Opinions Please! Question About Estimates from Auto Mechanics

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by boyd888

I don't know if in the history of auto repair a bill has ever come out to be less than an estimate

It's interesting that since you had no written quote, $45 was the more appropriate thing to charge. If there was a written estimate for $70, then you couldn't really be mad about paying $70, since that was what you were quoted (as has been mentioned already many shops charge by the book and not by actual labor).

It was the first guy's implication that it could vary that made me believe (as I still do) that he meant for the final charge to be based on the labor time. Had he said "That would be a flat fee of $70," then OK, I'd be totally in the wrong. (Likewise if they had some standard "book charge" for horn replacement, which they evidently don't.) But he'd said something like "Well, it's about an hour's work, so probably around $70, something like that." That's pretty close to verbatim.

And what if it had taken the repair guy 2 hours? I'm betting the farm they'd have charged me a lot more than $70.

[qwertman]

given the circumstances $45 sounds reasonable.

typically you would sign off on an estimate and that would be what you would pay. if the estimate said one hour of labor at $70/hour, that's what you would pay, regardless of if it actually took 30 minutes or 2 hours.

[car54]

These guys apparently have never worked at a dealership.

If they had, they would have agreed to accept the $45 minimum.....plus $25 for "shop supplies"!

[HokieFan]

Originally Posted by car54

.....plus $25 for "shop supplies"!

Or $25 to dispose of the old horn.

[LetsRock]

Originally Posted by oneasterisk

Yup most mechanics charge the book's flat rate. If the book says a job takes 3 hours and it takes a good mechanic 1.5 hours to do, he still charges you 3 hours.

If you don't have a written estimate, then it's only your word against there's.

Exactly correct. You should not penalize a mechanic financially because he is able to complete the work faster than an entry-level grease monkey that has is learning by doing.

[bmwguydc]

I would say that the first guy didn't give an estimate, just an off-the-cuff comment about the general range that he would charge for the work. I think $45 is fair for the amount/time it took to get the work done on the car, especially when you are supplying the part. No written estimate can go both ways, so if they wish to change their business practices to better control their rates, so be it.

[Carlingtonian]

LetsRock: Pretty sure the mechanic is getting paid an hourly wage based on his time at the shop, so he gets paid the same regardless. At any rate, that's not really my problem to worry about. The shop doesn't have to base estimates on projected labor time if it doesn't want to--but that's what it did. (OK, I admit I DID worry a little that he wouldn't get paid fairly--but everyone says they get paid for being there, no matter whose car they work on. And I presume he worked on someone's car after mine--they were plenty busy yesterday--so that person should be paying for his labor after he stopped work on my car, not me.)

BMWGuyDC, thanks much. That's an accurate characterization. I asked him for an "estimate," but I'm sure I said used words like "about" or "generally"--as did he in his answer. (To me it would be unreasonable to say "Tell me exactly what I'll be paying for this job right now!" Plus my regular mechanic always gives me verbal estimates on the phone before he does something non-routine and then itemizes everything--parts and labor--in the final bill. [He goes as far as listing the cost of each O-ring when he does an oil change!])

Serves me right for not using him for this. But it's just such a long drive out there--Ballston to Oakton, basically--and I couldn't wait till the weekend to have a horn again.

Qwertman, Car54, WahooFan--I mean HokieFan: Thanks for your replies too! You jest, but the fact is that if they'd said "Look, we had to add a couple of pieces of metal to hold 'em on there, because the old ones were too rusty and broke off," then I wouldn't have objected to paying a few bucks for miscellaneous parts. (The horn kit did come with mounting brackets and bolts, however.)

Lest I seem completely unmanly, I did attempt to do the work myself--but the old bolts were too rusty to remove without a torque wrench. So I gave up and went inside for a strawberry daiquiri and some Sex and the City reruns.