How is this not robbery?

[J_J]

Car Doc

[ and lastly my pet peeve rule- you dont take a steak and potatoes to applebys so dont bring parts to me. wink ]

After observing many time, the charge for parts say for NAPA, I ask the mechanic one time why are you charging me $20 more than I could purchase the part at the same NAPA store. He could not give me a good answer.

The other reason was that I didn't want the mechanic keeping the core charge refund.

A lot of us know some of the tricks pulled on us by certain people, and we try to avoid that if possible. You know, the oil change that was never done, rear end drained and flushed, etc. Undercover cameras have caught a lot of this stuff.

A lot of people also don't know if the parts are OEM or rebuilt. Some of us would really like to know.

I am not coming down on anybody, simply stating my observations and what I didn't like.

People in replying, should be stating their observations about what they have experienced , not at what I observed. I can almost bet that everyone of you have been through a similar situation with other repairs. You shrug it off and keep on going.

 

[Bird]

And I have 2 rules of being in business as follows-1 you cant loan people money in order for them to do business with you (credit) 2 you cant make a living off someone with no money. and lastly my pet peeve rule- you dont take a steak and potatoes to applebys so dont bring parts to me. wink

Yes, mechanics make a profit on parts and should. I would never consider taking the parts to a mechanic for him to install without expecting to pay more. And with some parts, even a new part can be defective. Would you expect a mechanic to replace a defective part with no labor charge, if the part was one you gave him?

Maybe I have a little different view of the situation because my Dad owned a couple of service stations when I was a teenager, back when they were service stations instead of gas stations. We not only sold gasoline and oils, but washed windshields, aired up tires, fixed flats, changed oil & filters, greased vehicles (yep, they used to have grease zerks), washed cars, and changed fan belts and radiator hoses ourselves; even did an occasional brake job.

And then Dad & I opened the little town's first auto parts store in 1957-58. There was no such thing as the discount auto parts stores, no Walmarts, Auto Zone, O'Reilly's, etc. Now our primary parts supplier had several price sheets; (1) our cost, (2) retail, (3) service station, and (4) dealer price. Supposedly in those days, some auto parts stores charged independent mechanics and service stations more for parts than they charged car dealers. That little town had Ford, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Plymouth dealers and they were our biggest customers because none of them stocked many parts. But we charged all the mechanics, service stations, and dealers the same price (the lowest "dealer" price). When they charged a customer retail price, their profit was 40% (except for bearings; we sold them at a flat 50% of retail so a mechanic doubled his money on those). When individuals that we knew personally did their own work, we gave them the same price, but if it was a stranger, we quoted retail price because we'd have lost customers if we sold parts to a individual who then took those parts to a mechanic to have them installed.

 

[beppington]

IIRC someone on here said that mechanics pay for that job pricing book. Well, if you're the company selling that book, wouldn't you want to be able to make the claim, "You'll make more money if you use our book."? Soooo ... they simply bump all of their true job estimates up a little ... or a lot! 1 hour (real world) jobs become 2-hour jobs, etc. And presto, the mechanic makes more money ... as long as customers tolerate the new higher fees anyway ... & if a customer questions you on anything, all you have to do is say, "Well the book says so."

 

[beppington]

...

And then Dad & I opened the little town's first auto parts store in 1957-58. There was no such thing as the discount auto parts stores, no Walmarts, Auto Zone, O'Reilly's, etc. Now our primary parts supplier had several price sheets; (1) our cost, (2) retail, (3) service station, and (4) dealer price. Supposedly in those days, some auto parts stores charged independent mechanics and service stations more for parts than they charged car dealers. That little town had Ford, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Plymouth dealers and they were our biggest customers because none of them stocked many parts. But we charged all the mechanics, service stations, and dealers the same price (the lowest "dealer" price). When they charged a customer retail price, their profit was 40% (except for bearings; we sold them at a flat 50% of retail so a mechanic doubled his money on those). When individuals that we knew personally did their own work, we gave them the same price, but if it was a stranger, we quoted retail price because we'd have lost customers if we sold parts to a individual who then took those parts to a mechanic to have them installed.

So many people play these games, trying to get the most $ the market will bear ... aka that the customer will pay.

 

[Car Doc]

The other reason was that I didn't want the mechanic keeping the core charge refund.

A lot of us know some of the tricks pulled on us by certain people, and we try to avoid that if possible. You know, the oil change that was never done, rear end drained and flushed, etc. Undercover cameras have caught a lot of this stuff.

.

JJ,

I put right on my tickets whether they are new or reman and I put the part numbers down also, all Toyota and Honda cars I work get only new OEM parts period I even keep OEM oil filters in stock fwtw.

They charge the core and then if we dont bring it back they keep the money the shop isn't making anything off your old parts geez you watch too much TV. :laughing:

You wouldn't even get in my shop bringing your own parts it isn't a convenience for me they bring me parts in a delivery truck.

I would send you to the knuckleheads down the street that dont care about the quality of the work they do and they also charge more for labor in these instances maybe thats what happened here too. btw

 

[Car Doc]

"Well the book says so."

Try making a living at it and following "the book" and then tell us how much money we make.

It holds up in court also to have documentation that backs the manufacturers warrantee time. The "book" has a little more added to the aftermarket to allow for rust,dirt and wear the factory tech dint encounter when they timed him doing the job.

If their lawyer comes up with a labor charge thats consistently lower than yours by checking the 2-3 othet labor guide times that are published and they prove you are gigging people you are done by your own means legally. In Cali its illegal to add time over the book price fwtw and the software thats sold there has to write across the ticket this labor time has been modified..

Bird,

You understand the reasoning behind no parts being put on thanks that is exactly right I said it myself earlier in this thread in a different way!

 

[Bird]

IIRC someone on here said that mechanics pay for that job pricing book. Well, if you're the company selling that book, wouldn't you want to be able to make the claim, "You'll make more money if you use our book."? Soooo ... they simply bump all of their true job estimates up a little ... or a lot! 1 hour (real world) jobs become 2-hour jobs, etc. And presto, the mechanic makes more money ... as long as customers tolerate the new higher fees anyway ... & if a customer questions you on anything, all you have to do is say, "Well the book says so."

I don't think that's the way it works.:laughing: I don't think the book publisher changes the numbers provided by the vehicle manufacturer. It they did, that would soon become common knowledge, the manufacturers would quit providing them numbers, and the mechanics would quit buying the book.

 

[Bird]

So many people play these games, trying to get the most $ the market will bear ... aka that the customer will pay.

And what "game" is that? We could have charged all individuals retail price, which is basically what all the stores do now. Would that have made you happier?:laughing:

And yes, we did want to stay in business. If we hadn't done it the way we did, we wouldn't have lasted any time at all, and those people who were buying our parts would have had to drove a long ways to get their parts and still probably pay more than we charged.

And in fact, I made a mistake in my earlier post. We didn't give individuals we knew the same price as the dealers and mechanics. We actually gave them 25% off retail instead of 40% off retail.

 

[beppington]

And what "game" is that? We could have charged all individuals retail price, which is basically what all the stores do now. Would that have made you happier?:laughing:

And yes, we did want to stay in business. If we hadn't done it the way we did, we wouldn't have lasted any time at all, and those people who were buying our parts would have had to drove a long ways to get their parts and still probably pay more than we charged.

I didn't mean to sound negative; just saying that folks "play the game" of charging what they think they can get, & sometimes that charge differs from one customer (type) to the next.

 

[Car Doc]

Thanks to 60 minutes everyone thinks they know how all shops operate and the zone for the way they advertize free code reading.

So you can make sure the shops are not gigging you thats total bs and is a disservice to the industry that feeds them. :laughing: