Garage costs (MOT work)
Simon - 21/2/24 at 11:58 PM
So the van (2008 Vivaro) failed its MOT test on:
Knackered ns ball joint, knackered os steering arm, "slight diesel leak and ineffective handbrake.
Booked it in with garage that did mot but asked a local garage to quote for first two items
Can you guess?
£375 ("3.5 hours labour at £75, plus parts)!!!!!
Bought the bits from Euro car parts for £51 and did it in 1.5 hours (most of time spent looking for tools).
Took it back to original garage - pointed out no tell tale diesel.on driveway. They cleaned engine, couldn't find any leak tightened handbrake
and retested. Another £50...
Know where I'm going in future
Mr Whippy - 22/2/24 at 07:47 AM
Many people would pay that without question. It staggers me some of the conversations I hear in the office and the amount people pay to service or fix
their cars. It's no wonder their always complaining of being broke or how much credit they have on their cards...
russbost - 22/2/24 at 09:40 AM
It's the same with all trades from cars, to plumbers, electricians etc. you get good & bad , fair & unreasonable
Some friends of mine recently had someone come to refit a patio door that had been poorly fitted & wasn't opening/closing properly
(they'd paid £1200 to have the door fitted, had the bloke who fitted back twice to adjust & then he disappeared to work up North, so much for
that "warranty" )
2 guys to do the job, removed the patio door, refitted it correct & square in the gap (it was previously leaning to one side!), packed it, screwed
& foamed in place, they were done & away in less than 2 hours, probably a tenner in materials & they charged £350!!!
I said "I'm staggered they had the nerve to charge £350 (in fairness it was what they'd quoted) when they were done so quick, my
friend's answer? "Well there were 2 of them" !!!
£170 each for 2 hours including travel to & from the job, so that's £85 an hour with minimal overheads, maybe I'm starting to see why
the junior Dr.'s are P1ssed off! .......
[Edited on 22/2/24 by russbost]
cliftyhanger - 22/2/24 at 09:51 AM
I know a chap who owns a garage. His charges £75/ph, but he reckons there is about £10 profit in that. Not much at all.
Remember, it costs about double what somebody gets aid to employ them (holidays, sick pay NI, pension not to mention CPD) and on top of that any
warranty work etc. Then the running costs of a garage.
Tradesmen are a bit aloof with charges. If I get any work from a rental agency, they pay me £50/hr, but I don't do much for them. They do have
trouble getting people to do stuff though. They may have to raise their rates! On an electricials forum one bloke was moaning he could only get £850
for changing a consumer unit. Materials approx £200 or so, a days work. Not a long day either....
russbost - 22/2/24 at 10:54 AM
£75 an hour for a garage business is reasonable, the overheads are huge, premises, insurance, energy bills, tools, equipment, various
safety/inspection requirements, information service costs, phones, advertising, staff costs over & above hourly rate of pay, NI, holidays/sick
pay, maternity/paternity pay etc etc etc.
However, 2 guys working out of a van is a somewhat different proposition ....
MikeR - 22/2/24 at 11:35 AM
This is where I struggle. I still think it's around 50 per hour for a garage. I'm just old & my relative salary has certainly gone
backwards the last 5 years.
I think it's a combination of finding someone decent will not rip you off & in a few years still hits the same standard.
Mr Whippy - 22/2/24 at 11:47 AM
The moral of the story, learn to fix it yourself.
MikeR - 22/2/24 at 11:50 AM
For the kit car (which I bought as finishing mine was taking forever) I have & will continue to do so. It's the tin top that gets me to work
that I pay someone for as I need it to work immediately.
nick205 - 22/2/24 at 02:23 PM
quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
For the kit car (which I bought as finishing mine was taking forever) I have & will continue to do so. It's the tin top that gets me to work
that I pay someone for as I need it to work immediately.
As a "tight bugger" I like to fix my own, but have to agree, with this sentiment - sometimes it needs done quick so you're mobile
quick!
That said, I'm currently travelling by public transport so it's not really a concern (apart from SWMBOs car).
SteveWalker - 22/2/24 at 04:36 PM
quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
For the kit car (which I bought as finishing mine was taking forever) I have & will continue to do so. It's the tin top that gets me to work
that I pay someone for as I need it to work immediately.
I've not had to use it in an emergency yet, but when taking out my kit-car insurance, I had it cover use for getting to and from work (and
business use, in case I ever needed it to travel for work). It takes a bit of the pressure off maintaining your tin-top over a weekend. I no longer
need that though, as I now have two cars available, beside the kit-car.
Simon - 23/2/24 at 01:35 PM
In addition to the garage "bill", we also have issues with shower room (long term leak, rotten floor) which has necessitated putting a
shower over the bath so I can gave more than a day to sort the shower room.
The plumbing work that needs doing is
Two T's off hot and cold bathtap feeds
Connect to two pieces of tube under bath and connect to pump tubes to shower head rises. Then run power supply from airing cupboard to bathroom (4
feet) under floor and connect up.
I reckon 1.5 hours.
Plumber reckons £650.
cliftyhanger - 23/2/24 at 02:37 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Simon
In addition to the garage "bill", we also have issues with shower room (long term leak, rotten floor) which has necessitated putting a
shower over the bath so I can gave more than a day to sort the shower room.
The plumbing work that needs doing is
Two T's off hot and cold bathtap feeds
Connect to two pieces of tube under bath and connect to pump tubes to shower head rises. Then run power supply from airing cupboard to bathroom (4
feet) under floor and connect up.
I reckon 1.5 hours.
Plumber reckons £650.
The electrical bit will not be cheap, it is notifiable under building regs if running cables etc into a bathroom. Sounds like you are locating the
pump under the bath? (not that it should be a worry if the circuit is RCD protected)
SteveWalker - 23/2/24 at 04:28 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Simon
Connect to two pieces of tube under bath and connect to pump tubes to shower head rises. Then run power supply from airing cupboard to bathroom (4
feet) under floor and connect up.
From your wording, I take it that the airing cupboard is not in the bathroom, but very close by? Is your hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard? If
so, it may be easier to put the pump in the airing cupboard and run new pipes to the shower - removing any need for electrics in the bathroom.
My own airing cupboard is in a bedroom, with the shower on the other side of the wall, so I tee'd the cold off from the header tank feed to the
bottom of the hot cylinder; tee'd the hot off the top of the cylinder with a Surrey flange (stops running the hot taps affecting the shower
temperature); then straight from the pump, through the wall, to the shower valve.
Even if you had to run the new pipes under the floor or over the ceiling, it is easy to do with plastic pipes.
ReMan - 26/2/24 at 06:34 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
Many people would pay that without question. It staggers me some of the conversations I hear in the office and the amount people pay to service or fix
their cars. It's no wonder their always complaining of being broke or how much credit they have on their cards...
Agreed!
Problem is everbody can't know, or be an expert can they.
We are fortunate enough to have either the skills to do it or the skills to know when and what to pay someone else to do it.
Most people these days have not got a clue because there is no interest nor do they even own a hammer and the culture is to get a man(or woman) in to
do things that need doing.
But also, they want people that are recommended and "don't charge too much"!
adithorp - 26/2/24 at 06:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
Many people would pay that without question. It staggers me some of the conversations I hear in the office and the amount people pay to service or fix
their cars. It's no wonder their always complaining of being broke or how much credit they have on their cards...
Agreed!
Problem is everbody can't know, or be an expert can they.
And many who think they are, are sadly mistaken.
coyoteboy - 29/2/24 at 03:07 PM
Before xmas I had to replace a front wheel bearing on my 370Z, I took the whole thing apart in 30 mins but couldn't get the bearing shifted from
the upright (no slide hammer at the location I had it). I dropped it into a garage and asked them to do it with the OEM parts I had already bought.
270 Euros and they broke and replaced my brake pipe with manually made guff which I'd be fine with if I did it, but not when I'm paying!
Prices are going nuts, but 3 years ago an Infinity garage charged me 85 quid an hour to check my washer fluid level sensor.
coyoteboy - 29/2/24 at 03:20 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
Problem is everbody can't know, or be an expert can they.
This is how the cost of living increases crazily, insurance costs rise crazily etc. You can't be an expert, but you CAN choose to be better. Or
you choose to trade your hard eared cash for not bothering or not having the ability. Let's be honest, the trades love to try to scare people
into thinking they can't do things and it's a safety issue, but you'd have to be stupid to not be able to follow a manual or basic
how-to's if you need to save money. The trades are aided by trade bodies and government racquets like MCS which clearly provide some safety for
those who have no idea, but also have no clear evidence of efficacy in terms of harm reduction vs cost increase. You could kill yourself with a dodgy
brake job, but my experience is that I've seen more dodgy car jobs done by garages than by DIYers.
[Edited on 29/2/2024 by coyoteboy]