</rant?> Markup on parts at independent repair shops </>

OK, not so much a rant, as apparently this is a thing I didn't know.

My 2017 DBLBOR has been making some noise in the rear, and I'm hitting 60K miles and the plugs are supposed to get changed, so I dropped it off at the mechanic this morning.

It turns out that the noise was from the disintegrating brake shoes. The pads in the front are nearly gone too.

What can I say? I brake like I'm driving an Indy car.

Undoubtedly the brake parts were being marked up too, but I didn't notice it. I did notice when the spark plugs were $35/ea which seemed high, only to find them for half that from some random Toyota dealer parts department online.

Before anyone weighs in, I understand that the shop has its capital investment to pay for, the operating expenses and taxes, the owner's profit and undoubtedly a bunch of stuff that doesn't fit into these categories. I get that.

I thought things worked like this: I get the drivethrough treatment on the shop rate, I get the drivethrough treatment on the book time versus reality, and their wholesale price for parts is less than what I'd pay from Toyota because they buy a few million dollars worth of parts every year and I don't. Then, they charge me the retail/msrp price for the parts and make a bit of profit on the difference.

Some people might say that I should do my own maintenance, and that's a fair point. I have in the past, but now live in an apartment and don't have a convenient place to work.

Also, when the shop rate was only double what I get paid as an IT guy with a degree, it left me a wee bit miffed. But, now the shop rate locally is closer to three times what I make, and it just seems like things are getting out of hand.


Is this pretty common, or was I just uninformed?

P.S. - I know that price paid in lots of other areas of life undoubtedly include a markup to the cost of good sold, but the price isn't broken out by labor and parts and shop expenses and disposal and . . .

P.P.S - Would I rather they just quote me $600+ to change the spark plugs? IDK. I'd probably end up in the same place, deciding to do the work myself. Taking the day off from work and buying the parts myself would be cheaper.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DWBkc7mmME&t=1611s

 

Capitalism sucks. You could move to China.

On a more serious note, yes that sounds normal.

As a fellow IT guy, I can say that you cannot compare IT rates to shop rates because IT guys have near zero overhead compared to a shop. There are probably a few other factors as well.

 

Never authorize the work until you have quote in hand. Then you can call and price compare apples to apples.

 

Yep. It has more or less always been this way and is one of the reasons that shops typically will not install parts that you bring in.

Basically the same as just about any sit down restaurant. The meal costs about three times the cost of ingredients to cover wages, infrastructure, and profit.

This is my basic rationale for doing as much as I can at home, esp including mounting tires on my motorcycle. Massive savings there.


I have the exact same feeling as you about quoted labor rates. Hell, an HVAC company near me posts starting pay rates for those jokers (who drive like absolute assholes) for significantly more than I make over 25yrs in my field. Dafuq?

 

oh man let me tell you. I use to be friends with the parts guy, parts went like this, dealer cost+ 40% was base price for any Toyota part from the dealership.

The cost for shop time in my last shop was $120 per hour in 2016, when i left as a line technician.

 

I'm not sure why it surprised me, it's not like it's only at the auto mechanic it's happening.

The utility company can't raise rates except with the approval of the state regulators, so they add fees.

The food companies decrease the amount in the package to avoid having to raise the price.

Every company that can is trying to move to some kind of subscription model.

Damned kids need to get off of my lawn. ;-)

 

The one that has been chapping my ass lately, beyond those, is that I swear the quality of products has intentionally dropped off. Damn hard to prove, but I swear that the same stuff worked better two or three years ago.


Just yelling into the void also. Haha!

 

Parts markup is standard. Shops leverage their wholesale discounts so they can make money on the parts. This is standard business practice in everything. If the shop sells it to you at their cost, it is more of a courtesy than a standard. They are probably making a killing off you for the service and make you feel better by selling you the parts at "wholesale".

My Mechanic gives me a choice. He asks if I want OEM equivalent (for example: Denso), or straight from the dealer. The dealer parts are higher than online because he has to get it from the dealer down the street to finish the job the same day. So you pay for the cost of convenience. You nailed the other option. If all these costs are not worth it to you, order the parts online and do the work yourself.

 

Lessons cost money and good ones cost lots.

 

Question for OP: Does the $600 cover only the cost of plugs and labor or does it also include everything in the $60k service?

 

Yea my dude... my local BMW stealershit quoted me $5000 for brake work + an engine mount on my mini... I decided to tackle shit myself after that.

Once you start breaking shit down into categories of labor/parts and try and backtrace how much money each place makes... it is a nightmare. You should see what you think it is worth to you... I.E $500 for spark plugs + labor and pay up or do it yourself.

Also what did the total service run you? Seems like an "appartment" is not really an excuse. You could rent a shop bay somewhere or go to an empty street and do it yourself if you wanted to save money. Brakes are 30 min per wheel tops, so I am sure you can save major money that way.

Labor rates in this country are atrocious... Some dealers are as high as $200 an hr... for a TOYOTA. That's 400k a year if you were to make that per hr

 

Reads like a regional form thread post.

 

It was to replace the spark plugs, visually inspect the rest of the ignition system, the emissions controls system, the hoses and belts.

 

Life on

Damned right!! Life on the Front Range FTW.

 

ah yes mini brakes, was it a cooper works by chance or any turbo model, brakes were $2500 starting. and the engine mount likely involved lots of removal of stuff under hood depending on what mount.

heck subaru Wrx STi Brakes are the same have to bleed them for the dual piston set up and special Brembo pads etc.

 

Markup is quite common. Shops have admin costs when it comes to dealing with parts. They have to pay for them and paying costs money. 100% markup is pretty standard.

 

That doesn't look too bad. It looks like something they would do for the 60k service. And I assume that includes the oil and filter change?