Low labour charge.

FannyHill

I have a small one man garage near me in the backwoods of Northern Scotland who charges £30 + VAT per hour for labour which I'm told is reasonable, although I think it must vary quite a bit throughout the country. Only thing is I think he bumps up the price of the parts and sundries.

How will I know if he is charging more than a reasonable cost ? Is there a site to tell you what sort of prices are normally charged ?

I used to think he was OK but I'm starting to get wary.


i.e. 5 litres of oil £22.50 + VAT. ??????

darich

5 litres of oil can be bought for less than £10 but also for close to £50 and maybe more.
It depends on the oil he uses. Same goes for the quality of the other parts - cheaper parts my sound great when you see the bill but they're invariably poorer quality than more expensive parts.
He may give you the choice of parts if you specify what you want fitted.
Weighing up the price of parts depends on the value of your car - is it worth putting £50 of Mobil 1 or castrol Magnatec into a 15year old 1.0 car?

FannyHill

I was in Lidl the other day and saw 5 litres of oil for £6.99.Someone told me that little garages still buy oil in bulk so pay a very low cost per litre.I don't think this mechanic would put in top grade oil.
I don't get a choice of parts I think he would fit cheaper parts. I thought it was only the big franchise dealers that fitted the name brand parts.

My car is worth about £1200 on a good day.

knowledgeman

FannyHill wrote: »

I was in Lidl the other day and saw 5 litres of oil for £6.99.Someone told me that little garages still buy oil in bulk so pay a very low cost per litre.I don't think this mechanic would put in top grade oil.
I don't get a choice of parts I think he would fit cheaper parts. I thought it was only the big franchise dealers that fitted the name brand parts.

My car is worth about £1200 on a good day.

In my experience a lot do put in the good stuff albeit in bulk

Is it worth having loads of dishevelled customers, especially if you deal with brand new expensive cars for a few pounds a litre?

vikingaero

FannyHill wrote: »

I have a small one man garage near me in the backwoods of Northern Scotland who charges £30 + VAT per hour for labour which I'm told is reasonable, although I think it must vary quite a bit throughout the country. Only thing is I think he bumps up the price of the parts and sundries.

How will I know if he is charging more than a reasonable cost ? Is there a site to tell you what sort of prices are normally charged ?

I used to think he was OK but I'm starting to get wary.


i.e. 5 litres of oil £22.50 + VAT. ??????

That's still a minute mark-up!

My dads Merc dealer charges £150 per hour + VAT. 6-7 litres of Mobil 1 came to about £80-£90!

FannyHill

£150 per hour + VAT glad I don't own a Merc. :eek:

Remember I'm talking about small garages in the backwoods servicing your average runabout.

Stephen_Leak

My little local garage does the same thing. For example, they charge £1 for topping up with washer additive, which is a service item, so I can't blame them, really. Over the years, it has become a bit of a game. I always get the oil & filter change done by National Tyres. This time, I did the engine coolant, spark plug and HT leads myself and even topped up the power steering fluid. However, I did forget to fill the washer right up to the top on the morning I took it to them, so they got me for this one this year! I won't let them get away with it next year.

vikingaero

My Saab dealer has the screenwash listed as a service item to check and refill. I always keep it topped up so they leave a full brand new bottle of screenwash in the boot which is far better than being charged for it for nothing.

scbk

So what if he bumps up the price of parts etc, afterall he's gone to the bother of going down to the local motor factors and getting them for you!
Just ask him what oil he uses and if it'd be ok to bring your own.
As for the labour charge, I'd say that'd about average for that type of garage in this part of the country.
For an oil and filter change it cost £50 at a garage round here, that's including the 7l of oil, filter, labour, and VAT

FannyHill

"So what if he bumps up the price of parts etc, afterall he's gone to the bother of going down to the local motor factors and getting them for you!"




Actually they are delivered to his workshop. :j

vikingaero

One of my garage friends says that oil carries one of the highest mark-ups. A lot of garages charge per half-litre despite it being supplied in drums. He says that the trick is to find out what oil the garage uses and bring in another brand. Then you say that you "have" to use that brand of oil because you work for that oil company.