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  • Labor Times – WWYD?

    Posted by Tom on July 23, 2014 at 12:02 pm

    What is you “system” for handling deals like this at your shop?

    Water pump labor time:
    Chilton       3.1
    Mitchell      4.8
    RealTime   5.1 (high time)
    Motor        11.3
    emaapeh replied 9 years, 5 months ago 10 Members · 10 Replies
  • 10 Replies
  • Jb

    Member
    July 23, 2014 at 12:19 pm

    I would go by experience first. If your shop or techs have previously replaced one, you have a pretty good idea of what it takes.  It not, I would look at the repair procedure, that should give you a good understanding what is involved. Most likely I would go with the 2 common times and probably be at 5.0 hrs.  The Motor time seems pretty high.

  • Scott Waddle

    Member
    July 28, 2014 at 3:12 pm

    That’s kind of funny, Jfinn says Motor seems pretty high, and he doesn’t even know what he’s working on.  

     

    You sound like a consumer with a statement like that. Motor may be the only time that is accurate.

     

    If you don’t have experience on one, I would look at the repair procedure and the labor times for any parts near it that have to be removed to access the part that has failed, this gives you some points of reference for estimating.

     

     

  • Andrew Tobias

    Member
    July 28, 2014 at 3:12 pm

    We made a collective decision to choose one estimating software. They all have time variances but in the end most average out to be the same. We found a couple of years ago employees would shop each for the highest number. Just no fair to anyone. Clearly, we also take into account the difficulty of the job and it has to be reasonable.

  • the1tom

    Member
    July 28, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    I’d get approval from the customer for the highest labor time, then discount as needed, if needed.  No customer would ever be upset if the bill came to less than what you initially told them it would be.

  • dezertrunner

    Member
    July 28, 2014 at 6:22 pm

    I run into this on a daily basis. If you quote the Motor time (11.3) and another shop quotes the Mitchell time (4.8) which do you think the customer is going to choose? Even if you offer a discount most customers are going to go with the less expensive price, I know some are saying well we don’t need that customer because they are just a shopper looking for the cheapest price, But what if you can do that job in 2.5 hours. Are you still going to charge the customer 4.8 hours? If you do you just increased your labor rate by 92% but is that fair?  Now what if you had charged them 11.3 hours that would be a 452% increase. 

  • Joseph Van syoc

    Member
    July 28, 2014 at 6:36 pm

    FIRST find out why motors is so much higher, they must be including something the others arent. Next I generally use Real time high times as I drive 20 miles to fetch my parts.  On some occassions however I will use an average of the other times, (chilton,mitchell motor real time) if RT seems to be out of line

  • bilmac

    Member
    July 28, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    As Scott has stated we need more info. Motors could be accurate and correct but we have no way of knowing till we know the Make, Model, Engine and job description.

  • jerseysure

    Member
    July 31, 2014 at 9:03 am

    We stick to one labor guide, it has treated us well. Maybe a handful of times it seemed high or low, win some lose some.. never had an instance where it was so far off that it hurt us. In the case you mentioned I would have done a little research on the R+R procedure and decided which was most accurate/fair to both the customer and the shop. We had one recently, some front hubs in a Toyota pickup. We told the customer the job calls for nearly 7 hours according to our guide, although we weren’t sure why. With that being said we quoted him the 7 hours plus parts, and told him if the guide was way off we’d do the right thing and collect less. Well the guide wasn’t wrong–it sucked, and took a good part of the day..

  • Jb

    Member
    August 4, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    That’s kind of funny, Jfinn says Motor seems pretty high, and he doesn’t even know what he’s working on.  

     

    You sound like a consumer with a statement like that. Motor may be the only time that is accurate.

     

    If you don’t have experience on one, I would look at the repair procedure and the labor times for any parts near it that have to be removed to access the part that has failed, this gives you some points of reference for estimating.

    You’re right Scott, I do not know what he is working on, that is why I said I would go by experience and/ or look up repair procedure to get a better understanding. 

  • emaapeh

    Member
    October 27, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    HI, AM NEW TO THIS FORUM BUT BEEN FOLLOWING FOR A WHILE NOW  AND WILL LIKE TO SHARE

    FEW THOUGHTS CONCERNING THIS TOPIC.

    LOOKING AT ALL THE 4 FORMS OF LABOR TIME I THINK IT WILL BE GOOD TO HAVE ALL THE 4

    AS A SHOP AND MAKE REFRENCE FROM ALL FOR A PATICULER JOB AND PROBABILY STRIKE AN AVERAGE .

    WHICH IN THIS CASE  IF WE SHOULD STRIKE AN AVERAGE  I WILL SAY REAL TIME IS SOME HOW

    RESONABLE.

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