3 hours to swap out pre assembled 5100s w/ 885s - not about the $

I get what you’re saying. It’s not the rate, it’s the duration. The fronts should be pretty quick vs the rear but there’s so time just it the job setup. To me this is definitely a diy type thing and could be an opportunity to learn something. You can probably get someone to do it as a side project for probably 1/2 of the rate and have you help by being a gopher. Just post something on this site and see what kind of localnhelp you can get

 

If you come over to my place, I will help you for $125 an hour.

 

But it should only take an hour right?

 

If we slow down to drink beer, yeah, one hour.

 

So do it yourself or pay the man.

 

Shop rate and install time both look reasonable to me

 

I will do it for $10K and it will take me seven hours.
Better?

 

You must be a tech for Toyota

 

That rate is really good. Assuming you're not doing anything that requires custom fab, it's shouldn't take that long. Maybe 4hrs max if they take breaks.

 

They are only charging you $75 for an alignment. Its $125 in our shop.

 

I would say something, but everyone here already came down on the man hard enough.

There is nothing more I can stand than people who complain about the price of labor rate. I don't make the book time the manufacturer does, sorry buddy. If you don't like it, do it yourself or take your cheap ass somewhere else if you are penny pinching that bad.

 

It’s not about the price per hour or total cost!

It was a poorly titled question about time to do the front.

 

The problem is paying for time that wasn’t spent actually working on the vehicle. $105 an hr is fair but paying for 3hrs when it takes 1 is not

 

No I know, that's why I am personally not giving you a hard time. That has already been done to no wits end. Lol. You can edit the title by the way.

The other two hours covers the electrical bill and the formal education it took to learn this stuff. Not all of us went to YouTube Academy to learn how to wrench on cars and trucks.

 

That should all be built in to the hourly shop rate. Get it in & out and move on to the next vehicle

 

You must not work in the automotive industry. That’s how I & other tech’s make money. You know the thing that pays my bills! I don’t get paid on how long it takes me to do a job. If I did I wouldn’t be in this business. Most dealers and independents are flat rate. So irritating that people like yourself think we should only get paid for what time it took us to do the job. I wasn’t the one making up the time for the job. The manufacturer does. If I can get it done fast yay for me.

 

Yea but what you don’t understand is some repairs they may get paid 2 hours on and t takes them 3 and a half. And guess what? They only get paid for 2. I worked flat rate for a few years. Some jobs you win and some you lose. Atleast the customer knows upfront what the price is. Imagine getting quoted for 2 hours labor and then after the job is completed they say sorry sir you owe us another $250 because it took 2 hours longer than the book said.

 

Looks right to me.. if you wanted free or cheap, should have done it yourself .

 

This pendulum swings both ways. I say that bill looked 'pricey' and I don't swallow all that 'we train like nurses' crap. I was a mechanic for a while, paint and body for a while too, long ago, and I now do virtually all of my own work, so have insight from both sides. Many shops overcharge, and it is reasonable to look at a job, as a customer, and say 'wow, that seems expensive'. It possibly is, and you may or not get a well trained mechanic to do the job right in spite of claims about 'training'. But the advice up to now is right, sortof: if you are unwilling to do the work yourself you are at the mercy of potentially 'proud' shops with potentially lame mechanics; welcome to the world of the privileged that can afford to have work done. Keep in mind that the underprivileged will likely take steps to secure as much of your privilege as they can without concern for the value you are receiving. Shop around, post estimates on TW and ask for comparisons, research; those are some of the tools you can use to push back where you think you might be overpaying. And keep in mind that those 'in the industry' will likely have distorted views if you ask them about the value you are receiving.

Bob
contrarian