Stealership Ripoffs...

You may want to check your math.

 

X2

Sales (revenue) doesn't equal profit. If they run a 20% EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax) which is not bad considered other industries aim for a lot lower number. To make it easy and just assume they make 20% EBIT on every bill they charge - out of a $150 in sales they pull $30 minus government taxes and interest for business loans to keep everything running.

Now if you are a one man show, with a smaller shop and less overhead (run a leaner business model) you can do it for $100 and bottom line you might be able to pull in more than said dealership.

But again, I agree with everyone on here - charging customers 2h for work for a job that takes 30min is just fraud and so is paying for a 8oz steak which is only 6oz

 

Looking for an awesome dealer ? awesome service ? they turned me away when I wanted to overspend
on my 4runner parts they said jeeze man hold off till you need this stuff...?

Acton Toyota of Littleton Ma... (was in Acton, now in Littleton 4 miles west up the road RT 2A)

http://www.boston.com/cars/news-and...s-come-true/IzS7pmdNesZlBPLy6TD7dL/story.html

 

sometimes it could also be the person at the counter not knowing whats all involved to install specific
items...ive been guilty of that when it comes to new vehicles. anyone of u ever have to install side steps on a Highlander? not as simple as a few bolts screwed in. you would think installing a trailer
hitch and wiring harness on a 15' Rav4 would be relatively simple...2 maybe 3 hrs worth of labor? how bout 7 hrs. you have to nearly disassemble the entire interior of the vehicle in order to do one of these b/c of the harness. people look at me like i have 2 heads sometimes when i quote them and of course i get the old "uhaul does it for....". ok..sorry....go get it done at Uhaul than. sometimes i would rather not do the job b/c it is very expensive but on the flip side it ties up one of my "A" techs for several hours
on 1 job.

 

Nobody has mentioned the service writers at the dealer, they work on commision, it pays them to upsell and pad jobs, they make a bigger check.
Also, a service writer can make or break the job, by how he listens to what the service tech is advising...

 

I worked in a small shop many years ago and we used All-data like the dealerships do. When someone would come in for something on their car All-data would say it takes four hours for example. Well most of us knew which tasks on the cars took the longest and the shortest amount of time.

So instead of saying "yeah that break job is four hours and thats what we'll charge", we said "the break job only takes two hours and we would quote for three". Third hour giving us breathing room incase something takes too much time.

If the job was done faster than the quoted hours we would charge for the amount of time spent doing the work. So people would get a call from us, for example, many times saying "hey, your vehicle is ready for pick up and the $200 hundred dollars we quoted you is only $150." This allowed great pricing in the area and whooped the dealerships butt on prices as well as the local shops in the area.

Each situation is different in that instead of using a computer system that says "this is what it will take", the owner would only charge what we actually did. People loved that shop and he has since expanded into a huge facility not too far from the the small shop he began in.

Granted this is a risky business model in that sometimes, you could over shoot your quote and you'll have to eat the difference. However, people would be lined up down the street to get work done on their car at this shop, so you didn't see the difference very often.

 

My point is to show the disparity in what the guy doing the REAL work gets vs. the dealership.

 

You need to read what I wrote. NOT ALL use the same rate. There is not one book for all. Even though they al use a book (or computer program) not all charge the same rates. There is not one book or program they all follow for prices.

 

The dealership makes money off of people who don't know any better. You are on a forum of "enthusiasts" more than likely everyone here that posts regularly could tackle just about any job on their vehicle.

My good friend growing up couldn't change out a flat tire on his car. Didn't even know he had a spare tire under the carpet in his truck. Those are the kinds of people that dealerships make their money on. Then there also the people like a guy I work with. he is in his late 50s. He probably has forgotten more about working on vehicles and building engines that I will ever know. He drops his 4 Runner off at the dealer to change a head light bulb because he just doesn't want to mess with it anymore, and he doesn't care about the money. He also paid the ford dealer to install a set of side steps on his F150. Even if it was 150-200 dollars. He said easier for me to give them the money, than rolling around on the garage floor putting them on.

So Mechanically inept people, and people who just don't care about the cost is what drives the prices.

I'll pay to have work done on my truck just because I don't have the time to do it. I am so busy with work, and traveling its just easier. I have it scheduled next week at a local shop to put new pads and rotors on that I bought from Amazon. Charging me 150 bucks. But he comes down, gets my truck, does the work and brings it back to me. Plus they are a good family owned shop.

 

Ha! Ha!

Had a co-worker like that years ago. He had just a bought a brand new small hatchback of some sort. Then he started asking around the office about where to purchase a spare tire for it. A couple of us went out to show him where it was, and he was so grateful I thought he was going to pay us.

 

When I need a welding job - especially on little brackets and what-not that will eventually be nicely finished and in the public eye, I take the pre-cut steel parts to a local muffler shop (I can stick stuff together- only). The fellow who does the welding there does "sheet metal" welding all day and way out of position too. Anyway, the first time I went there - I expected a "minimum charge" to apply. So the shop lead man said wait here and walked off with the part(s) which was a bit spooky - but ...... He returned in a few minutes - the weld was great, ground finish - black paint was drying and the part was hanging on a wire. He said that will be five bucks please..... I was sort of dumb founded and said so - so he pointed at the sign that said "Labor $60 per hour" and said this job "took 12 minutes - that's five bucks".

I'm a lot happier to pay for "time elapsed" - with qualified workmen - than this stuff where you get a fixed hour estimate ("standard hours").

 

ill second this opinion acton toyota is the best anywhere. bobs the man and a nice guy too!!

 

I don't complain about rates. I get it. I do however don't like it when it's something a unmechanically inclined person with limited tools like myself can do in 45mins and they try and charge me 2 hrs.

 

One more reason not to live in CA. My garage down the street is $50 and my dealer is, IDK never paid a dealer to do anything for me.

 

There are two types of people generally speaking. Either "don't know" or "don't care". I can do a lot of stuff myself but frankly my time has value too so I factor that in when I pay 18 bucks for two wiper blades to be installed. Yep I could have done it myself but why? I like to use my free time for other things. Some like working on their vehicles but I spent most of my youth in the snow banks of upstate NY changing starters and such to keep my turds on the road and so now I joyfully pay for someone else to do it. Excessive labor rates..eh maybe in some places but with overhead I get the economics of it.

 

The very same. I'm sure you realize that two wrongs don't make a right. Care to discuss the economics of the legislatively mandated dealer franchise model or you just doing drivebys?

 

I had a rear shock replaced under warranty and I was at the dealer for 2+ hours. I am sure they charged Toyota at least an hour. I was not happy to be waiting that long for a 30 minute job but at least I was not paying for it.

 

You are correct. Two wrongs do not make a right.
However I see no reason to place Tesla on some moral high ground. And no, I have no desire to discuss "the economics of the legislatively mandated dealer franchise model". partly because I'd have to educate myself on the subject prior to the discussion...out of respect for whomever I'm discussing with. And partly because I would believe it's in the best interest of Tesla to "break the auto dealer lobbyist's hold on our legislators"...not in the interest of the consumer. And surely not in the interest of the tax payer. In full disclosure, it would be obvious that I'm no fan of Mr. Musk or Tesla.

 

Your point would have more credibility if the numbers added up.
And if you didn't assume that only those with busted knuckles are doing the REAL work.

 

I think he did you a favor there...to me that sounds more like $12 in labor