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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / December 2007How do repair shops price the parts they put in your car
I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm wondering how much they typically mark up the parts they order. I just went to an NTB/Merchants place for new front upper ball joints on my dodge truck. Total cost was about $625. Each ball joint costs about $140 on my estimate (and receipt). But i know now that if i had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is it typical for a 100% markup at these shops? The rest of the $625 was for labor (and shop fees and taxes)....and there was considerable labor because the old ball joints had to (sort of) cut out of the upper control arm. (side note: The ball joints normally come as part of the upper control arm, and they could have just replaced the whole upper control arm (they told me that was an option), but they said it would cost more and not even be necessary or better, though i'm realizing now that it probably would've been better to replace the whole UCA since i'd get a new one at slightly higher cost)....ANYWAY, my main question has to do with these markups of parts. Could i have just bought the parts myself and have them install? (i'm unmechanical) thanks. I have always thought the repair shops get parts at a discount. cuhulin > I have always thought the repair shops get parts at a discount. > cuhulin Depends on the parts store. Many are so desperate for a buck, they'll whore out parts to walk-ins at or near jobber. >I have always thought the repair shops get parts at a discount. > cuhulin Shops definitely get parts at a discount (wholesale) and they charge you the retail price (or more). All stores mark up things they sell. Why would you think a repair shop just charges you wholesale? Many large dealerships also run wholesale parts operations to sell OEM parts to shops, but the shop is still going to mark the parts up when they sell them to you - even if they are installed on your car. Ed > <cuhu...@webtv.net> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > retail price (or more). All stores mark up things they sell. Why would you > think a repair shop just charges you wholesale? What I wrote in my op is that they're charging around double the RETAIL price. > Many large dealerships also > run wholesale parts operations to sell OEM parts to shops, but the shop is > still going to mark the parts up when they sell them to you - even if they > are installed on your car. > > Ed >I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this >question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is >it typical for a 100% markup at these shops? About double is pretty normal. Also consider they don't typically use parts from the cheap places... typically they buy from a Napa or similar supplier. Some mechanics will let you supply the parts, but then you have no warranty so it isn't really worth the risk to me. Steve B. >>I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this >>question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Steve B. Good point - good shops use high quality parts. They cannot afford to install crap parts and then have to replace them again (at their cost) becasue the parts were junk. As a mechanic friends says - "Come backs are a bitch." Ed >>>I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this >>>question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >becasue the parts were junk. As a mechanic friends says - "Come backs are a >bitch." We aren't talking about a good shop, we're talking about a tire chain, the kind of place that considers comebacks as an opportunity to sell the customer more stuff he doesn't need. --scott  Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." In article <1195001748.691129.144810@57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com>, > I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this > question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm > wondering how much they typically mark up the parts they order. Typically? Whatever the market will bear. > I just went to an NTB/Merchants place for new front upper ball joints on > my dodge truck. Total cost was about $625. Each ball joint costs > about $140 on my estimate (and receipt). But i know now that if i > had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is > it typical for a 100% markup at these shops? How do you know that the parts you priced are of the same quality as the ones quoted by NTB? > The rest of the $625 was for labor (and shop fees and taxes)....and > there was considerable labor [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > just bought the parts myself and have them install? (i'm > unmechanical) thanks. It wouldn't be unusual for the shop to refuse installing customer supplied parts. I meant to say that the NTB/MERCHANTS auto repalir place doesn't keep those parts in stock....They arrive about 40 minutes after they call someone to order; i assumed they just order them from the closest autoparts store. >I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this >question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is >it typical for a 100% markup at these shops? A lot of the chain places will mark the parts up a lot in order to compensate for the insanely low labour rates they charge. But you also should realize parts costs are all over the place, in part because quality is all over the place. The price for a part from a dealer may well be twice the price of a cheaply made non-OEM one. >The rest of the $625 was for labor (and shop fees and taxes)....and >there was considerable labor [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >just bought the parts myself and have them install? (i'm >unmechanical) thanks. You could have, but they might have charged you a higher labour rate if you chose to do that, and you might have wound up with poorer quality parts. Then again, you might have wound up with better ones too. --scott Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." you have 3 grades of parts. ok, china cheap sh.t, autozone sells good such as parts master and better such as moog and factory then there is the question of control arm relacement i would have pushed you towards that because the bushings in the control arms crack and wear out changing alignment and ride really suffers new arms sets things back to new! really in car parts you get what pay for if you feel you were took! call around then go bac and ask for a adjustment all they can say is no > I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this > question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > just bought the parts myself and have them install? (i'm > unmechanical) thanks. >I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this >question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >just bought the parts myself and have them install? (i'm >unmechanical) thanks. Most charge double what it cost them. Overall, the typical expectation at a shop is that every job will consist of somewhere between 50% labor and 50% parts to 33% labor and 66% parts. They really don't like doing labor only jobs because they make a lot more off the parts then they do off the labor. They also charge flat rate labor at most shops and a good experienced mechanic will be able to do most repairs in less time then the flat rate so they come out ahead there too. Last time I had front end work done they estimated the job like yours, using the old control arm and putting new ball joints in so it had a little extra labor, then when they were done they had used a new control arm, which cost more for the parts, and still charged the same total labor even though the arm saved them RR time for the ball joint. So they screwed me there for an extra hour or so. How would you know this? RK >>I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this >>question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > the same total labor even though the arm saved them RR time for the > ball joint. So they screwed me there for an extra hour or so. >How would you know this? How do I know how the shops do business??? I've read the training material they use to increase profits. >RK >> [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] >> the same total labor even though the arm saved them RR time for the >> ball joint. So they screwed me there for an extra hour or so. > >How would you know this? > > How do I know how the shops do business??? I've read the training > material they use to increase profits. There are a lot of different shop management training vendors out there, are you saying that you've read the materials from all of them? Sorry to reply so late: no computer for a few days. A rule of thumb is about the 25 to 30 % range. But, there isn't that much profit in parts anymore, when the customer can go buy for about the same price we do. RK >>How would you know this? > [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] >>> the same total labor even though the arm saved them RR time for the >>> ball joint. So they screwed me there for an extra hour or so. >Sorry to reply so late: > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >But, there isn't that much profit in parts anymore, when the customer can go >buy for about the same price we do. Apples and oranges. If you are having the shop do the repairs you pay the shops price for the parts. I've seen them charge $15 for a $3 seal PLUS half an hour labor for the 10 seconds it takes to tap it into place. If you don't want to pay their price they usually won't accept you bringing in your own parts and I don't blame them. they are in business to make money and I have no quibble with it when they are an honest shop but a lot of them are crooks. >RK >> [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] >>>> the same total labor even though the arm saved them RR time for the >>>> ball joint. So they screwed me there for an extra hour or so. I've never replaced a seal in 15 seconds: You have to remove parts to access the seal. I run my business honestly, if my customers want to bring their own parts, I just don't give them a 30 day labor included warranty. RK >>Sorry to reply so late: >> [quoted text clipped - 57 lines] >>>>> the same total labor even though the arm saved them RR time for the >>>>> ball joint. So they screwed me there for an extra hour or so. Works like this. You go in for front bearing repack. To repack the inner bearing you have to pop the seal. I suppose there might be a way to save it but it would be foolish to bother. In any case, that seal MUST be removed and replaced as part of the repack, it's not a separate operation. So the only question is whether to use a new seal or not and of course only an idiot would reuse the old one even if they could get it out without damaging it. So if you are paying for a new seal it only takes 15 seconds for the R&R of the seal. And they often charge $15 for the $3 seal and some toss in a labor charge. It's usually the places like Firestone, Midas, Mienke that pull this kind of crap. >I've never replaced a seal in 15 seconds: > [quoted text clipped - 66 lines] >>>>>> the same total labor even though the arm saved them RR time for the >>>>>> ball joint. So they screwed me there for an extra hour or so. |
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