1st Gen Lunchtable Thread - General Discussion

Now that you mention it, I’ve been steering on the $1271 part estimate @Speedytech7 gave yesterday. Sure, I understand shops have to keep the lights on and the techs happy, but a 100+% markup seems absurd. And I’m assuming that was for an OEM part.. I can get it through McGeorge under 500 and that’s with a warranty also.

 

Well, that's an obvious one.

You had 5 different people (myself included) immediately suggest getting an OEM rack on your own. Not sure why you're still mentioning that.

I was just referring to the labor + cost versus doing it yourself.

Tools can last you a lifetime.

 

The part you buy just warranties the part, not the labor of uninstalling and reinstalling. Shops aren't trying to lose any money on defective parts. If you pay to have a part you bought separately installed the shop will not warranty the work. Why would they, they'd lose money switching them out for free because you're too cheap to pay the price for their full services.

 

Yep!

That mark-up (shops have their own policies, written and explained before accepting work) has given customers peace of mind as they've been able to warranty said part through the shop that installed it at no additional cost.

 

I understand that, but that example seemed extreme, especially since most shops just use Autozone parts these days.

 

Doesn't sound extreme to me it's covering the supposed labor for warranty. Warranties aren't free

 

If I supplied the part, I’d also be accepting the risk I might have to pay the full labor cost again if it turns out to be defective, so I can live with that. But the example given above included a markup that was at least twice the 3.5 hour book time at $100/hr. Maybe it’s more expensive out on the west coast idk m.

 

Maybe that’s how it works, but I just hadn’t heard of a warranty being more than the cost of a part. That’s like Apple charging a $3000 protection plan for a $1500 MacBook or something.

 

Let's not get into a west-coast east-coast cost of labor argument here, more money is made here which offsets the difference so moot point.

You're looking at the whole "labor again" job with a very narrow point of view.

The second your vehicle goes in for 'labor' say...that warranty labor, that lift or bay has taken up residence and has stopped the shop from making money.

Every vehicle on the lift or in a bay is a job needing to be done, and a job being paid for. It is the shop's income.

Warranty is only going to eat into that profit the shop made, and depending how long it takes, could cost them more in the end if other issues were to arise from it.

 

The few places I've used always let me supply parts, but I know some places don't. Then again the one place local to me that I like the most is more of an off-road Toyota shop so they cater to a niche. General auto shops probably don't like missing out on that profit margin though.

 

If you ran a shop the way you look at things as a customer, your shop will close doors within a week or less.

You need that overheard to pay your leasing, licensing, employees, yourself, consumables, whatever expensive equipment you purchased on credit, and then hope you have some left over for profit.

 

That makes sense I guess. One shop told me they’d have to charge a higher labor rate if I brought my own parts. The thing is, I don’t cheap out with parts store stuff, and it can be hard to communicate with some shops that I want OEM. Most of the time they won’t wanna go to all these specialty websites and vendors like McGeorge etc. and order every little hose and bushing, so it’s easier to just bring the parts there.

 

For all you wagon lovers out there, this one looks fun.



https://carsandbids.com/auctions/KVaAnzYM/1997-nissan-stagea-rs-four

 

I don't think they like to wait for parts to ship over the course of days, either your truck sits in their shop taking up space while waiting or they run the risk of you not coming in when the part they ordered arrives.

 

Because time is money, which brings us back to that point about taking space.

It's not that a shop doesn't want to buy good parts, they want to buy "good enough" parts that won't break right away but not looking at it long term.

You're asking a shop to shop the parts for you, sure they'll just call the nearest dealer and pay their suggested price.

If I were making something for you, I would just ask what thickness steel you need. But I am not going to pursue your sources for material just cause it's cheaper when I already know where I'm going and what I'm going to use.

 

I think you're just trying to have your cake and eat it too. I don't like paying those high prices I don't believe anybody does but some people have the means or at least don't care to do it themselves so they pay. Sometimes you pay if you're proclivity isn't towards repairing your own stuff. I didn't have the means so I learned to do it myself and now I don't see any reason to ever go back to paying it would be financially irresponsible. But in your case you both don't want to do it and don't want to pay so perhaps a bus pass

 

Yep! Brings it back to a point made above.

 

Yea that’s my point. If it was just some random Ford Focus, sure just let them go to NAPa or whatever, but for these trucks and especially my old Land Cruiser, it seemed easier to just supply the parts. If anything I probably saved them a few hours browsing Partsouq and McGeorge.

 

To a shop, your Tacoma is the same as that Focus.

It's just a vehicle, get it off the high-horse.

The way you have this sentimental value placed on your Tacoma, someone has it placed on their Maxima or B2000.

By saying that, you come off extremely entitled.