Joseph Van syoc
Forum Replies Created
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25% tires and batteries, 50-75% everything else, with 50% typical for most parts. If I am stocking the item, I expect to charge at least 60% to offset the cost of keeping it on the shelf. Sometimes I can make a special purchase and bump the margins up a little to match what the item would normally sell for if purchased from a jobber. Ford COP coils are a good example. I can buy AC Delco or BWD for a good price, and use an average of the retail from my three local jobbers to set my pricing.
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This is why I generally don’t use customer supplied parts, and on the rare occasion that I make an exception, the customer is informed up front that there is NO warranty parts or labor for their part. PERIOD. Hate to be that way, but they money they save is not going to come out of my pocket
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Worked decades six days a week, and missed out on a lot of family time, just not worth it. I do not make a habit of being open on Saturdays, and nor do any of my competitors around here. I have been known to schedule work during the evening or Saturday for a customer that really needs it, or if I’m backed up or really slow, however that is the exception and not the rule. The problem with working on the weekends becomes that people will start to expect it, and you will be doing a lot of oil changes and flat tire repairs, instead of watching your kids grow up, which happens all too soon.
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Tru-lign,TL-12 with one ton dually kit. I bought this because I am a small one man shop without a bay for an alignment rack, the system wasn’t terribly expensive and I can use it with wheel stands. I would not recommend this system, has been one issue after another seems like, and I just don’t trust it to give me an accurate toe reading. In a shop my size ROI also just isnt there, but there is no where close I can sublet an alignment out to that I would trust.
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Tom when you have shops out there who think $12hr (flat rate to boot) is “top dollar” its no wonder talented people are flocking to trades other than auto repair. Just sayin…
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Well I’m using Automotive Expert software which asks if I want to add diagnostic time to the estimate, usually .5. That works great if it was a quick and easy diag for a specific component which is to be replaced. I’ll add an hour for more involved testing, and times for specific tests like compression testing etc where needed. If the repair is declined, I ask for a minimum of one hour, because I just cant give it away to the DIYer who is only looking for a diagnosis. I guess my biggest gripe here is that too many components, especially those located under the dash just are not accessible for easy testing, and that time can add up pretty quickly. Then, you have warranty companies that only want to pay a flat .5 regardless of the issue. I can spend that much time and then some just finding the right harness connector
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I use a flat fee of $7.50 which is included on the estimate. One of my big gripes from previous jobs was having a percentage added to the ticket and the end, sometimes $20 or more, and having the customer get hit with that surprise. Just not good business IMO
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I had this issue with Quickbooks the first year, and entering parts as non inventory causes alot more work and some problems. I just enter all parts as inventory parts, makes life much simpler. You can also print a physical inventory list that deletes any item with a zero qty, so that you dont have pages of items that you do not stock in your checklist come inventory time
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A few years back I found a mfr refurbished Ranger R23ST on EBay, they wanted almost $1900 but I made an offer for $1500 and they took it. Has been a good machine in my one man shop and will do most tires up to 22 in, Not bad for a 115 v unit. My compressor doesn’t put out high enough air pressure to make the bead seater work really well on 10 ply tires. You really want about 150 psi. This unit can be fitted with plastic duck head, and has two assist arms for low profile tires which is a big help. I did have to replace the solenoid dump valve for the bead seater just last week, and that appears to be due to water damage. All in all I have been happy with the machine, and really couldn’t beat the price. I would havedpreferred having a coats style lube bucket, but not a big deal
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Have a 10k lb two post bendpak been in service 5 years, during which time I have had to replace one cylinder, (leaking again now) and the lock release cable. Over all I have been happy with the lift, and bendpak, but when you need parts, the cost of overnight shipping is pretty outrageous. Plus if they ship the wrong part, return shipping cost is on you, IMO that sucks.
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Most parts, with the exception of big ticket items, tires and batteries average about 50%. With the increasing popularity of Amazon Prime, if the customer is not in a rush, I order some name brand parts there, sell at the same price the identical part would sell for if purchased from a local vendor and bank the difference. Also have made some special purchases of stocking parts on Ebay,or Amazon, and use the average list price of all the vendors in my local area for a comparable quality part. This usually nets a 65-80% GP. IMO stocking parts demand a higher GP as that is money sitting on a shelf that could be invested elsewhere
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Agree tires are a money maker. Average $100-150 per set with installation and disposal. I would do nothing but tires all day everyday if I could generate the sales to do so
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.2 per tire for pretty much everything, mt & bal, or repair, although some low profile and light truck will be .3 per tire. ( those big ol mud tires just gotta be worth more)
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Id say if you are getting that many, you are doing good. Keep the expenses LOW. My shop is in a polebarn at the house (no rent) and fixed expenses are kept to under $700 mo. Having low expenses makes a huge difference in how many hours you need to turn. One thing I did was to get Real Time Labor Guide, and because of the one man band thing, which often includes fetching parts, I tend to use the high times. Take a hard look at your parts margins. Parts sales to me at least, represents the best means of boosting profits. Billable hours are nice, but if I can sell and install three parts on a job where I used to only sell two, its money in the bank. (LOTS of legitmate sales get overlooked because we tend to worry about price resistance, which is often only in our own minds) There is some stuff (like Dorman) that I source from Amazon Prime because it lets me make a better margin while still staying competitive. If you can plan ahead and have the time to do so, this is a great option. Some debt is inevitable but keep it LOW, make sure you can meet the payments even in a bad month, and accelerate them whenever you can. Everyone hates debt, but after a scant 5 years in business most of mine will be retired this year.
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I use Identifix, mostly because they have all the service manuals and info, as well as the hotline service (which has saved my bacon more than once) whereas in the past when I have posted an issue on IATN I got a lot of off the wall responses. One gripe with identifix however is that they sometimes refer you to IATN for a posted fix, meaning now you need TWO subscriptions, which is nuts, as it is my understanding that both are now owned by the same folks. Come on give us a break willya? its getting to the point where information is costing me more than I afford to pay for it, and frankly I find a heck of alot more usefull information on you tube some days
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While we are on the subject, does anyone know a good source of local labor rate survey info? Id like o see how my rates compare in my area without having to call up all my competitors to do a survey, surely this info is available somewhere?
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I am using quickbooks and automotive expert, and the two do not intergrate. While you can use quickbooks for invoicing, I would recommend a shop management program for writing estimates and ROs, and keeping vehicle history. One reason is that you want to meet the state requirements for customer authorizations, estimates etc. And keeping a vehicle history will be much easier on a shop program, as are setting up parts and labor rates margins etc. Try to find one that intergrates with your QB. And if you cant, the extra data entry isnt that overwhelming for a small shop. I use QB to track all the expenses, and OTC sales etc, then enter the sales data from my ROs as either an invoice or a sales receipt. I think between QB and AE I have around $400 invested, and for a small one man shop that seems to work just fine
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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
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carquest, napa and first call all work well. Rock Auto Parts is ok and avoid Parts Geek.com like the plague
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One thing Id like to see ( Im using Automotive Expert) is parts pricing for various categories (ie tires, batteries oil etc. Currently the software only allows you to set up a pricing matrix based on cost. Since most of what I sell I get JIT, and dont stock, this would be a great feature to have
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I should mention that I do not add .6 to each job, but rather rely on the RT labor times to offset the fact that I have to run my own parts
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Mine is three rates, although most labor is billed at the middle rate. The low is used for promos, and the high rate for extended warranty or heavy diag. Using the average to high real time labor guide times as I am in a rural area without parts delivery and the nearest jobber is 10 miles away. Round trip tp the parts house takes me .6 and that gets reflected in my labor times, as well as parts margins
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well I tried it and while I and my customers like it, I think I am going to discontinue, I am the only shop in a town of 700 and everyone now knows Im here, frankly the return Im getting for the cost doesnt pan out, and its a quarterly pub, wish it were monthly, that way if an offer didnt work, I wouldnt have to wait so long to change it up.
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Using matrix, on the low end 15% tires 25% batteries, with most parts 50-75%
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I used to process these all the time at a dealer I was working for, and some companies were a pain but most were not. Most would not let you use matrix parts pricing,so we had multi tiered labor rates, care to guess which rate the warranty outfits got? Often I got paid within 10 min of faxing the claim
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While you might be able to absorb the occassional mistake, even a costly one, you cannot absorb the costs of habitual careless work. Everyone makes mistakes, especially when under the gun to turn more and more hours, but sloppy work is still sloppy work…time for a pink slip
