automotive labor rates of greenville area? (for rent, health insurance, how much)

[chris0015]

So,i do most of my own work,but sometimes i dont have time and want someone else to do it. Any of you gearheads or people in general had recent stuff done to your cars wanna chime in and post where you had it done and labor rates? most (excluding dealerships) are 55-75 a hour. It'd be nice to find cheaper.


(this isnt a review on shops,just labor rate comparisons)

[nmelfi]

Originally Posted by chris0015

So,i do most of my own work,but sometimes i dont have time and want someone else to do it. Any of you gearheads or people in general had recent stuff done to your cars wanna chime in and post where you had it done and labor rates? most (excluding dealerships) are 55-75 a hour. It'd be nice to find cheaper.


(this isnt a review on shops,just labor rate comparisons)

Iwould like to find things cheaper also. 2k a month for rent.almost 10k for shop keepers insurance,40k for a alignment machine, 20k for the rack and rolling jacks to use the alignment machine. Over 10 k in diagnostic equipment for driveability problems,well over 75k in my toolbox, a 6k A/C machine and another few grand in misc stuff oh and don't forget the EPA good for another few grand. Yea, i will work for 40 bucks a hour,NOT! And we have not even figured in my knowledge and training for the last 40 years.Cars today are a lot smarter the many of NASA missions to this day.Mechanics are not dealing with simple mechanical problems anymore,we are dealing with multiple computers talking to each other and making decsions to compensate for one another. The days of cheap diagnostics are over and one will have to pay to get their car repaired. With the so called advances in technology many car will be 'throw aways' because of the cost of repair.

[Labonte18]

And that's assuming that you run the shop by yourself and have no employees to pay.. Or provide health insurance for.. Or training..

Labor rates really aren't too bad.. The thing is to find a shop you trust and that does the work right the first time around. And, paying a few dollars more can generally save even more expenditures down the road. Remember the line in Tommy Boy? "If you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will.. I got spare time." So, when you go out and see $19.99 'lifetime' brake pads at Autozone and wonder why the shop is charging you $69.99.. It might be better to spend the $69.99 on a higher quality pad, so that you're not paying the guy another $200+ for labor to replace them again in 20k miles.

Most every shop goes by 'the book' (Someone can tell me what that book is officially called) that provides how much labor should be, in hours, to do most anything to any car. If it says that it should take about 1.5 hours to replace a fuel pump in an 05 chevy colorado, they multiply their labor rate by 1.5 hours. And that book is pretty accurate.

I think most people get sticker shock on repair costs nowadays not so much because of labor, but due to parts that can vary wildly in cost.. That, and the fact that the same job on two different vehicles can vary in price so much.. Back in the day.. Replacing a water pump, for example, on a chevy, ford, jeep, whatever.. Basically the same price. The part would vary a bit, but, not a whole lot.. Now.. I thought I had a blown head gasket a few weeks ago.. Blew one on a '97 Chevy S-10 maybe 10 years ago.. Cost about $600 to have repaired. On my current vehicle(05 Colorado), it would have cost $1500 or so to have repaired. Both of them 4 cylinder engines, but..

While I was in the shop a few weeks ago.. I heard them talking about replacing the sensors in the tires on a vehicle.. The ones that monitor air pressure.. Those are battery powered, and the batteries are good for about 6 years.. $85 a pop.

Or.. Someone who had a Cadillac.. Got their side view mirror knocked off in a parking lot.. Same thing happened to me, I was mildly shocked at the price of almost $100 to replace the side view mirror assembly on my truck. The guy at the chevy dealership where I bought it told me about the guy with a Caddy.. $650 for the side view mirror.. Because it had the integrated turn signal, plus was powered, plus had the heater on it..

I do disagree about diagnostics no longer being cheap. The advances in the computer systems in vehicles are a blessing and a curse. Most of the time, codes are being set when there is a problem(In the powertrain). Now.. It does take much more knowledge to properly interpret those codes.. But, back in the day, when you had an intermittent miss in the engine.. Mechanics might suspect that someone was feeling something outside the engine, perhaps, if they couldn't duplicate it. Now.. That miss is likely to be logged, down to what cylinder is missing. Plus, problems can be caught BEFORE they become larger issues.

As for the NASA comment.. Repairing vehicles still isn't rocket science. I'll give you the poetic license on that, but.. That is pushing it.

[larryscan]

I've used the same shop for 50 years Blackstones. Went to school with him. Christain. Rate about $60. The most important thing is he does not take short cuts. i've never once questioned his work You need to find someone like this. There are some cars he want service. Good Luck.

[pgriss]

As cars get more complicated, repairs get more expensive. I agree about all of the equipment as well as the cost. Don't forget paying the taxes & waste either. You have to have a program upgrade constantly & some cats might be a extra cost. The cost of trying to stay independent is horrendous!