Common Mechanic Scams

This IS the scam in repair shops. I know it, because I see it all the time. I own a repair shop so I can tell you the absolute truth. Also, for other shop owners, if this makes you mad, then you must be taking part in it and you're busted.
Got it? Good, lets get to business.

Let's say you have a 1995 Chevy 1/2 ton truck with the 350, and it needs brakes, a wheel bearing, and new rotors because the old ones were chewed up pretty good. You take it to a shop and get an estimate, and it looks like this:

Inspect the brakes- 18.00
R&R front calipers-126.00
R&R disc pads- 84.00
R&R Rotors-126.00
R&R Front Wheel bearing- 78.00
R&R Wheel grease seals-138.00
Re-Pack the bearings- 60.00
Misc.- 4.73

Grand total: 634.73 (labor only)

You think 'not too bad', huh? You get what you pay for.
Parts are another thing, but that is for a whole other reason. I'll explain that part later.

Now, since you have to remove everything to get to the wheel seals, then that is actually the stopping point of the tear down process. Replacing with new parts is actually easier for the technician, because there is less cleaning involved. So this speeds up the process a little bit.

If you brought it to me, I would encourage you to get a quote from another shop first, and bring it back. Then watch your eyes light up, when I hand you my bill.

Inspect the brakes- 18.00
R&R Grease seals-138.00 (since this is the furthest you have to go in to fix it)
Misc- 4.73
Grand Total: 160.73 (labor only)

And if I wasn't busy, you would be back out on the road in about an hour. Try that at other shops...Yeah right!

Now, parts are another thing, like I said earlier. Most shops use 'house brand' parts. There is nothing wrong with them. They always meet or exceed OEM specifications. If they didn't then they wouldn't get used at all. Yes, bad parts situations do happen, but reputable shops are covered by the part manufacturer or vendor on warranty issues. Also, since the shop is such a good customer, they usually get about a 30% discount on parts, and they pay a bill once a week.

The rule of thumb, on this is about 150%, some charge way more. If you have to order a $1.00 part, you charge the customer $1.50. Some parts are hundreds of dollars so it adds up very quickly. They get the parts from a discount parts house, and then call Auto Zone, to get the price and multiply it by 150%. This is really for insurance, though. Things come up, parts break when you touch them, bolts round off, all kinds of evil things can happen during the repair process.

Plus, they're in the business to make money. Most shops won't install a part that you bring them and still warranty it, and still charge you $634 to put it on.

The best thing you can do is get an estimate first, just to see how they do business. Use my 95 Chevy truck example, when you call them. My shop rate is set at &60 per hour, the average is $63 per hour.

Thank you for reading, and I hope this helps you find a good shop in your area. If you want to talk to me, just click the ad somewhere around here that says something about talking to mechanics, you might even get me!

If you follow this advice you will save thousands of dollars over the years on repair bills.