Honest mechanic?

Dan, sorry I sent you, in error, a reply to your post. Was tired from
fighting with rusted axles this am.
"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Don Bruder wrote:
>
>> And as far as your rates... $20-30 an hour, MAYBE. 60, 70, 80+ an hour?
>> Get a grip on reality, chum. Maybe to a brain surgeon. Not to a car
>> mechanic.
>
> Uh...you're joking, right? Prevailing shop rates for real mechanics at
> independent shops (not Taco Bell reject parts changers and quickie oil
> change parlor apes) average between $60 and $90/hr, US. Go to a dealer
> and you'll pay about 30% more than that.
>
>> Particularly when I'm perfectly capable of knocking out the job myself.
>
> Well, then...do so!
>



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In article ich.edu>,
"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote:

> On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Don Bruder wrote:
>
> > And as far as your rates... $20-30 an hour, MAYBE. 60, 70, 80+ an hour?
> > Get a grip on reality, chum. Maybe to a brain surgeon. Not to a car
> > mechanic.
>
> Uh...you're joking, right? Prevailing shop rates for real mechanics at
> independent shops (not Taco Bell reject parts changers and quickie oil
> change parlor apes) average between $60 and $90/hr, US. Go to a dealer
> and you'll pay about 30% more than that.

No, Dan, *I* won't.

I'm not much interested in being ripped off, y'see.

> > Particularly when I'm perfectly capable of knocking out the job myself.
>
> Well, then...do so!
>

I do - Because the rates a shop charges border on robbery.

Why not just stick a gun in my face and demand my wallet when I walk in
the door? It'd be quicker for both of us, and despite being a criminal
act, much more honest, in my book.

--
Don Bruder - - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

Don Bruder wrote:
> In article ich.edu>,
> "Daniel J. Stern" > wrote:
>
>
>>On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Don Bruder wrote:
>>
>>
>>>And as far as your rates... $20-30 an hour, MAYBE. 60, 70, 80+ an hour?
>>>Get a grip on reality, chum. Maybe to a brain surgeon. Not to a car
>>>mechanic.
>>
>>Uh...you're joking, right? Prevailing shop rates for real mechanics at
>>independent shops (not Taco Bell reject parts changers and quickie oil
>>change parlor apes) average between $60 and $90/hr, US. Go to a dealer
>>and you'll pay about 30% more than that.
>
>
> No, Dan, *I* won't.
>
> I'm not much interested in being ripped off, y'see.
>
>
>>>Particularly when I'm perfectly capable of knocking out the job myself.
>>
>>Well, then...do so!
>>
>
>
> I do - Because the rates a shop charges border on robbery.
>
> Why not just stick a gun in my face and demand my wallet when I walk in
> the door? It'd be quicker for both of us, and despite being a criminal
> act, much more honest, in my book.
>

I'm gonna have to side with the shop owners on this one... How much
investment in tools do you need to have to do all the work on your car?
I'm sure if I bought all the tools in my collection new, I'd probably
be well over $10K, and I'm always finding something new I need to have.
Just the other day I had to buy a set of 3/8" drive metric Allen
drivers. I also just bought a timing light, dwell meter, and one of
those little infrared temperature sensors on eBay (my dwell meter shat
the bed, my timing light got lost in a move a couple years ago and was
never replaced, and the temperature thing is just a lot neater and more
useful than using a candy thermometer in the radiator.) Add to that
rent or mortgage/property taxes (keep in mind that most gas stations are
located in "desirable" high traffic locations, and the real estate is
priced accordingly,) power bill, water bill, etc. and you can see that
you're going to have to charge a good bit to stay in business. Sure the
mechanic may only be making $20-30 an hour but the overhead could easily
double that.

Now is it worth it for a mechanically savvy car owner to take his car to
a mechanic and pay $80 an hour for something he could do himself?
Probably not. But sometimes it's worth it when you just don't want to
do a job yourself, don't have time to do any car work right away, or run
into something that requires an expensive special tool that it's not
worth buying for just one job. I don't bitch when I choose to take a
car to a mechanic; I just figure in my head how much my time is worth,
and then decide if I'm willing to pay the difference or not to not have
to do the job.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Don Bruder wrote:
>
>> And as far as your rates... $20-30 an hour, MAYBE. 60, 70, 80+ an hour?
>> Get a grip on reality, chum. Maybe to a brain surgeon. Not to a car
>> mechanic.
>
> Uh...you're joking, right? Prevailing shop rates for real mechanics at
> independent shops (not Taco Bell reject parts changers and quickie oil
> change parlor apes) average between $60 and $90/hr, US. Go to a dealer
> and you'll pay about 30% more than that.
>
>> Particularly when I'm perfectly capable of knocking out the job myself.
>
> Well, then...do so!
>

That reminds me of one of my favorites, the guy who says: It shouldn't cost
much should it? I'd do it myself but just don't have the time. Like somehow
the fact he "could" do it himself should make the job cheaper.
Bob

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Don Bruder wrote:

> > Prevailing shop rates for real mechanics at independent shops (not
> > Taco Bell reject parts changers and quickie oil change parlor apes)
> > average between $60 and $90/hr, US. Go to a dealer and you'll pay
> > about 30% more than that.
>
> No, Dan, *I* won't.

Then you've no ground for commenting on shop rates.

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Shep wrote:

> Dan, sorry I sent you, in error, a reply to your post. Was tired from
> fighting with rusted axles this am.

I didn't get it; try danredbear "at" yahoo "dot" ca

In article >, "Bob" >
wrote:

> "Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
> n.umich.edu...
> > On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Don Bruder wrote:
> >
> >> And as far as your rates... $20-30 an hour, MAYBE. 60, 70, 80+ an hour?
> >> Get a grip on reality, chum. Maybe to a brain surgeon. Not to a car
> >> mechanic.
> >
> > Uh...you're joking, right? Prevailing shop rates for real mechanics at
> > independent shops (not Taco Bell reject parts changers and quickie oil
> > change parlor apes) average between $60 and $90/hr, US. Go to a dealer
> > and you'll pay about 30% more than that.
> >
> >> Particularly when I'm perfectly capable of knocking out the job myself.
> >
> > Well, then...do so!
> >
>
> That reminds me of one of my favorites, the guy who says: It shouldn't cost
> much should it? I'd do it myself but just don't have the time. Like somehow
> the fact he "could" do it himself should make the job cheaper.
> Bob
>
>

As a recent example, about 4 days ago now, the boss's assistant at work
needed her cig. lighter socket repaired so she could plug her spotlight
into it when out on her route. Seems the old one had a burnt center
contact.

New cig. lighter socket at any parts place that has anything even
remotely resembling a nodding aquaintance with realistic prices:
$3.00-7.00 plus tax. Let's be generous and say $10.00, out the door.

Time to put in - Variable by car, I'm sure, since this job needs to get
to the back side of the dashboard - In her car, 15 minutes (based on her
report of how long the car was in the hands of the mechanic). In mine,
two screws and 30 seconds. Either way, obviously not a major task to
accomplish.

Tools required: Besides the screwdriver (Phillips) for mine, a pair of
slip-joint pliers are useful, but not vital. Again, I acknowledge that
milage varies by car/job, but since this is my only concrete data, I'll
say $3 for the screwdriver, and $5 for the pliers - Both of which have
been part of the toolkit and long since paid off for so long I can't
even remember. Total expense so far, being generous and pretending I ran
out to the store and bought the tools specifically for this job: $18.00

Someplace to do the job: It sure doesn't require a 6 liftbay/greasepit
garage to swap a lighter socket... (yes, I realize there are jobs that
DO require special facilities and/or hardware. That ain't this case.)


Her final bill for the job: $92.73, big as life and twice as ugly down
there in the "total amount due" box.

Versus $18 plus "throw me some gas money"

What kind of horse**** is that? I mean other than "We saw that little
ol' lady coming, and by god, we fleeced her for all she was worth!"

--
Don Bruder - - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

I believe that I am correct in saying that the tools are deductible from
taxes. If so,then in principle we taxpayers in general pay for the
professional mechanics tools.

Now guys, $100 per hour is roughly $800 per day, or $17-18000 per working
month.

I realize that a lot slips through the cracks, etc, but when the common joe
goes to pay the
mechanics bill, he is paying at a rate that reflects upon his ability to
earn. Many of you earn
more than $15000 per month??? And get your training and tools paid for by
tax deductions?

wrote:
> I believe that I am correct in saying that the tools are deductible from
> taxes. If so,then in principle we taxpayers in general pay for the
> professional mechanics tools.
>
> Now guys, $100 per hour is roughly $800 per day, or $17-18000 per working
> month.
>
> I realize that a lot slips through the cracks, etc, but when the common joe
> goes to pay the
> mechanics bill, he is paying at a rate that reflects upon his ability to
> earn. Many of you earn
> more than $15000 per month??? And get your training and tools paid for by
> tax deductions?
>

Unless I'm missing something, a "tax deduction" means only that the
money spent on tools and training is deducted from your taxable income.
Therefore the mechanic or shop owner, depending on who foots the bill,
is still paying 70-80% of those costs.

There's lots of industries where price of a service is significantly
higher than what the employee is making. A good fire alarm tech can
cost anywhere from $80-120 an hour. Do you think he's actually making
that much? Do you think that the remainder is going straight into the
pockets of those greedy fire alarm service company owners? I can assure
you that neither is the case.

The only time I ever get annoyed at a mechanic is when I pay full price
for what I feel is work that I could have done better myself. However,
I tend not to patronize shops twice where I feel that has happened.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

I just did an inventory for insurance purposes for a small local shop 2
bays, reasonable tools and up to date diagnostics, 125k value at acv dollars
and cents, this does not count the training and time spent to keep up with
modern technology, insurance rates, disposal issues, accounting and the
usual overhead of running a business. The owner works 5.5 days a week, at
50.00/hour book time. You need to own/run an auto reapir shop to appreciate
the complexities of fixing almost any brand car or truck these days.Every
day is like " walking on a razor blade in a thunderstorm" to make money,
satisfy the customers and keep your sanity, this is not the kind of business
you can work to retirement age either.
"Nate Nagel" > wrote in message
news:1118873216.1a4ee22c0d9c81bf57088f1f9a6a479e@t eranews...
> Don Bruder wrote:
>> In article ich.edu>,
>> "Daniel J. Stern" > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>On Wed, 15 Jun 2005, Don Bruder wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>And as far as your rates... $20-30 an hour, MAYBE. 60, 70, 80+ an hour?
>>>>Get a grip on reality, chum. Maybe to a brain surgeon. Not to a car
>>>>mechanic.
>>>
>>>Uh...you're joking, right? Prevailing shop rates for real mechanics at
>>>independent shops (not Taco Bell reject parts changers and quickie oil
>>>change parlor apes) average between $60 and $90/hr, US. Go to a dealer
>>>and you'll pay about 30% more than that.
>>
>>
>> No, Dan, *I* won't. I'm not much interested in being ripped off, y'see.
>>
>>>>Particularly when I'm perfectly capable of knocking out the job myself.
>>>
>>>Well, then...do so!
>>>
>>
>>
>> I do - Because the rates a shop charges border on robbery. Why not just
>> stick a gun in my face and demand my wallet when I walk in the door? It'd
>> be quicker for both of us, and despite being a criminal act, much more
>> honest, in my book.
>>
>
> I'm gonna have to side with the shop owners on this one... How much
> investment in tools do you need to have to do all the work on your car?
> I'm sure if I bought all the tools in my collection new, I'd probably be
> well over $10K, and I'm always finding something new I need to have. Just
> the other day I had to buy a set of 3/8" drive metric Allen drivers. I
> also just bought a timing light, dwell meter, and one of those little
> infrared temperature sensors on eBay (my dwell meter shat the bed, my
> timing light got lost in a move a couple years ago and was never replaced,
> and the temperature thing is just a lot neater and more useful than using
> a candy thermometer in the radiator.) Add to that rent or
> mortgage/property taxes (keep in mind that most gas stations are located
> in "desirable" high traffic locations, and the real estate is priced
> accordingly,) power bill, water bill, etc. and you can see that you're
> going to have to charge a good bit to stay in business. Sure the mechanic
> may only be making $20-30 an hour but the overhead could easily double
> that.
>
> Now is it worth it for a mechanically savvy car owner to take his car to a
> mechanic and pay $80 an hour for something he could do himself? Probably
> not. But sometimes it's worth it when you just don't want to do a job
> yourself, don't have time to do any car work right away, or run into
> something that requires an expensive special tool that it's not worth
> buying for just one job. I don't bitch when I choose to take a car to a
> mechanic; I just figure in my head how much my time is worth, and then
> decide if I'm willing to pay the difference or not to not have to do the
> job.
>
> nate
>
> --
> replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
> http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel
>



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