Got owned by my safety inspection
07-12-2009, 01:40 PM
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07-12-2009, 03:56 PM
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Re: Got owned by my safety inspection
Anyone know a shop around sterling that has good rep? I searched but my dad is lazy to drive out even to chantilly so I have to keep it very local lol.
07-15-2009, 11:50 AM
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Re: Got owned by my safety inspection
The exhaust is a OEM replacement. OEM stuff is expensive, and also shops make a cut off it. Some parts will be marked up as much as double. An example is, my 1999 Dodge Dakota failed safety one year for a worn tie rod end. Shop quoted me 92.87 for the part. I said thanks, and drove across the street to the parts supplier (Fairfax Auto Parts) and picked it up for 42.34.
Another example is my exhaust on my 1992 Jeep Cherokee. It was something like 490ish to replace it from headers back so I ended up going with an aftermarket company and paid 248 for a complete system that sounds great.
Many shops make a good portion of their money on the markups from the parts however, so if you do buy from that route, expect the shop to not accept you to hand them the parts and just pay labor. Some shops will accept walk in parts but increase labor costs by like 30%.
07-15-2009, 07:46 PM
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Re: Got owned by my safety inspection
They go by the book. The time is for an average mechanic taking his time. Thus if you are experienced and can get the job done, you can end up doing say, 14 hours of work in a 8 hour day, thus making more. A more experienced mechanic will make more per year than a beginner, even though they might get the same amount of money per hour. Almost all shops work like that.
The exhaust is a OEM replacement. OEM stuff is expensive, and also shops make a cut off it. Some parts will be marked up as much as double. An example is, my 1999 Dodge Dakota failed safety one year for a worn tie rod end. Shop quoted me 92.87 for the part. I said thanks, and drove across the street to the parts supplier (Fairfax Auto Parts) and picked it up for 42.34.
Another example is my exhaust on my 1992 Jeep Cherokee. It was something like 490ish to replace it from headers back so I ended up going with an aftermarket company and paid 248 for a complete system that sounds great.
Many shops make a good portion of their money on the markups from the parts however, so if you do buy from that route, expect the shop to not accept you to hand them the parts and just pay labor. Some shops will accept walk in parts but increase labor costs by like 30%.
The exhaust is a OEM replacement. OEM stuff is expensive, and also shops make a cut off it. Some parts will be marked up as much as double. An example is, my 1999 Dodge Dakota failed safety one year for a worn tie rod end. Shop quoted me 92.87 for the part. I said thanks, and drove across the street to the parts supplier (Fairfax Auto Parts) and picked it up for 42.34.
Another example is my exhaust on my 1992 Jeep Cherokee. It was something like 490ish to replace it from headers back so I ended up going with an aftermarket company and paid 248 for a complete system that sounds great.
Many shops make a good portion of their money on the markups from the parts however, so if you do buy from that route, expect the shop to not accept you to hand them the parts and just pay labor. Some shops will accept walk in parts but increase labor costs by like 30%.
As far as the shop mark up, a shop shouldn't and is not supposed to mark up/ charge a part more then what the list price is. Meaning it shouldn't be too far from what it would cost a customer to walk into a part store and purchase themselves. Keep in mind, mark up is there to cover purchasing of the part, warranty of the part, defects, etc.
Going and purchasing the "same part" is not always the case. If you shop around, you will more then likely find a cheaper costing part, but that DOES NOT mean it is the same part that a shop is selling you. i.e. you can buy an Interstate battery for around $90-180, depending on application, you can also go to Autozone and buy the "same battery" for probably half that.
Would I ever put an autozone battery in my car? Hell no.
Another thing to keep in mind is if a shop even takes the customer's part to install, I can pretty much guarantee the shop is not going to warranty ANYTHING.
Aside from a shop completely overcharging for a replacement, there is no reason not to purchase the part along with the service work being done to the vehicle.
07-16-2009, 07:04 AM
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Re: Got owned by my safety inspection
Some truth behind that, there are a guideline of labor times that shops follow in order to give an estimate.
As far as the shop mark up, a shop shouldn't and is not supposed to mark up/ charge a part more then what the list price is. Meaning it shouldn't be too far from what it would cost a customer to walk into a part store and purchase themselves. Keep in mind, mark up is there to cover purchasing of the part, warranty of the part, defects, etc.
Going and purchasing the "same part" is not always the case. If you shop around, you will more then likely find a cheaper costing part, but that DOES NOT mean it is the same part that a shop is selling you. i.e. you can buy an Interstate battery for around $90-180, depending on application, you can also go to Autozone and buy the "same battery" for probably half that.
Would I ever put an autozone battery in my car? Hell no.
Another thing to keep in mind is if a shop even takes the customer's part to install, I can pretty much guarantee the shop is not going to warranty ANYTHING.
Aside from a shop completely overcharging for a replacement, there is no reason not to purchase the part along with the service work being done to the vehicle.
As far as the shop mark up, a shop shouldn't and is not supposed to mark up/ charge a part more then what the list price is. Meaning it shouldn't be too far from what it would cost a customer to walk into a part store and purchase themselves. Keep in mind, mark up is there to cover purchasing of the part, warranty of the part, defects, etc.
Going and purchasing the "same part" is not always the case. If you shop around, you will more then likely find a cheaper costing part, but that DOES NOT mean it is the same part that a shop is selling you. i.e. you can buy an Interstate battery for around $90-180, depending on application, you can also go to Autozone and buy the "same battery" for probably half that.
Would I ever put an autozone battery in my car? Hell no.
Another thing to keep in mind is if a shop even takes the customer's part to install, I can pretty much guarantee the shop is not going to warranty ANYTHING.
Aside from a shop completely overcharging for a replacement, there is no reason not to purchase the part along with the service work being done to the vehicle.