Joseph Van syoc
Forum Replies Created
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Tell ya what, in my case PPP/EIDL is a cruel joke. I qualify for exactly ZERO help as a self employed sole proprietor without employees. All SBA help is based on payroll/# of employees. On my own again, naturally. Ok, enough whine. There are at least ten one man shops in my rural Iowa county, in fact one man shops here are the rule and not the exception. Plus many other single person retailers etc. We hear a lot of hype about help for small businesses, but the devil IS in the details….
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thanks, you will note that I ask a lot of questions regarding pricing and margins. I have two objectives, first, to have a profitable price point, second, to be inline with industry norms. That is not to be excessively high or low. My prices tend to be on the high side for my immediate area, but low if you take in other areas of my state or the country. I like to know what others are charging so that I have both a benchmark and a good starting point.
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what margin works best for you?
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50-65
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While I don’t expect toilet paper type shortages, it would be well to consider that 45 states have stay home orders in effect, and there are bound to be disruptions in the supply chain. Already I have had tire distributors and jobbers tell me that due to layoffs, as well as employee protection measures, that they will be making fewer and less frequent deliveries. If this happens up and down the supply chain, then longer turn around times for customers services becomes a real possibility. What used to be same/next day service may stretch out to 4 or 5 days…
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Any part ordered from an online vendor- restocking and return shipping charges may/will apply
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I am in rural Iowa, lots of farmers and cattle ranchers. Replace a lot of rear lines behind fuel tanks, because the frames are continually full of mud. Calipers often get replaced simply because the guide pins are seized. I just find it is a lot less headache to tell the customer you EXPECT something to break up front than to try to get them to pony up after the fact. That way if they want to cancel the job, no harm no foul. Thermostats are a prime example. With extended coolant drain intervals, (often ignored) it is hardly unusual to find housing bolts seized into the manifold. *I* am not going to buy you an intake manifold and the time to install it on a thermostat job because *you* failed to maintain the vehicle
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Yep, they do seem to take forever to bleed, especially if the auto bleed feature isn’t working.
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Decades ago, I got blamed for a broken bleeder screw, and go into the habit of checking those FIRST, before writing a quote. If they don’t feel like they will open, the customer is advised UP FRONT that if they break, or wont open, that component will need to be replaced. Same deal with fasteners, like thermostat bolts that tend to snap. I had one truck where I had to fabricate the all the lines, and I think I billed about 8 hrs, although I am sure I had more than that in it. Thanks for the reply
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You can talk until you are blue in the face. Did this again just the other day. Alternator from my local jobber cost 143 and lists at 309. Customer tells me Amazon sells it for 69. No matter what you tell them about quality and warranty, two facts remain. Amazon has it for $69, AND Amazon DOES NOT REPAIR CARS. Sometimes I think we fail to emphasize that last part enough.
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I look up my own parts, so if it is wrong, more often than not I can find the problem in the mirror. There are of course, mis-boxed, pulled wrong sku and my personal favorite, the mid year production change that no one knew about. As far as the calipers, haven’t run into that yet, but over the years have seen bad runs on many parts from starters to fan clutches. The worst part of that is the diag time you spend proving the part is bad, trying to locate it from a different source ( you would be surprised how many brands come from the same plant) and convincing your jobber, that yes, this really is the FIFTH part that is no damned good without losing your temper,
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I will confess that I have not looked up many warranty times for belts, but IMO I would have to be pretty daft to perform any labor operation for less than what a factory trained tech, using factory tools, gets paid by the factory to work on their own product under warranty. JMHO
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Doubtful. Most give you a time to perform a specific operation without much consideration to how most techs work. If it does not say “includes” _______ you should not assume that it does. It would be nice if more guides listed common combinations.
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It is only going to get worse. The supply of “dumb kids” sent to auto shop class, and motor sports enthusiasts that the industry relied on for decades is drying up, and people capable of doing the job can make much better money elsewhere
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I hadn’t been charging extra for that, mostly because I get a 60% gpm on belts, however you do make a valid point about routing and installing serpentine belts on today’s vehicles, some of which require lifting the vehicle, removing splash shields or mounts etc to replace the belt We are no longer talking about simply slipping it of the component being replaced and leaving it in place. Since many labor guides do not publish combination times for this, I would suggest using the factory warranty time for the belt.
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I usually get $22.50 for mount/balance and disposal, plus an average gross profit margin of 28%. A set of tires usually means around $200 gross profit on the job. I am an indy garage in a small rural town, so I only sell 1-2 sets per month. I don’t try to volume price because I have to order tires JIT, and could not sell in volume anyway
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Seems to me there ought to be a lot of potential here, add fuel stabilizer and generator maintenance to the list
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I only bring up the anode rod because on the majority of RV’s you must remove it anyway in order to drain the water heater. Since most water heaters would require 6-10 gallons of RV antifreeze, it makes sense to drain it and install a bypass valve if not already equipped, reducing the antifreeze requirement down to 2 or 3 gallons total. And mice love campers…
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I have spent my entire career screaming “It’s the money,stupid” but no one listens, they would rather cry about how they can’t find techs
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its not.
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I usually do a check spin at rotation time, and it is not unusual to see a tire out by an ounce or more at 10K. .5-.75 is pretty common.
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While we are on the topic, I am curious to know what you all get for tire rotations, and wheel balancing. Seems to me that these are often used as a loss leader or even a freebie to get a chance to look at the brakes, and wheel balancing is artificially low because it is so often sold as part of a new tire package. Me I figure a rotation and balance at .8hr It can take longer, especially with tape weights,(I am in a rural area with lots of dirt roads, and have to wash out most wheels prior to balancing) but then the price starts to get non competitive. So what do you think is a fair price?
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Not a bad idea! I mean how many of us have done a straight tire rotation only to have to pull it back in the shop to balance the front tires because we now have a shimmy? I know I have. I prefer to sell a full rotation and balance all 4 wheels as I am convinced that an imbalanced rear tire is still hard on things like wheel and axle bearings. Maybe I’m wrong. But including a half balance into the price of every tire rotation really does make good sense, thanks!
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Well I have been seeing times ranging from 4.5 ( the OE TSB) to over 12.0 with most guys saying about 8.0 and Chiltons publishing 7.7 Still seems like you need to raise the cab up a little to clear the mess at the left rear cab corner and to access the clips
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Of course there is not a repairlink dealer within 200 miles of me. An OE application chart would be nice, it is a real PITA to have to phone the dealer with a VIN every time you want to write an estimate
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Great, now can you tell us which major parts suppliers carry them?
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I looked into them, two major issues: Since I am a one man shop, they wont even list me, a customer could be broke down a block from my door, but if they check repair pal, the nearest listed shop is over 40 miles away. So that does me no good. Second, their estimates are usually clear out in left field somewhere, no where near realistic. They don’t allow for diagnosis or inspection, and they price internet parts from their affiliates at a price less than what your cost is at your local jobber, without of course allowing any margin for you. My opinion? Thumbs down!
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Not quite related, but it kills me when people come in with quotes to install used major assemblies (engine or trans) for an overall estimate that is lower than the All Data or Chilton labor for the job. Now figuring the engine, fluids, and incidentals, you must have guys who are crazy enough to install these for a couple hundred bucks. A transmission, maybe I could see that, but an engine in a mini van? Imo that is a good two days work for a proper job. Thanks but no thanks. So how do you folks mark up used components? On the rare times I do one, it gets a full markup and the customer is told I do the job one time for the money. I do not warranty used assemblies, even if the salvage yard offers a warranty, because they do not cover labor or incidentals. If that motor you brought me from the junkyard has an issue after its in, its YOUR problem.
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Not anywhere around here. An A tech may make that, but more likely he was promised a “potential” and you can’t eat potential. Entry level starts at around $11 hr, and McD here will start you at $10 hr., no tools and no skills required. It was pretty bad when I had to take a part time job driving truck, and that pays more than I make fixing them, just saying. If you want to resolve the basic issue with the tech shortage, you have to address the pay issue. (BTW. alot of plumbers never work around
$#!+, but in new construction) I noted over the years that it takes about 5 years of schooling and OJT to make a decent B tech, and I also saw alot of guys chuck it in before 5 years in this trade. -
Moot since I run a one man shop without employees. I can tell you that as an employee I had to pay for my own certifications, and train on my own time (although the boss usually picked up the class fees) I think making the tech bear these costs out of pocket is nuts.
