Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

I'm wondering to what extent are car shops ripping off customers. Just recently I've had to do 2 small (<$250) repairs on my '87 Wrangler and both times I've been charged what seems like a ridiculous amount. Just today, my jeep was in the shop for 2 hours and I was charged for 1.5 hours of labor. There were about 5 cars in the shop with 2 mechanics at most. Also, I made it a point to watch my jeep for about the last hour and it didn't seem like my car was even touched. Any OOT mechanics wanna get something off their chests?

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

Yeah, they are ripping you off... get used to it.

Another option is learning to do it yourself. Or at least get a mechanic friend.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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my jeep was in the shop for 2 hours and I was charged for 1.5 hours of labor... for about the last hour and it didn't seem like my car was even touched.

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why didnt you ask them to justify the charges? tell them you watched?

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

They ususally get the hours out of a book. ie this job = this many hours. If they do it quicker or slower you still get charged book rate.

Pretty standard

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

According to Fric and Frak on NPR (CarTalk), each job is assigned a standard time cost to complete a specific task. If the mechanic can do the job in 1/2 or 1/4 of that time you are still charged that standard time cost.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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I'm wondering to what extent are car shops ripping off customers. Just recently I've had to do 2 small (<$250) repairs on my '87 Wrangler and both times I've been charged what seems like a ridiculous amount. Just today, my jeep was in the shop for 2 hours and I was charged for 1.5 hours of labor. There were about 5 cars in the shop with 2 mechanics at most. Also, I made it a point to watch my jeep for about the last hour and it didn't seem like my car was even touched. Any OOT mechanics wanna get something off their chests?

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dentists do the same thing.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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my jeep was in the shop for 2 hours and I was charged for 1.5 hours of labor... for about the last hour and it didn't seem like my car was even touched.

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why didnt you ask them to justify the charges? tell them you watched?

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meh, I know that the guy would've only gave me $5 off or something crappy like that.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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According to Fric and Frak on NPR (CarTalk), each job is assigned a standard time cost to complete a specific task. If the mechanic can do the job in 1/2 or 1/4 of that time you are still charged that standard time cost.

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I guess there's close to 0% of this changing anytime soon

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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[ QUOTE ]
According to Fric and Frak on NPR (CarTalk), each job is assigned a standard time cost to complete a specific task. If the mechanic can do the job in 1/2 or 1/4 of that time you are still charged that standard time cost.

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I guess there's close to 0% of this changing anytime soon

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why should it? theres nothing wrong with that system. Quit thinking of "labor" as actually how long it takes them to do something, like everyone said, its really just a base unit to multiply repairs by.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

total bull st. you should be charged by the time it takes. dont worry if they find a problem that makes it take them longer they will charge you. you pay when it takes less time and more when it takes more time.
find a local guy and never go to a bigger shop. and pay by the time it takes him to do the job. thats how it used to be before customers decided to know nothing about how their cars work.
today i had a car that wouldnt turn over but had a fairly new battery in it. after i put a multimeter on it i found out it was the battery and got it replaced for free. if i had taken it to a big shop it would have also gotten a new alternater or regulator for sure.
learn about how the things in your life work. its actually fun.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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They ususally get the hours out of a book. ie this job = this many hours. If they do it quicker or slower you still get charged book rate.

Pretty standard

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The real rip off comes when you get that alternator (or substitute any part or service you can imagine) and whatever the problem you had you still have and you get ths beauty of a line

"You told me to fix replace the alternator, I'm just doing what you told me to do."

And it really doesn't matter that you just told them to fix the problem, not the alternator, because how the hell would you know if it's the alternator or anything else just that it doesn't work right, besides, who is the mechanic and who is the person who knows nothing about cars. And often, depending on just great your chain shop is, the MORE you know about your vehicle the Worse off you are. Because you talk to mechanic and tell him your problem, tell him the 3 possible things that could be wrong with it, and you can't figure it out because its twenty below outside but not in his garage. This will now give them licence to fix, not diagnose mind you, replace the part or perform the service, either the least likely candidate or the most expensive (really an EV qestion based on the circumstance) and send you home with the job all done....But with the problem still there. That is how garages really give you a new one.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

thats a good reason never to go to a big shop or the dealer. they mostly just change parts till they find the problem. if its an intermittent one you get to go home and be the tester and keep coming back for more changeouts.
a great mechanic will go through lots of small tests and find out the fault and fix it on the first try. he woint be working for 12 and hour at the big shop.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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a great mechanic will go through lots of small tests and find out the fault and fix it on the first try. he woint be working for 12 and hour at the big shop.

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One of the greatest assets you can possess in this life, is knowing an honest, competent mechanic.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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a great mechanic will go through lots of small tests and find out the fault and fix it on the first try. he woint be working for 12 and hour at the big shop.

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One of the greatest assets you can possess in this life, is knowing how to fix [censored] yourself

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fyp

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

I would be in total agreement IF the "estimate" were typically accurate and did not often include charges for work that was either not needed or not performed.

The age old debate as to whether auto-mechanics, lawyers or televangelists are most deserving of a the seat nearest Lucipher is not settled by the fact that Alobar is right.

There has to be SOME standard; and hours-needed-to-complete-the-task is as good of one as I can think of.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

or told you that the repair required two hours to complete even though there was only 30 minutes of actual "work" performed.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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According to Fric and Frak on NPR (CarTalk)

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[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

It's Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.

And they're right. I think it was actually for the protection of customers that the book times were established, but now shops figure if they can get it done faster than the that, then they earned the extra billable hours. My friend is a mechanic and says on a good day he can get in like 11 hours in an 8 hour shift.

Re: Getting Ripped off at the Mechanic shop
 

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learn about how the things in your life work. its actually fun.

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You can accomplish that with the help of this book. Don't confuse it with more recent books of the same title. I spent many an hour studying this as a small boy. It will be the best 3-8 bucks you ever spent. They even have one for 15 cents.