Shop labor rates

[SpencerPJ]

And don't forget the unnecessary upselling that pays commission.

 

[LarsMac]

I try to avoid dealers. I still know some good indy shops from way back in my Tow Truck days.
And, when on the road, I have been lucky enough to be where family knew some indy mechs when I needed one.

 

[jackiemac]

I'm guessing some dealers give warranty on their work so maybe that is part of the cost.

 

[Octodad]

I'm guessing some dealers give warranty on their work so maybe that is part of the cost.

Some do, and sometimes it is a nationwide warranty so that if it happens again in another state you are covered.

 

[TonyL]

I'm guessing some dealers give warranty on their work so maybe that is part of the cost.

If the work is carried out competently and correctly, there should be no need to build in extra cost to do it again. Bad workmanship shouldn't be paid for twice. The exception is when a part is fitted and that fails during its warranty. That's not necessarily the fault of the engineer, but their labor is required to replace the faulty component. That cost should be met by the manufacturer of the part, but in all the years that I was involved in servicing, that seldom happened.
Either way, it's not the customers fault so there's no way they should be expected to pay.

 

[Reinigm]

My guy gets $125. But it's not an issue to me because if he repairs something and there's a problem, he redoes it at no expense to me.

 

[SeilerBird]

What galls me is that if a job is done quicker than the book time and they make a larger profit. But if it is going to take longer then they come back to you and tell you it will cost more money.

 

[Old_Crow]

Then there's the Flat Rate book. Each job is assigned a certain amount of time to complete and the mechanic (and shop) bill the customer based on that amount. If the worker can figure out a faster way to do the work he can do multiple jobs within the original time period, in effect getting paid double or triple during that time. This leads to cutting corners and the resulting decrease in workmanship in the name of efficiency.

At every place I ever worked at in over 40 years of doing this, if I made a mistake and ended up having to do the job again, I didn't get paid for it. This is the incentive for not cutting corners...at least it was for me. In addition, I'm here to tell you that if a mechanic gets too many comebacks, he'll be looking for a job elsewhere.
I worked at a place one time where the other mechanic was the office manager's son. She asked me how it was that I managed to turn 45-50 hours in a 40 hour week while her son only turned around 30. I told her that I was working while her son was standing around drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. Didn't make her happy, but it was the truth.

 

[Jim RV Ferguson]

Jayflight when I opened my shop south of Memphis 9 years ago, our rate was $75. Unfortunately as we grew, we had to add a secretary, parts person, and an accountant. Our pay rate averaged about $13 at the time. Then the government shut the country down and paid out massive amounts of unemployment, wage earner benefits, etc. People would quit and file for these things because the government wouldn't check up on them. This was followed by large companies hiring anyone breathing at $20 an hour plus. In order for small businesses to compete we were forced to pay above that. Our taxes were also raised during the last 2 years. This being said, there are no schools around teaching this so we spend a lot of unpaid time training. They have to know DC systems, AC electrical, plumbing, hydraulics, carpentry and several other skills. Unlike the automotive industry, there are no schematics from any manufacturers except Winnebago. We spend a lot of time diagnosing. As for parts, Dometic has had 5 part price increases in the past year as well as a set $15 fee just to order anything from them. Small companies used to offset cost with part profits, now with everything available on amazon, ebay and other websites for our wholesale rate or less, we barely make anything on them. There has been increases in insurance, taxes, electricity, gas, and all outgoing moneys. Our trash dumpster was $55 per month 5 years ago and is now $238. I know people want to get some guy in a van to fix their stuff for a cheaper rate but is he bonded and insured? Those guys come and go. My guys are RVIA certified and we stand behind our work. Our Labor rate is $135 now but I assure you, a small business owner isn't getting rich doing this at that rate, We are just surviving.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Welcome aboard Jim and thanks for the great perspective from the "other" side.

 

[Jayflight]

Jim I don't think my original comment was a criticism of labor costs created by the cost of operation, which I totally understand and experienced this my entire working life, but more in line with I appreciated the independent guy actually providing services for the time on the job at his hourly rate. This was my beef at several of the last brick and mortar stores that I ended up in, with workers clearly unqualified to be sent out to do a job and being billed for the inflated hours while not fixing anything.

Let me add that like many good independent guys, they originally worked at regular brick and mortar stores and understood that they could make more for their services thats being provided in house and moved on. Not all of these independents are shade tree mechanics. I do look for insured folks as the first part of looking for work to be done, both at home and on all my mobile equipment.

There is just too much risk and little fall back if something happens. And these folks only make money if they show up and work efficently , which depends on referrals for their customer base to continue and even expand. We lost one of the best appliance worker as he aged out. He was the only one that we could count on for residential work showing up within a half hour of promised and fixed stuff or at least diagnose the problem and seek out parts on site before moving on. No one has replaced him since he retired either.