Hefty bill from my mechanic, but worth it

FWIW, I think you got a fair deal, you paid less than 100/hour in Cali, they get almost that here in dealerships! So, I feel in relation to where youa re located, that you got a fair price.

 

I know, the fact that he was so far off the quoted price is what made me wanna post this. The other reason is that I don't have a garage and wanna know if it's worth going back to him if there are other stuff that I will need to get done.

 

Read my prior post.
You are right with being upset over the initial quote. Doesnt make sense that they would quote that amount of work so low. I dont see how they could do that job for the first quote. Your actual bill is more realistic.
We can only stray from our initial quote on paper by 10%. Anything beyond that has to have authorization from the customer or they dont pay the extra. Thats law up here though. Our written quotes have to be very accurate and authorized.

 

Depends on a lot of factors. I can drive North of here a few hours and find a good shop around 50 an hour no problem. Shop rate solely reflects overhead.

 

My overhead is very low. I stay busy. Ive been doing this **** 17 years....
I never said you got ripped. Most shops around here charge 60-100 an hour.
I have a unique situation as do a couple buddies. We are succeeding at bringing back the small shop set up. I do no advertising other than word of mouth and craigslist. I do not make the same money i did working for somebody(less in the long run) but I have the freedom to do things I want, when I want.

 

Good for you. I wish I could get out on my own like that. Flat rate at the dealer. Need I say more.

 

I will quite and never do this stuff again if i had to go back and do that. I made the mistake of shutting down and going back. After having an assclown of a Service manager I reopened and never looked back. It aint easy....Some weeks I go awesome and others I go damn is it worth it...lol

 

Most of the time, you can figure the labor is is much or a bit more than the parts costs. That might be a bit high for around here, but for Cali it sounds like it might be about right. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters, but it looks like they would have aligned it with the new front end parts.

 

dont forget as pointed out... location location location. renting a shop in even east LA is going to be REEEEEL expensive. not cents per square foot but dollars per square foot. Not to say that you should not charge a little more though mavowar, top quality deserves at least competitive rates i agree however with darren that they should know their rates well enough by now to be able to quote a little more closely. I am also curious why they installed the tires and complete front end and did not tell you to align it? that will wear them out quick! not to mention it doesnt take too much deflection to lose your steering precision. alignment is one of the few things i have to go to a mechanic for, i can eyeball it good enough to drive it to the shop but the machine is Night and Day.

 

Considering you can't do the work yourself or maybe don't have the time, I think that's a fair price.
If it's quality work, it's well worth it, plus factor in that this work has set you back more than most guys cars are worth.

 

I think the way Darren broke it down it seems like a fair deal. I really liked that they communicated things with me (well, everything except the bump in the price). They are nice guys and weren't pushy.

I think rent around here is a little over $1 per sq ft and he has a ton of competition. So I'll go back to him, thanks a lot guys for your input.

 

I don't think you got ripped off. I think you'll find if you have to pay someone to do the work you're going to pay more, but the car won't be sitting around and you're saying I sure wish it was done. Now it is. Just go out and enjoy all the looks you're going to be getting while driving it.

 

Good I'm glad your happy. Most of us techs are pretty fair guys.
Every dealer seems to have that one guy though that rapes every car he brings in. We have one and its tough to get rid of them cause they look good on paper. Luckily we have good service writers that tone down his quotes. The rest of the shop is very fair and values customers. We complain constantly about his ethics but it falls on deaf ears. You'd think that if one guy out sells the whole shop combined on wheel cylinders they would look into it. NOPE. Very frustrating for the guys who try to take care of our customers.
What I'm trying to say is that if you find a tech you trust that does good work he's worth the money.
Feeding us works good to. Take in some donuts or butter tarts I guarantee it will save you a few bucks.