Why do auto repair shops have to mark up parts by 2.5x

[Bmarsh9]

Oh I understand what your getting at, most dealerships that I've worked at run at about 85% coverage but I think its more of a way to mark your performance of your technicians because they are flag hour, I agree that's probably not the best method either.

[Bmarsh9]

I do not expect a mechanic to install parts I have bought myself. I just want a fair price on the part they do provide to me. I understand they need to mark it up a bit. My problem was 2.5 times the cost. I was the one who called him back and said make sure its a quality part, I don't want cheapest available. It's an F 250 and I have a heavy after market bumper and winch on it. It doesn't have to be OEM but a good part. In this case Timken is a solid brand of Wheel hub assembly so I was good with that. Probably if they had used OEM he might not have been able to mark it up as much as he did.

most independent shops get their parts from dealerships or parts warehouses at cost plus 15% and they'll turn around and sell it to you at list price, same as the dealer would charge you.

[BETTERLUCKYTHANGOOD]

Put yourself in the shop's shoes. Say a customer comes in to get a water pump replaced and all goes well. Now a week later the customer comes back telling and screaming because a tail light on their car went out. They are yelling and screaming because they truely think that the shop caused the light to fail.

If you send the customer on their way (which should be done) then they are going to post a bad review of your shop and they are going to tell all their friends don't go there. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and this can seriously hurt your business, even if you are right and the customer is wrong. That's the kind of world we live in now.

So you suck it up, take 5 minutes and replace the $2 light bulb. That labor and part cost have to come from somewhere. This is a big reason why I don't own a shop.


As far as the mechanics getting half of the labor cost, that is false. A good mechanic will make, on average, about $30 to $40 an hour if they have plenty of work. Compare that with the average $100 to $120 an hour labor charge.

^^^^^^^
THIS!!!!!!!!
for those of you gripping, try opening your own business, much less an Auto Repair Shop. Once you touch a persons car, you're at fault for everything that goes wrong. You did a tune up on my car, now my shocks are bad.....they weren't bad before.....yes they were, your car has 150,000 miles on the original shocks.

Y'all want to grip, grip about doctors, they don't even have to be right about their diagnosis the first time like mechanics do, they just charge you again and say "Let's give this a try, that will be $600.00"

[BlackHogDown]

One rainy afternoon, I spun out in my blazer and seemingly messed up my rear end pretty good. The rear passenger wheel had a pretty significant wobble. Took it to Christian brothers and they did a full inspection of the truck. Wanted $4500 to fix everything including master cylinder, spark plugs, axle, bearings, etc. The 14 year old truck wasn't worth that much. He responded "OK $2200 just to get it driving". I said thanks and walked out. Talked to the mechanic at work and we fixed it in 45 minutes with a $100 axle from a salvage yard. Nothing more than a bent axle! I will NEVER do business with CB again!

[Bassdeer]

Christian brothers, yea there off the charts. I always go to youtube and see if I can do it myself.

[Livin'2hunt]

I would take your part quotes and discuss this with the shop and unless there was a billing error I would look for another shop.

It's always best to attempt to work out any grievance. On the other hand, does anyone know what it costs to open and operate a quality auto repair shop?? The price is staggering. It is not uncommon for each mechanic to own $20K-$50K in personal hand tools. The shops serve a purpose but like some have said, I do almost everything myself these days. Just try to view it from a business' standpoint.

**As a side note, I changed the wheel bearing hub assembly on my truck the other day. 40 minutes drive up to drive off. That included finding tools and clean up and I'm dang sure no pro**

[justintyme8303]

I recently did the math on DIY oil change and the cost to have it done. I then spent the extra $6 to have it done...

Just pray they are really changing the oil saw Jiffy lube got busted on video at multiple locations not doing the work they claimed. If they do it others can too. I hate letting anyone work on my cars never fails they dont put things back like they were meaning all the screws or ties they remove to get to the job they are doing.

[chopsknives]

Just pray they are really changing the oil saw Jiffy lube got busted on video at multiple locations not doing the work they claimed. If they do it others can too. I hate letting anyone work on my cars never fails they dont put things back like they were meaning all the screws or ties they remove to get to the job they are doing.

Yeah I saw this they had 6 out of ten lube shops rip people on tranny fluid change. They left a vehicle with a camera and the tranny fluid pump machine never moved - on my truck that's around 15 quarts of tranny fluid and an exterior filter so a couple of hundred bucks and premature tranny failure!

[jmeghunts]

I do not expect a mechanic to install parts I have bought myself. I just want a fair price on the part they do provide to me. I understand they need to mark it up a bit. My problem was 2.5 times the cost. I was the one who called him back and said make sure its a quality part, I don't want cheapest available. It's an F 250 and I have a heavy after market bumper and winch on it. It doesn't have to be OEM but a good part. In this case Timken is a solid brand of Wheel hub assembly so I was good with that. Probably if they had used OEM he might not have been able to mark it up as much as he did.

Man you ain't gonna win with some of these guys. Next time you go to an auto parts store and buy something ask them what the "List" price is. It will be much more than what you paid for it. That's the price a mechanic/shop charges for the part.

What's horrible about it (I'm not talking about dealer parts) is that the local shop calls AutoZone and orders up and alternator for $150 but charges you $195 for it. They just made $45 for calling the parts store and having a part delivered to their shop. That my friend is a very expensive phone call. I buy my parts on line and take them with me to the shop.

[double bogey]

It comes down to margin. Most of the dealers are putting a/c in their shops to keep quality mechanics. The dealership has to have the shop for warranty, which is reimbursed by the mfg. But for service and repairs, the dealership makes more per dollar sales, than he does when he sells a new car. It is a no brainer for the dealer to keep top mechanics and a top service department.

I am an a/c contractor. I dont care if you work on it yourself. I work on everything of my own also. When you call me to fix it, after you can't, you will pay my price and be happy with it. Yes, you can change your capacitor when itis swelled up and obviously bad, but you cannot tell if your system is really working correctly, just because it cools doesn't mean it is right. The bottom line is, it takes these markups to keep your/my doors open. I don't like paying high labor and big parts markups any more tham the next guy, but sometimes you need a pro. Good luck, i actually like working on trucks, but i hate to have to work on one under a deadline.

[Lightning48]

SO you dont think its fair for them to mark up parts prices?? They are just trying to make money too..

[Radar]

I can understand some of you folks saying that shops over charge and price mark ups, I get it. But, how many mechanic shops have you seen come and go? If owning a mechanic shop makes you a millionaire then why aint everybody got one.

A successful shop will be around along time and the owner will make money, and they will mark up the part to suggested retail. They will also have repeat customers and have customer loyalty. They will stand behind their work and pay for towing if their repair fails. They will also have cars sitting around that customers brought in for repair, and never paid them for the repair and left them high and dry.(tying up their money) They will get blamed for things they did not touch or look at and listen to someone cry or complain, try to beat them up on their prices and still expect warranty.

Successful shops will spend 500-1500 dollars a month on specialty tools and diagnostic tools. Shop supplies such as shop towels, brake clean, solvents, grease, oil, and etc. All these things cost and create an overhead. Now, take all of that and add in employees. Do you know how hard it is to find a mechanic and keep him, especially a good one that does not miss work? Everbody is a mechanic till you tell them to take the heads off a 6.4 Ford or spend hours looking for short in rat chewed wire and the soon realize they are over their heads and quit.

So, I hope you can see both sides of the issue here.