

that's what I'm saying...I'm already giving them $120 of business...

I'd understand them not wasting their time to do something for $20 but since they are already doing some basic work I figure adding $20 on top for them to just install a part I purchased separately isn't an offensive offer by any means

It is, especially when it is your part.

They'd certainly give you a labor discount had you bought their part or allowed them to source one for you, granted it would be marked up a bit, but you'd likely have paid significantly less on the labor.

Originally Posted by J Diddy

You pretty much are a dipshit. The same thing happened to my car and it literally was a 5 minute, 3 screw job and I am by no means a mechanic.

A lot of this depends on the Year, Make, and Model of the car.

My mustang would take some time, but my 92 civic? 3 minutes flat.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

I quoted a bunch of your posts so I can help explain a few things for you, since you are extremely misguided about how the auto repair business works, so I'll be highlighting a few points here, hopefully it'll enlighten you, and the rest of the community so they don't get the foolish notion that "Since they are already doing work, maybe they'll do this for practically nothing".

First things' first, bringing a part in will not earn you a discount. In fact, it is almost insulting to every business out there, and a good majority of them WILL NOT install "your" part for a number of reasons, but make no mistake about it, the largest reason they will not, is because they cannot mark the price up. The next biggest reason is because the manufacturer of that part probably doesn't adhere to the same quality standards that the repair facility (usually dealerships in this case) will stamp their warranty work on.

As most places will have a general warranty coverage on all work done, we're not going to warranty a used part, and we certainly aren't going to warranty a cheap reproduction or reman part from an inferior quality supplier and add our warrant to it.

Also, since we aren't making a single CENT off of your mirror, we won't be obliged to discount the time it takes to put your mirror on. Most places, as it turns out, are going to charge you a MINIMUM 1 hour labor to do ANYTHING on a car, short of a flat rate service (Oil Change, Brakes, Exhaust, etc.)

Depending on where you live, that labor hour could be anywhere from 50 dollars in labor (BFE midwest) to 95 dollars an hour (KC metro stealership)



Minimum, unless the tech or manager are a close friend.



This is the next bit that I'll touch on.

First, you sound like a cheap ass. You sound like the individual who will fight me (the mechanic or manager) tooth and nail for your business because you don't want to pay what I'll charge everyone else, because you can't afford it. I'll try to fight for your business to a degree, and you'll try to drag me to that point and then go further. I will have a line I won't do the work for, and you're likely going to get me to that line, or just above it. Once we've established that, I'm not cutting you a discount on ANYTHING ever again.

Second, 100 dollars is NOTHING in the automotive repair business. Generally speaking, that's about 1.5 hours of labor or just a little under at most "mom and pop" shops.

I don't even think I can go anywhere in the KC metro and get all 8 of my plugs changed in my mustang for 100 bucks. I'm not sure what your service is, but I've written tickets for an Oil Change and Air Filter for nearly as much as you're spending, and those are 15 minutes In and Out all day long.

I realize 100 dollars is something to you, but understand that 100 dollars is NOTHING for a business that needs to earn it.

What you don't understand is that labor hour generally goes to paying a huge portion of the business, as a lot of the parts barely have any true "room" to make up that kind of "markup".

Say I sell you a distributor for $250 dollars, chances are I picked that distributor up for about $210-220, but I'm probably going to charge you an hour to put that on, 16-24 of that is going to my mechanic to put it on, he's only going to take about 20 minutes to do it, and the 40-50ish remaining goes back to the shop. In most medium sized repair facilities, I'm going to have to have about 5 of YOU a day, to pay for my business all said and done.

So to answer, no, you aren't being reasonable.



The next issue I have, and this will be true enlightenment.

Just because something takes 7 minutes and 24 minutes to install for the trained professional, does not mean I should be charging you 7 minutes and 24 minutes of my labor hour.

You didn't pay for his training, you don't pay for the facility, you don't pay for the advertising, you certainly don't pay for overhead at all, yet, you think you should only be charged for the time it took to repair?

When it comes to repair of ANY KIND, you're paying for the service, not the time. If the service calls for 3.5 hours, you'll get charged 3.5 hours. But, should your trusted repair facility employ some very knowledgeable, very fast mechanics who can get the job done in 1.7 hours, you aren't going to pay less because they are that much better and efficient.

You'll just get your car back that much sooner and be on your way to the life of whatever it is you do, that much quicker.

If repair facilities charged you for the actual time it took them, they would be out of business, or............you'd see labor hours doubling or tripling the current labor hours, just to get back to the same "profits" they have right now, but you'd see a new breed of mechanics that are rushed and more mistake prone.

You don't wan that, wise up.



Forget it then.

I'm guessing that your car is a shitbox based on the aforementioned repair costs, that, or you are getting preventative maintenance done.

But I'll give you an idea of a real life scenario.

A friend of mine had his mothers' car come into MY business to get a tune up and to replace her sway bar. After all was said and done, I think we knocked the car out in like 2 hours, but HE (the friend) also brought in a mirror to have it replaced at the last second. He asked me for a quote and gave me the number to call her to get the go ahead on the purchase.

I quoted her in the neighborhood of 115 dollars to remove and replace the mirror.

Do you know why?

The labor hour came out to about 1.5 hours, I had to remove the door panel (wasn't easy, required special tools that I had to buy because this is the business I am in), and re-pin (I did this for free) the connector to her heated mirrors.

Therein lies the issue in some cases. Newer cars cost more to fix. She was driving a 2011 fully loaded Acura TSX, this thing had Heated, Power Mirrors, Power door locks, everything, which is more shit for me to remove and/or **** up when I take her door panel off.

The connector in this case was broken, and I had to remove the connector (depin) and fix it (repin to the new one), I charge $125 dollars a labor hour for electrical work and/or invasive work. I did it for free because he brought me a ton of business my way.

Still, it cost her $115 to replace it. Do you know what other places had quoted her?

$400+ Dollars for 1.5 hours labor + 1 hour electrical/diagnostic

Yet you want that shit done for 20 dollars or "**** it, I'll do it myself"

$20 isn't shit anymore kid, I wipe my ass with 20's.


It is, especially when it is your part.

They'd certainly give you a labor discount had you bought their part or allowed them to source one for you, granted it would be marked up a bit, but you'd likely have paid significantly less on the labor.



A lot of this depends on the Year, Make, and Model of the car.

My mustang would take some time, but my 92 civic? 3 minutes flat.

Nothing wrong with any of this, but this is exactly why I turn my own wrenches whenever I can.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

I quoted a bunch of your posts so I can help explain a few things for you, since you are extremely misguided about how the auto repair business works, so I'll be highlighting a few points here, hopefully it'll enlighten you, and the rest of the community so they don't get the foolish notion that "Since they are already doing work, maybe they'll do this for practically nothing".

First things' first, bringing a part in will not earn you a discount. In fact, it is almost insulting to every business out there, and a good majority of them WILL NOT install "your" part for a number of reasons, but make no mistake about it, the largest reason they will not, is because they cannot mark the price up. The next biggest reason is because the manufacturer of that part probably doesn't adhere to the same quality standards that the repair facility (usually dealerships in this case) will stamp their warranty work on.

As most places will have a general warranty coverage on all work done, we're not going to warranty a used part, and we certainly aren't going to warranty a cheap reproduction or reman part from an inferior quality supplier and add our warrant to it.

Also, since we aren't making a single CENT off of your mirror, we won't be obliged to discount the time it takes to put your mirror on. Most places, as it turns out, are going to charge you a MINIMUM 1 hour labor to do ANYTHING on a car, short of a flat rate service (Oil Change, Brakes, Exhaust, etc.)

Depending on where you live, that labor hour could be anywhere from 50 dollars in labor (BFE midwest) to 95 dollars an hour (KC metro stealership)



Minimum, unless the tech or manager are a close friend.



This is the next bit that I'll touch on.

First, you sound like a cheap ass. You sound like the individual who will fight me (the mechanic or manager) tooth and nail for your business because you don't want to pay what I'll charge everyone else, because you can't afford it. I'll try to fight for your business to a degree, and you'll try to drag me to that point and then go further. I will have a line I won't do the work for, and you're likely going to get me to that line, or just above it. Once we've established that, I'm not cutting you a discount on ANYTHING ever again.

Second, 100 dollars is NOTHING in the automotive repair business. Generally speaking, that's about 1.5 hours of labor or just a little under at most "mom and pop" shops.

I don't even think I can go anywhere in the KC metro and get all 8 of my plugs changed in my mustang for 100 bucks. I'm not sure what your service is, but I've written tickets for an Oil Change and Air Filter for nearly as much as you're spending, and those are 15 minutes In and Out all day long.

I realize 100 dollars is something to you, but understand that 100 dollars is NOTHING for a business that needs to earn it.

What you don't understand is that labor hour generally goes to paying a huge portion of the business, as a lot of the parts barely have any true "room" to make up that kind of "markup".

Say I sell you a distributor for $250 dollars, chances are I picked that distributor up for about $210-220, but I'm probably going to charge you an hour to put that on, 16-24 of that is going to my mechanic to put it on, he's only going to take about 20 minutes to do it, and the 40-50ish remaining goes back to the shop. In most medium sized repair facilities, I'm going to have to have about 5 of YOU a day, to pay for my business all said and done.

So to answer, no, you aren't being reasonable.



The next issue I have, and this will be true enlightenment.

Just because something takes 7 minutes and 24 minutes to install for the trained professional, does not mean I should be charging you 7 minutes and 24 minutes of my labor hour.

You didn't pay for his training, you don't pay for the facility, you don't pay for the advertising, you certainly don't pay for overhead at all, yet, you think you should only be charged for the time it took to repair?

When it comes to repair of ANY KIND, you're paying for the service, not the time. If the service calls for 3.5 hours, you'll get charged 3.5 hours. But, should your trusted repair facility employ some very knowledgeable, very fast mechanics who can get the job done in 1.7 hours, you aren't going to pay less because they are that much better and efficient.

You'll just get your car back that much sooner and be on your way to the life of whatever it is you do, that much quicker.

If repair facilities charged you for the actual time it took them, they would be out of business, or............you'd see labor hours doubling or tripling the current labor hours, just to get back to the same "profits" they have right now, but you'd see a new breed of mechanics that are rushed and more mistake prone.

You don't wan that, wise up.



Forget it then.

I'm guessing that your car is a shitbox based on the aforementioned repair costs, that, or you are getting preventative maintenance done.

But I'll give you an idea of a real life scenario.

A friend of mine had his mothers' car come into MY business to get a tune up and to replace her sway bar. After all was said and done, I think we knocked the car out in like 2 hours, but HE (the friend) also brought in a mirror to have it replaced at the last second. He asked me for a quote and gave me the number to call her to get the go ahead on the purchase.

I quoted her in the neighborhood of 115 dollars to remove and replace the mirror.

Do you know why?

The labor hour came out to about 1.5 hours, I had to remove the door panel (wasn't easy, required special tools that I had to buy because this is the business I am in), and re-pin (I did this for free) the connector to her heated mirrors.

Therein lies the issue in some cases. Newer cars cost more to fix. She was driving a 2011 fully loaded Acura TSX, this thing had Heated, Power Mirrors, Power door locks, everything, which is more shit for me to remove and/or **** up when I take her door panel off.

The connector in this case was broken, and I had to remove the connector (depin) and fix it (repin to the new one), I charge $125 dollars a labor hour for electrical work and/or invasive work. I did it for free because he brought me a ton of business my way.

Still, it cost her $115 to replace it. Do you know what other places had quoted her?

$400+ Dollars for 1.5 hours labor + 1 hour electrical/diagnostic

Yet you want that shit done for 20 dollars or "**** it, I'll do it myself"

$20 isn't shit anymore kid, I wipe my ass with 20's.


It is, especially when it is your part.

They'd certainly give you a labor discount had you bought their part or allowed them to source one for you, granted it would be marked up a bit, but you'd likely have paid significantly less on the labor.



A lot of this depends on the Year, Make, and Model of the car.

My mustang would take some time, but my 92 civic? 3 minutes flat.

Beautiful post, spot on.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

I quoted a bunch of your posts so I can help explain a few things for you, since you are extremely misguided about how the auto repair business works, so I'll be highlighting a few points here, hopefully it'll enlighten you, and the rest of the community so they don't get the foolish notion that "Since they are already doing work, maybe they'll do this for practically nothing".

First things' first, bringing a part in will not earn you a discount. In fact, it is almost insulting to every business out there, and a good majority of them WILL NOT install "your" part for a number of reasons, but make no mistake about it, the largest reason they will not, is because they cannot mark the price up. The next biggest reason is because the manufacturer of that part probably doesn't adhere to the same quality standards that the repair facility (usually dealerships in this case) will stamp their warranty work on.

As most places will have a general warranty coverage on all work done, we're not going to warranty a used part, and we certainly aren't going to warranty a cheap reproduction or reman part from an inferior quality supplier and add our warrant to it.

Also, since we aren't making a single CENT off of your mirror, we won't be obliged to discount the time it takes to put your mirror on. Most places, as it turns out, are going to charge you a MINIMUM 1 hour labor to do ANYTHING on a car, short of a flat rate service (Oil Change, Brakes, Exhaust, etc.)

Depending on where you live, that labor hour could be anywhere from 50 dollars in labor (BFE midwest) to 95 dollars an hour (KC metro stealership)



Minimum, unless the tech or manager are a close friend.



This is the next bit that I'll touch on.

First, you sound like a cheap ass. You sound like the individual who will fight me (the mechanic or manager) tooth and nail for your business because you don't want to pay what I'll charge everyone else, because you can't afford it. I'll try to fight for your business to a degree, and you'll try to drag me to that point and then go further. I will have a line I won't do the work for, and you're likely going to get me to that line, or just above it. Once we've established that, I'm not cutting you a discount on ANYTHING ever again.

Second, 100 dollars is NOTHING in the automotive repair business. Generally speaking, that's about 1.5 hours of labor or just a little under at most "mom and pop" shops.

I don't even think I can go anywhere in the KC metro and get all 8 of my plugs changed in my mustang for 100 bucks. I'm not sure what your service is, but I've written tickets for an Oil Change and Air Filter for nearly as much as you're spending, and those are 15 minutes In and Out all day long.

I realize 100 dollars is something to you, but understand that 100 dollars is NOTHING for a business that needs to earn it.

What you don't understand is that labor hour generally goes to paying a huge portion of the business, as a lot of the parts barely have any true "room" to make up that kind of "markup".

Say I sell you a distributor for $250 dollars, chances are I picked that distributor up for about $210-220, but I'm probably going to charge you an hour to put that on, 16-24 of that is going to my mechanic to put it on, he's only going to take about 20 minutes to do it, and the 40-50ish remaining goes back to the shop. In most medium sized repair facilities, I'm going to have to have about 5 of YOU a day, to pay for my business all said and done.

So to answer, no, you aren't being reasonable.



The next issue I have, and this will be true enlightenment.

Just because something takes 7 minutes and 24 minutes to install for the trained professional, does not mean I should be charging you 7 minutes and 24 minutes of my labor hour.

You didn't pay for his training, you don't pay for the facility, you don't pay for the advertising, you certainly don't pay for overhead at all, yet, you think you should only be charged for the time it took to repair?

When it comes to repair of ANY KIND, you're paying for the service, not the time. If the service calls for 3.5 hours, you'll get charged 3.5 hours. But, should your trusted repair facility employ some very knowledgeable, very fast mechanics who can get the job done in 1.7 hours, you aren't going to pay less because they are that much better and efficient.

You'll just get your car back that much sooner and be on your way to the life of whatever it is you do, that much quicker.

If repair facilities charged you for the actual time it took them, they would be out of business, or............you'd see labor hours doubling or tripling the current labor hours, just to get back to the same "profits" they have right now, but you'd see a new breed of mechanics that are rushed and more mistake prone.

You don't wan that, wise up.



Forget it then.

I'm guessing that your car is a shitbox based on the aforementioned repair costs, that, or you are getting preventative maintenance done.

But I'll give you an idea of a real life scenario.

A friend of mine had his mothers' car come into MY business to get a tune up and to replace her sway bar. After all was said and done, I think we knocked the car out in like 2 hours, but HE (the friend) also brought in a mirror to have it replaced at the last second. He asked me for a quote and gave me the number to call her to get the go ahead on the purchase.

I quoted her in the neighborhood of 115 dollars to remove and replace the mirror.

Do you know why?

The labor hour came out to about 1.5 hours, I had to remove the door panel (wasn't easy, required special tools that I had to buy because this is the business I am in), and re-pin (I did this for free) the connector to her heated mirrors.

Therein lies the issue in some cases. Newer cars cost more to fix. She was driving a 2011 fully loaded Acura TSX, this thing had Heated, Power Mirrors, Power door locks, everything, which is more shit for me to remove and/or **** up when I take her door panel off.

The connector in this case was broken, and I had to remove the connector (depin) and fix it (repin to the new one), I charge $125 dollars a labor hour for electrical work and/or invasive work. I did it for free because he brought me a ton of business my way.

Still, it cost her $115 to replace it. Do you know what other places had quoted her?

$400+ Dollars for 1.5 hours labor + 1 hour electrical/diagnostic

Yet you want that shit done for 20 dollars or "**** it, I'll do it myself"

$20 isn't shit anymore kid, I wipe my ass with 20's.


It is, especially when it is your part.

They'd certainly give you a labor discount had you bought their part or allowed them to source one for you, granted it would be marked up a bit, but you'd likely have paid significantly less on the labor.



A lot of this depends on the Year, Make, and Model of the car.

My mustang would take some time, but my 92 civic? 3 minutes flat.

If it's just a five minute fix, and I was taking my car in there for service anyway, my mechanic would do it for $20. He'd probably do it for free.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

If it's just a five minute fix, and I was taking my car in there for service anyway, my mechanic would do it for $20. He'd probably do it for free.

I would too for a repeat customer, I put tons of light bulbs in for free too. And even scan cars.


Surely ill get roasted for it though
Posted via Mobile Device

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

I would too for a repeat customer, I put tons of light bulbs in for free too. And even scan cars.


Surely ill get roasted for it though
Posted via Mobile Device

thats what a GOOD professional does, be it construction, auto repair, etc. But that's totally up to them. The customer shouldn't expect it.

Hell, I just spent over $7k on free extras for a customer on a building project, but he was one of the nicest owners I've ever dealt with, and we did well on the project. So he got some free sidewalk, sod, and some other things done.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

thats what a GOOD professional does, be it construction, auto repair, etc. But that's totally up to them. The customer shouldn't expect it.

Agreed.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

Exoter:

This is the OP. Nowhere in this entire thread did I ever DEMAND someone to fix my mirror for $20. I made this thread to figure out what the etiquette was at a body shop.

As for hiring Mexican's to do cheap labor on my car...

It's a ****ing side mirror. It's not the god damn engine. The car is 10 years old with 211,000 miles on it...I was in Dallas last year and it hailed softball size hail and left, presumably, thousands of dollars in hail damage (liability only, wish I had full coverage so I could've cashed in on that insurance check when they inevitably would have totalled out my car)...

do you really think I give a god damn **** if a Mexican has a screw driver slip when he's installing the mirror?

I mean, you guys are acting like I need a new transmission. I'm getting a side mirror put on...my ****ing God. I didn't ask for any life lessons about how 'mom and pop' body shops have to jack up the prices to stay in business...I don't give a ****.

I really don't. When something goes wrong with the car that makes me think 'oh shit', I take it to the Audi dealership and pay 40 billion dollars to get everything fixed...it was a free car, but I knew it was going to cost me an arm and a leg every time something broke down since it's an Audi...

but a side mirror? Christ. I'm sorry that these Mexican side mirror installers who charge realistic amounts of $ for work take your jerbs...

it's not my fault they are reasonable and not ****ing crooks...

I am willing to pay $20 for this side mirror install...I'm not even going to bother asking this shop what they will charge for it after this thread. I will simply do it myself, get help from my roommate, take it to my friend's junkyard and have him do it like he said he would, or hire a damn mexican. $20 is the going rate for this simple job. I'll jab a screwdriver into the paint once the Mexican is done doing it to make everyone feel better as well.

You sit here and say you didn't expect it, but you call it unreasonable and call them crooks for not doing it for 20 dollars or less.

You still do not UNDERSTAND the point everyone is driving across to you. This is a business, not a charity, kid. You might have a shitty car you don't appreciate, knowing that it'll cost a ton to fix later on, but in the eyes of a mechanic, your car is just like the next Mercedes that pulls up. Its going to cost you the same labor hour that it'll cost on the Mercedes. Why in the actual **** would you ever assume that the state of your car has anything to do with how much I'm going to charge you?

Which brings me to my second point.

Labor Hour. If you don't understand what Labor Hour is, or what it means, you shouldn't be dictating price.

Simply put, Labor Hour is what I'm going to charge you PER HOUR to fix your car. IT doesn't stop there though, because I'm probably going to pull up something like Mitchell or Alldata to find out how long it is going to take me to fix it, when you come in and ask for a quote, and I'm probably going to mark up the base labor hour by 10-25% on top of that.

Why? Because its going to cost me 400+ per day to have this building with these tools, with these employees, with the insurance to cover all of them, just to be in business. I have to make my money somewhere, and where I make it is labor hour, and parts.

Since you are bringing in a part I can't mark up, I ONLY make money on the labor hour, where I'm less likely to discount you on.

If you don't like the costs associated with running a business and having work done by professionals, use your mexicans, but understand there is nothing Constitutional or Patriotic about what you are doing, and you are only hurting the economy because you are a cheap ****.

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

house is the same thing as a passenger side mirror on a 2002 car

I'm lazy and refuse to do any sort of manual labor. My hands are far too nice to break a nail doing something like that...

Mexican labor is great for these instances...they charge fair price, they don't need entitlement money like 'the overworked' working American man!!!

"oh that 5 minute side mirror job!? That'll cost an hour of labor + shop time + you didn't buy the part here which is a 50% cost penalty plus a 1 time surcharge of $93.95"

!!!!

Kobe!

And this is why you're a moron. Entitled? No. Lawful and helpful to the economy? Yes.

You say reasonable to a Mexican for 20 bucks, I see liability, economic downturn, and a cheapskate.

You're all full of negativity but understand this, when they **** up something on your car, you have no ability to go after them for damages, and they won't be paying you back for their mistakes. If you did it at my shop, you'd be taken care of because you get what you pay for, and with a business, by law, I'm supposed to take care of you if I **** up.

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

we're speaking in general terms.

This. But, as I've said, labor hour is labor hour. It doesn't go up or down depending on the condition of the car being worked on.

[Exoter175]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

why should I tip my waiter 20%? he spent what, a total of 5 minutes serving me?

opcorn;

Right? I mean, the food costs like what? 3 dollars at the market? Why should I pay 20? I'll offer you 4 dollars for it since you spent 5 minutes to prepare it.

Originally Posted by Frosty

Man, I have a lot of respect for people like you that work on customers' property. The only experience I have with it is when I installed car stereos while in college. I couldn't believe the number of people that would come back in and claim installing new speakers caused the engine to throw a rod or some such nonsense . I can imagine it's even worse as a mechanic.

It is a nightmare is what it is. People with out common knowledge of how their vehicles work will blame you something completely unrelated.

The best, is when the cheapskates come in and you tell them that say, their right front wheel bearing is in need of immediate repair and when you quote them more than 20 bucks to replace it, they go off about the expense, then 3 weeks later you get a call with them bitching at you for the service they didn't pay for, and how their car broke down and cost them 158 dollars for a tow to a repair facility that is going to charge them 569 dollars to fix the problem.

Good god those are fun days.

Originally Posted by Saul Good

When that man asks for advice, I will tell him not to go to a Mexican. Not really sure what your diatribe has to do with hootie's broken side mirror on a car he got for free. I feel fairly confident that some Mexican handyman can pop off a piece of plastic and turn three screws without accidentally wiping out a small African village.

Its about the cost of business and the liability that comes with it, and uneducated, uninformed people causing a fuss about the service offered, because they don't understand the cost behind it all.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

Which brings me to my second point.

Labor Hour. If you don't understand what Labor Hour is, or what it means, you shouldn't be dictating price.

Simply put, Labor Hour is what I'm going to charge you PER HOUR to fix your car. IT doesn't stop there though, because I'm probably going to pull up something like Mitchell or Alldata to find out how long it is going to take me to fix it, when you come in and ask for a quote, and I'm probably going to mark up the base labor hour by 10-25% on top of that.

Why? Because its going to cost me 400+ per day to have this building with these tools, with these employees, with the insurance to cover all of them, just to be in business. I have to make my money somewhere, and where I make it is labor hour, and parts.

Since you are bringing in a part I can't mark up, I ONLY make money on the labor hour, where I'm less likely to discount you on.








This. But, as I've said, labor hour is labor hour. It doesn't go up or down depending on the condition of the car being worked on.

i cant see raising the labor because i didnt make money on the parts.

thats not really ethical to me, and i put parts people bring with them just about EVERY day. i charge what the labor would be and make sure to let them know AND note on the ticket that the parts were customer supplied and not under warranty in any way by my shop.

if thats not acceptable they can go elsewhere but i cant see charging more to make up for it.

book time is book time.

but again that probably why i'm still in business and running my ass off every day working on tons of cars

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

Labor Hour. If you don't understand what Labor Hour is, or what it means, you shouldn't be dictating price.

Simply put, Labor Hour is what I'm going to charge you PER HOUR to fix your car. IT doesn't stop there though, because I'm probably going to pull up something like Mitchell or Alldata to find out how long it is going to take me to fix it, when you come in and ask for a quote, and I'm probably going to mark up the base labor hour by 10-25% on top of that.

Why? Because its going to cost me 400+ per day to have this building with these tools, with these employees, with the insurance to cover all of them, just to be in business. I have to make my money somewhere, and where I make it is labor hour, and parts.

.

see here is where you said you would RAISE the labor rate by 10 - 20 %


that IMO is unethical. Book times are there for a reason.

it doesnt matter what your building and employees cost you. not making money? do better work.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

You sit here and say you didn't expect it, but you call it unreasonable and call them crooks for not doing it for 20 dollars or less.

You still do not UNDERSTAND the point everyone is driving across to you. This is a business, not a charity, kid. You might have a shitty car you don't appreciate, knowing that it'll cost a ton to fix later on, but in the eyes of a mechanic, your car is just like the next Mercedes that pulls up. Its going to cost you the same labor hour that it'll cost on the Mercedes. Why in the actual **** would you ever assume that the state of your car has anything to do with how much I'm going to charge you?

Which brings me to my second point.

Labor Hour. If you don't understand what Labor Hour is, or what it means, you shouldn't be dictating price.

Simply put, Labor Hour is what I'm going to charge you PER HOUR to fix your car. IT doesn't stop there though, because I'm probably going to pull up something like Mitchell or Alldata to find out how long it is going to take me to fix it, when you come in and ask for a quote, and I'm probably going to mark up the base labor hour by 10-25% on top of that.

Why? Because its going to cost me 400+ per day to have this building with these tools, with these employees, with the insurance to cover all of them, just to be in business. I have to make my money somewhere, and where I make it is labor hour, and parts.

Since you are bringing in a part I can't mark up, I ONLY make money on the labor hour, where I'm less likely to discount you on.

If you don't like the costs associated with running a business and having work done by professionals, use your mexicans, but understand there is nothing Constitutional or Patriotic about what you are doing, and you are only hurting the economy because you are a cheap ****.



And this is why you're a moron. Entitled? No. Lawful and helpful to the economy? Yes.

You say reasonable to a Mexican for 20 bucks, I see liability, economic downturn, and a cheapskate.

You're all full of negativity but understand this, when they **** up something on your car, you have no ability to go after them for damages, and they won't be paying you back for their mistakes. If you did it at my shop, you'd be taken care of because you get what you pay for, and with a business, by law, I'm supposed to take care of you if I **** up.



This. But, as I've said, labor hour is labor hour. It doesn't go up or down depending on the condition of the car being worked on.

In case anyone missed it, here's the post where you showed your ass and admitted that you knowingly bill for more hours than the job takes.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Exoter175

You sit here and say you didn't expect it, but you call it unreasonable and call them crooks for not doing it for 20 dollars or less.

You still do not UNDERSTAND the point everyone is driving across to you. This is a business, not a charity, kid. You might have a shitty car you don't appreciate, knowing that it'll cost a ton to fix later on, but in the eyes of a mechanic, your car is just like the next Mercedes that pulls up. Its going to cost you the same labor hour that it'll cost on the Mercedes. Why in the actual **** would you ever assume that the state of your car has anything to do with how much I'm going to charge you?

Which brings me to my second point.

Labor Hour. If you don't understand what Labor Hour is, or what it means, you shouldn't be dictating price.

Simply put, Labor Hour is what I'm going to charge you PER HOUR to fix your car. IT doesn't stop there though, because I'm probably going to pull up something like Mitchell or Alldata to find out how long it is going to take me to fix it, when you come in and ask for a quote, and I'm probably going to mark up the base labor hour by 10-25% on top of that.

Why? Because its going to cost me 400+ per day to have this building with these tools, with these employees, with the insurance to cover all of them, just to be in business. I have to make my money somewhere, and where I make it is labor hour, and parts.

Since you are bringing in a part I can't mark up, I ONLY make money on the labor hour, where I'm less likely to discount you on.

If you don't like the costs associated with running a business and having work done by professionals, use your mexicans, but understand there is nothing Constitutional or Patriotic about what you are doing, and you are only hurting the economy because you are a cheap ****.



And this is why you're a moron. Entitled? No. Lawful and helpful to the economy? Yes.

You say reasonable to a Mexican for 20 bucks, I see liability, economic downturn, and a cheapskate.

You're all full of negativity but understand this, when they **** up something on your car, you have no ability to go after them for damages, and they won't be paying you back for their mistakes. If you did it at my shop, you'd be taken care of because you get what you pay for, and with a business, by law, I'm supposed to take care of you if I **** up.


.
This. But, as I've said, labor hour is labor hour. It doesn't go up or down depending on the condition of the car being worked on.

Posted via Mobile Device

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

thats what a GOOD professional does, be it construction, auto repair, etc. But that's totally up to them. The customer shouldn't expect it.

Hell, I just spent over $7k on free extras for a customer on a building project, but he was one of the nicest owners I've ever dealt with, and we did well on the project. So he got some free sidewalk, sod, and some other things done.

can you show me one post where I said...

"I'm going to get some work done on my car tomorrow and I also have a side mirror sitting in my backseat and I expect them to replace my broken one with the new one I bought and I expect them to do it for $20."

please, show me this quote

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by Peyton's Princess

can you show me one post where I said...

"I'm going to get some work done on my car tomorrow and I also have a side mirror sitting in my backseat and I expect them to replace my broken one with the new one I bought and I expect them to do it for $20."

please, show me this quote

I will, once you showed me where I said you did that, dumbass.