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 would never, ever patronize a shop that didn't let me bring in my own parts.

That's how they make some of their money.

I've seen shops that will charge more per hour for labor if you bring your own parts.

I understand why they would charge extra if they have to source the part. But to mark it up 150% is quite ridiculous, IMO.

My mechanic lets me bring in my own parts but he has some conditions at times.

My 02 Ford F-250 5.4 Gas V8 needed new plugs and ignition coils (each plug has its own coil). He said the coils alone run $80-90 each and he won't bother installing anything but OEM as he's seen too many issues over the years with aftermarket coils. I asked if I could find the OEM coils at a better price would he use them and he said yes as long as they are factory sealed OEM.

I found them online for about $30 each at a Ford dealer who was overstocked. Now normally this is a job I would have done myself but this motor has a history of having spark plugs break off so I let him do it.

OP, those shops are ripoffs and I wouldn't use them in the future.

My oil change place does not carry the brand of oil (Valvoline) I use so I take the required 6 quarts and use their filter. Cost about the same as their oil. No complaints from them.

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:


I would never, ever patronize a shop that didn't let me bring in my own parts.

Then you'd probably not patronized my shop.
Here's what happens on my end:
Customer brings in their own fuel pump and wants me to simply install "their" part. I spend the better part of the day taking apart a gas tank and putting everything back together to discover that the customer supplied a part with the wrong resistance value, cheap chinese part that fails in the first 30 seconds, or never worked from the start which may or may not be detectable until the repair is finished.
So then Mr. Customer comes back in and refuses to pay for my labor because their car still won't run. I get the run around from them and the collections companies for several months until I have to give them back their car at a loss to my shop.

That's why we don't like customers bringing in their own fucking parts. Don't like it? Feel free to shop around or do it yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:


I would never, ever patronize a shop that didn't let me bring in my own parts.

Then you'd probably not patronized my shop.
Here's what happens on my end:
Customer brings in their own fuel pump and wants me to simply install "their" part. I spend the better part of the day taking apart a gas tank and putting everything back together to discover that the customer supplied a part with the wrong resistance value, cheap chinese part that fails in the first 30 seconds, or never worked from the start which may or may not be detectable until the repair is finished.
So then Mr. Customer comes back in and refuses to pay for my labor because their car still won't run. I get the run around from them and the collections companies for several months until I have to give them back their car at a loss to my shop.

That's why we don't like customers bringing in their own fucking parts. Don't like it? Feel free to shop around or do it yourself.

Sounds reasonable. So why not just charge the actual labor cost instead of this bullshit song and dance inflating car parts costs. I’m not saying you charge crazy markups but it seems all mechanics markup parts to some degree. Why not say this is the cost of the part and it’s going To take 2 hours and cost you $400 instead of saying we only charge $50 an hour and the part is x2 the retail cost. It just seems like a needless game.

One reason I like to buy (certain parts) parts for an install is not always the price but so I don't get cheap knock offs.
It would normally negate many warranty relation ships but that is why I would say it is fine for certain parts and not every day common use parts.
Sometimes it can be about the price but not always.
Like I said before many just don't want the hassle of procuring the items.
It takes time and effort that can be a pain in the ass at times.
I understand why some mechanics want control of their process and in many cases these are the good ones.

In my business I provide and sell computers but sometimes I just do work on the ones they have or buy.
Usually they buy from me because they know I control the quality process all the way through.
Most is made by me in tech work anyway so it is not a big deal.
I certainly don't get insulted or think I am entitled to anything.
The objective is always to solve their problem whatever path it might take ~ not to see how much money I can get from them.

quote:

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

I have done this with my Lexus mechanic. He can't stock all the parts he needs so he has to source them locally from the dealership. They don't give him a discount so he does not have an option if you want your car fixed right then. If it's not an emergency repair I just order the parts and bring them in. I bring in my oil, brake fluid and diff fluid as well because he does not stock my brand. No biggie. Labor cost stays the same.

Dusty - I hope you are well.

Call Nisstech in Indian Trail. They are right off Independence in Union County. I have sent a few friends there and they will not rip your face off.

Email me if you want the contact info.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:


I would never, ever patronize a shop that didn't let me bring in my own parts.

Then you'd probably not patronized my shop.
Here's what happens on my end:
Customer brings in their own fuel pump and wants me to simply install "their" part. I spend the better part of the day taking apart a gas tank and putting everything back together to discover that the customer supplied a part with the wrong resistance value, cheap chinese part that fails in the first 30 seconds, or never worked from the start which may or may not be detectable until the repair is finished.
So then Mr. Customer comes back in and refuses to pay for my labor because their car still won't run. I get the run around from them and the collections companies for several months until I have to give them back their car at a loss to my shop.

That's why we don't like customers bringing in their own fucking parts. Don't like it? Feel free to shop around or do it yourself.

This. Very much this. My FIL has his own shop and deals with this regularly. Personally, I buy the parts myself, and install them myself. Then I don't have to bitch about markup, or labor costs...just asshole engineers who design cars so they're next to impossible to service .

quote:

Originally posted by JohnCourage:

quote:

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

I have done this with my Lexus mechanic. He can't stock all the parts he needs so he has to source them locally from the dealership. They don't give him a discount so he does not have an option if you want your car fixed right then. If it's not an emergency repair I just order the parts and bring them in. I bring in my oil, brake fluid and diff fluid as well because he does not stock my brand. No biggie. Labor cost stays the same.

We use the same process for our Honda / Toyota mechanic. A long time ago I asked about using genuine parts and they said if I want to get dealer parts and provide them they're fine with using them as they don't get a discount. I've been doing exactly that for a while now. Sometimes they say their source is as good and cheaper and I go with their source. It's worked well for 10+ years.

quote:

Originally posted by Dusty78:
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?

They should be charging the $66 list price that Nissan charges for it and they should be getting a 20-40% discount from the retail price from the Nissan dealership. NOW, there might be additional prices in that price like overnight shipping because none of the local dealers had it, or there are some additional parts like an a/c line kit or something like that. I would definitely call and ask them and mention that the part is $66 from Nissan (unless you were quoted a different a/c line than they changed.) All dealerships normally give a mechanic a discount if they have a business license and resale certificate. Most of the dealerships and good parts houses deliver the parts to you also, that is if you have an actual automotive garage.


I generally sell my customers parts at about a 10% discount below retail and still make 20-30% on them. But I sell a TON of parts, like a years supply to a vessel that's going out of the country. But, the parts markup does go to pay for the time ordering the part, picking it up, having to warranty out free labor if the part fails during it's warranty period. And, the other crappy thing now a days, is you have to send the part back to the manufacturer to be tested before a new one sent back, so I end up buying a new one to fix the customers yacht now, and may or may not sell the replacement part.

I don't like installing someone's provided part. Many times they get the part off of ebay or amazon, and you look at the design and the part has been sitting on a shelf 5-10 years, or it's some Chinese copy. I will install them, but if the part fails I'm not giving you free labor to change it.

quote:

Originally posted by 280nosler:
Dusty - I hope you are well.

Call Nisstech in Indian Trail. They are right off Independence in Union County. I have sent a few friends there and they will not rip your face off.

Email me if you want the contact info.

Yup I used them for my xterra. That was my first choice but they are booked solid until late next week. She ended up going to the dealer and getting a decent price. She just couldn’t take not having AC with this weather which I totally get. I offered one of my cars but she can’t drive stick and is scared to drive the bimmer.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:


I would never, ever patronize a shop that didn't let me bring in my own parts.

Then you'd probably not patronized my shop.
Here's what happens on my end:
Customer brings in their own fuel pump and wants me to simply install "their" part. I spend the better part of the day taking apart a gas tank and putting everything back together to discover that the customer supplied a part with the wrong resistance value, cheap chinese part that fails in the first 30 seconds, or never worked from the start which may or may not be detectable until the repair is finished.
So then Mr. Customer comes back in and refuses to pay for my labor because their car still won't run. I get the run around from them and the collections companies for several months until I have to give them back their car at a loss to my shop.

That's why we don't like customers bringing in their own fucking parts. Don't like it? Feel free to shop around or do it yourself.

You probably won't be patronizing our shop either. We get alot of folks coming in with a POS part that their buddy told them that will cure all of their problems. They won't say what the real problem is and when asked why their buddy doesn't fix it for them, it's usually because they don't know how or don't have the equipment or both. Then they expect us to warranty every part of the repair, parts and labor. We actually had a woman tell us when she first came into the shop with her stuff "You better get it right because I had to sue the last four shops that worked on my car". She couldn't be hustled out the door fast enough.

We stock alot of small parts that the dealers don't. We have very good relationships with the dealers in the area and they will get almost anything in their system for us overnight and deliver it to us by the end of the following day but that doesn't get your car back to you by 2:30 the day you brought it in as you requested. If someone has to go get it, that is $105/hr that they are not making on a different car. The reason that the dealer doesn't stock this stuff is that they work on primarily new to 5 year old vehicles and we work on older vehicles that are out of warranty.

Here in the rustiest part of the country,you get more parts replaced that have broken fasteners and fittings that crumbled to dust upon contact in the course of removing or replacing the offending part. Sometimes it is just easier to roll all of the parts into the original part price rather the list every nut, bolt, fitting, wiretie, vacuum hose, wire connector and many more small parts.

Of course you can mostly avoid this by bringing every conceivable part that may break or be damaged in the course of the repair and we will give you back anything that we didn't need so that you can return them as you see fit. Any other things that turn up we can discuss prices and time frames but be aware that delivery times will be stretched out.

My mechanic will take my parts for the install but he stresses that if part goes belly up, I have to pay for removal by him.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

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!

I am a mechanic.

I'm also away from town a lot. If my wife needs to take a vehicle for service, if they push more than 10%, I either have her take the vehicle elsewhere, or go get the pars herself.

I don't stomach gouging, period.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

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!

I am a mechanic.

I'm also away from town a lot. If my wife needs to take a vehicle for service, if they push more than 10%, I either have her take the vehicle elsewhere, or go get the pars herself.

I don't stomach gouging, period.

10%?? That doesn't even cover the time to call and track down the part. Do you have her install the parts herself also?