Panel Beater/Restorer - South East

I'd be more impressed if he'd restored Marc Bolan's Mini.

In my experience people don't want to hear "cheap" when it comes to restoration work on their pride and joy, They'd rather hear the word competitive price.

Cheap brings to mind a back street garage doing cheap botch ups.

Steve.

Quite correct Stephen, I suspect the OP could have done more harm than good with his message, thankfully he didn't mentioned his real name !....

If any one ever asks if I do cheap work I switch off, the answer invariably is that I no longer do repairs. People that are looking for cheap are the pits to work for. Nothing good ever comes cheap, it may come free if you know the right people , but never cheap.

mrcheerful

Ooooo - get you! Labour is £20 per hour (unless it is a classic restoration in which case it is £35 per hour) so compared to other labour charges in London and the SE, yes, it is "cheap". You're a snob if you think cheap prices results in imperfect work.

Why does he charge such a low price? Why does his rate differ between cars?

If he is doing this as an amateur sideline for fun, then obviously he can charge what he wants to, but in my experience cheap prices mean cheap people (both customer and worker) and crap work.

If he is really any good (and so cheap) then he would be flooded with work, turning something away everyday, and would not relish anyone giving any details of him.

As I said, if he is trying to be cheap, then why? If he is just an enthusiast doing it for fun, then that is a different kettle of fish, he probably doesn't have proper premises, insurance and all the other stuff that goes with running a business. Buyer beware. If his garage catches fire, or the classic car is stolen, then who will pay the customer?

mrcheerful

I started off doing body repairs and paintwork "cheap" but unbeknown to me at the time my reputation was growing in the wrong direction because I was cheap and not because I was producing high quality work.

I started out cheap initially to get the work but unfortunately the cheap stigma stayed with me far too long and was almost impossible to shake off.

There's only so long you can do cheap eventually you have to become more competitive whether you like it or not to stay in business especially if you intend to continue producing high quality work as you cannot afford to do it cheap forever.

In my experience you have to start off competitive from day one with pricing, estimates etc and build up your reputation from there.

Steve.

It would add more credibility to actually see some of his work or have previous recommendations from happy customers.

Steve.