So recently the GF needed to have an AC line replaced on her Nissan. The part itself costs $66 from Nissan. Some of the mechanics quoted as much as $250 for the part and not even OEM. The average was about a 100% markup. The Nissan dealership was actually the cheapest which is crazy. Why not just be honest and charge $120 an hour for the labor and not make themselves look like crooks with the parts markup?

Parts is where the money is at. When I was in college I worked at an auto parts store (a local one, not one of the chains). The garages we sold to got 50% of of "list" price. The average joe of the street got 75% off list, and some garages who did a very large volume with us got 60% off list on some things.

So if list was $100, the garage paid $50 and billed it to the customer for $100. Thats one of the reasons some garages won't install parts they didn't buy (and they cannot control the quality so won't want to warranty it). If the customer bought it themselves they paid $75 and the garage only made the labor rate.

I've noticed that myself. On the bright side if its not a big repair it has encouraged me to do it myself and slash otherwise costly bills.

Around here 30% is the norm, but labor rates are about 110.00. The part's house and even the dealers only give the independent shops about 10% off what a walk in customer would get the part for.

So we can all agree that 150% markup is ridiculous? And that’s 150% markup based on OEM parts which they weren’t even going to use.

Can't you just buy the part yourself and take it to your mechanic?

Do you bring in eggs and a steak to your favorite restaurant? This is considered bad form, and repair will have no warranty, and shop will have to charge for the markup that was not made on the part anyway.

I get it, I just checked on the price for the Stealership to replace the fuel filters on a 2016 F250 Diesel. They wanted $250.00 for a job I did at home in 10 minutes and $50.00 in parts. When I asked why it was so expensive I was told the parts alone were $150.00.

I laughed and walked out the door.

You just have to find a local, trustworthy guy like I have that won't try to rip you off every time.

My guy keeps getting busier and busier since the word of mouth got out that he does honest work at an honest price.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe123:
Do you bring in eggs and a steak to your favorite restaurant? This is considered bad form, and repair will have no warranty, and shop will have to charge for the markup that was not made on the part anyway.

Well if they were charging $35 for two scrambled eggs I might consider it

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Can't you just buy the part yourself and take it to your mechanic?

That would depend on your mechanic. For some parts mine says bring them in and we will install them, for other parts they get the parts and the install. FWIW, I've been bringing cars to the same mechanic for over 30 years now so our relationship is different than if I were a noob.

Maybe do your girlfriend a solid, YouTube how to do the repair yourself and save yourself even more money.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe123:
Do you bring in eggs and a steak to your favorite restaurant? This is considered bad form, and repair will have no warranty, and shop will have to charge for the markup that was not made on the part anyway.

Why?
Bad form> that's a laugh.
It is up to the establishment on their own policies but I have brought parts to mechanics many times.
In many cases they don't have to deal with procuring the parts only installing.
I think many would actually prefer not having to go get parts.
I suppose if it was run by millennials then they might be entitled or something.
Business is business - and anything two parties agree on is normal business.
No doubt it depends on the relationship with your mechanic, they don't have to but why not ask?

quote:

Originally posted by Joe123:
Do you bring in eggs and a steak to your favorite restaurant? This is considered bad form, and repair will have no warranty, and shop will have to charge for the markup that was not made on the part anyway.

I never considered bad form when I worked in a garage. Heck, it got the customer a discount for me not having to go and get the part. I could move the car in and out really quick.

I'll accept 10%. Otherwise, go pick up the part and save the cost.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
I'll accept 10%. Otherwise, go pick up the part and save the cost.

10%?
Better start boning up on auto mechanics then. Good luck working on modern cars!

Speaking as someone whose family has been in the car repair business since the 1940's, the guy's a crook and he's trying to rip you off.

He may be getting a 30-50% discount off of list and will likely make more money by using aftermarket parts. For him to then mark the list price up by 100% is his business, but beyond the pale. I suspect there will be other shenanigans with the labor cost, too.

Mechanics are invaluable, but some have money on the brain. We used to call them prima donnas. I would not do business with him.

As a side note, we've found there is often not a correlation between high prices and great service. Often, the opposite is true. YMMV.

Ha. I just ran into this problem while I was in Michigan for the summer. Naturally all of my tools were in Florida. I took my truck to the local dealer and they determined I needed my tie rod ends and the ball joint on the drag link replaced. The Moog parts were $245 on Rock Auto shipped. The service manager said the parts would be $500. We went back and forth a bit. They get their parts from CarQuest. I looked up the parts on Advanced Auto, which owns CarQuest, and the parts were $375 before the discount they give you for ordering online.

I paid the $500 plus $300 labor and had them fix it. Had I my tools, I would have done it myself. I get that they markup the parts, but ya, it's a tough pill to swallow.

Another good one was when I took the truck in to the local dealer Florida to have the tires rotated. They charged $9.95 and I got a donut free. They also did an inspection. They called me to the counter and showed me my air filter. Based on mileage, it was time to replace it, and I already had a Motorcraft one I purchased on Amazon for $18. I asked them how much and they said with a straight face $45. I said no thanks and the mechanic had to put the old filter back in. So they did all the labor anyway. If they had said $25, I would have said go ahead and kept the one I had for the next time.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Maybe do your girlfriend a solid, YouTube how to do the repair yourself and save yourself even more money.

I don’t have time for that sort of thing. I have 3 cars of my own that I don’t work on. She already got it fixed. This post was more of my general musings on the subject. I drive new cars for the most part and never keep them past 3 years so I never deal with mechanics. I just found it kind of ridiculous. Some of the quotes were from big chains. The dealer ended up coming in cheapest by about $100.

I got burned at Pep Boys once...
They said I needed a specific part replaced. I didn't have the tool needed to do the job and quickly looked up the price from their website on my smart phone. It seemed reasonable, so I gave the "go ahead". Shocked when I got the bill where the part was three times the price online from their own website!

I haven't been back since.