My Local Dealer's Shop Rate - WOW!

mtbtim

mtbtim

Elite Member
I go to my local Toyota Dealer fairly often to pick up parts I don't want to wait on by ordering online. I know most of the parts department employees and we shoot the shit about whatever when I'm there. One of them told me the other day that their shop rate is now $200/hour. I thought it was bad when they were charging $150/hour. If rates like this aren't a good reason to avoid the dealer for your maintenance and repair needs, I don't know what is. I don't know the going rate for good independent shops in my area, but a few years ago, it was in the neighborhood of $120/hour.

I realize since I'm in one of the most expensive areas to live in the United States and maybe the World, I guess it shouldn't shock me. I'm curious though, what kind of shop rates are you guys seeing where you live?

I'm glad I decided to start turning wrenches more because all the work I've done to my rigs would have cost me a small fortune.
 
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Yea, that's nuts. My local mechanic use to charge me $90hr. He sold his shop & works for somebody else now in NJ. That really forced me into doing my own work. There's no other shop in town that I trust.
I'm in an expensive area too, NY,NJ, CT Tri State. Dealer wants $150hr. I haven't been to the dealer since 2000 & that was for scheduled maint. I've been lucky with a good local mech in the 2 towns I've lived since getting my T4R.

So Tim, while I have you, what do you think of this bearing puller? This guy on E-Bay makes various kinds with 100% positives. He welds them & powdercoats. Nice little fab business he's got.
This one fits the ABS ring & is $25 cheaper than the Durasolid & doenst have to be modified or use the longer bolts.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Axle-Beari...nd-Late-Model-Adapter-for-Toyota/192595228369
 
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I’m so grateful for my mechanic. He’s young, retired and loves wrenching. I pay him more than he made an hour than when he was working, and it’s way less than a shop. He comes to my house too. When I can’t doagnose or feel like wrenching, I just give him a call. He’s from church but he’s not my first. I’ve found great success putting ads on Craig’s looking for certified mechanics. It takes patience, but I usually have them do something small, that I could easily do myself, just to see if they are honest and know what they’re doing, then something larger etc., until I know I can trust him.
 
Scramble said:
Yea, that's nuts. My local mechanic use to charge me $90hr. He sold his shop & works for somebody else now in NJ. That really forced me into doing my own work. There's no other shop in town that I trust.
I'm in an expensive area too, NY,NJ, CT Tri State. Dealer wants $150hr. I haven't been to the dealer since 2000 & that was for scheduled maint. I've been lucky with a good local mech in the 2 towns I've lived since getting my T4R.

So Tim, while I have you, what do you think of this bearing puller? This guy on E-Bay makes various kinds with 100% positives. He welds them & powdercoats. Nice little fab business he's got.
This one fits the ABS ring & is $25 cheaper than the Durasolid & doenst have to be modified or use the longer bolts.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Axle-Beari...nd-Late-Model-Adapter-for-Toyota/192595228369
Click to expand...

That tool combo looks legit. Might be a really good way to go. But, you won't know for sure until you get it in your hands and use it.
 
Wow Tim.. do they charge so much because otherwise they could not afford to operate there? Due to taxes and such... And the employees could not afford to live around there?

That is nuts

Do the McDonald’s employees get paid $18/hr?

$200/hr = silly
 
My local BP station/shop (he inspects my vehicles) wanted $500 to replace the
lower ball joints. Parts not included. I think he's upset with me :-)
 
Moonbandit said:
Wow Tim.. do they charge so much because otherwise they could not afford to operate there? Due to taxes and such... And the employees could not afford to live around there?

That is nuts

Do the McDonald’s employees get paid $18/hr?

$200/hr = silly
Click to expand...

Well, for the rates they are charging, I really hope they are paying their mechanics well. That dealership is making a killing. Every time I go there, there's a line of cars waiting to get into the service department to get bent over. The California Bay Area has ridiculous housing prices and people are still buying. People have good jobs and make lots of money so they pay these crazy shop rates.

A make a decent living as a firefighter but there's no way I could afford to buy a house or rent one in San Jose at the current prices. The only reason why i can afford to live there is I bought my house in 99.

The minimum wage is $10.50/hour in California. So, I reckon McDonald's employees are making around that.
 
A local mech wanted $800 to do all 4 brakes, rotors & pads & one CV on my GF's Outback.
I did it for $280 in parts.
 
Jeez, $200/hr? In DC I think it is still $140. For the average 3rd gen owner, one major repair could exceed the value of the vehicle quickly.

I would imagine techs are still working flat rate. They make their extra $$$ doing side work.

You should buy an expensive code reader, hang up fighting the fires, and charge $100/hr to do independent repair work.
 
The only reason these trucks make sense to buy at this stage is if you do most of the work yourself, otherwise they're gonna cost you as much as a newer one that doesn't have as much maintenance to do. But buy a decent one for $7k, invest another $5K plus your time to do the work to refresh it, and it's ready for another 300,000 km. Better than a newer one.
 
Rancho5 said:
I’m so grateful for my mechanic. He’s young, retired and loves wrenching. I pay him more than he made an hour than when he was working, and it’s way less than a shop. He comes to my house too. When I can’t doagnose or feel like wrenching, I just give him a call. He’s from church but he’s not my first. I’ve found great success putting ads on Craig’s looking for certified mechanics. It takes patience, but I usually have them do something small, that I could easily do myself, just to see if they are honest and know what they’re doing, then something larger etc., until I know I can trust him.
Click to expand...

That's a such glowing endorsement, I might have to ask you to share him at some point.
 
My guys old, experienced and retired . Does good work when I've figured out the parts
and what needs rebuilding.
Oh he's $ 25 and hour .

Max
 
My local dealer..Toyota Santa Monica, where the stars buy their cars..uhhh...oh...I mean Priuses...and whom I recommend no one patronize unless it's an absolute emergency...was $140/hr in 2013. They're probably up close to $200 now.
 
$200 is really high but doesn’t surprise me in your area. Most dealership labor rates are high for warranty purposes. They get paid what their posted labor rate is from Toyota for warranty and recall jobs. Also, most dealership customers are getting scheduled maintenance done which is either covered or is usually pretty reasonably priced, and not done at the posted labor rate, if they aren’t there for warranty work. There is also a lot of expense that goes with having a Toyota sign on the side of your building. You can’t really compare prices between dealerships, independent shops, and shade tree mechanics. A huge facility, Required special tools, required training, increased insurance, shuttle drivers, additional service writers, porters, receptionists, complimentary car washes, etc, etc .... it starts adding up quickly. Indies only have a fraction of those expenses and shadetree guys have almost no expenses. Also keep in mind, you have a guy come to your house and he gets hurt, you might be in trouble. Or you get in a wreck because of something he did, good luck.

I probably sound pretty corporate but that’s because I ran a service department at a major motorcycle dealership which isn’t much different from the car industry. CYA cost a lot in California
 
Higher end dealers around here are $180+ - the Acura dealer my friend works at are charging $180/hour. Local indy labor rates are $65+.
 
Minimum wage is actually $11 the hour [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION]. And if you work nights it goes up 50¢.
And mechanic law states that if your title is mechanic in anyway shape or form and you are required to supply your own tools. You are to be paid double minimum wage no matter what, so a newb tech minimum wage is $22.
In Tim’s area and in SF it all changes, San Jose and SF minimum wage is $15hr. And going up next year.
Shop rates in Bay Area as a whole went up this year, shop rates at my job went from $145 to $185 and we don’t even do any customer owned equipment repairs. This is just for when customers call us after hours or destroy our equipment.
Cost of living is outrageous in SJ and SF area especially with google and amazon moving in.
My rates went up from $50 to $80 the hour for my side jobs but the majority of the time I charge flat rate, it is just easier that way.
All dealerships also all pay there techs flat rate and this was screwing over a lot of techs so it is very hard for dealerships to keep good techs around.
With cost of living being so high everyone wants /needs to get paid more hence the need to charge more. But any way you spin it $200hr is crazy.
 
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