Is there a database online for the number of shop hours a car repair should take?

I was told that there is a manual auto repair shops look up to find the number of shop hours they charge for a job.

To be fair, I'm told they all charge that many hours even if it doesn't take that many hours.

For example if three jobs are done, and even if they associate with each other, they just add up the shop hours and then charge by the $200/hour that the local shops all seem to charge for their shop rate.

Where can we car owners get that manual online?

Reply to
Frank S
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Reply to
Ken

Try Chilton manuals , Used to be our source waybackwhen.

Rene

Reply to
Rene Lamontagne

Haynes (paper) manuals are good too, for looking up how to do repairs on yo ur vehicles. (you might find them online too) Some auto parts stores sell t hem. If they don't have what you want ask them if they can/will order it fo r you. I have done that before at an O'Reilly's auto parts store. Haynes an d Chilton manuals for my 1983 Dodge van.

Reply to
allisellis851

your vehicles. (you might find them online too) Some auto parts stores sell them. If they don't have what you want ask them if they can/will order it for you. I have done that before at an O'Reilly's auto parts store. Haynes and Chilton manuals for my 1983 Dodge van.

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...Yer Bold, Mein Heir!

Reply to
allisellis851

On Sunday, December 10, 2017 at 2:10:06 PM UTC-6, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote :

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n your vehicles. (you might find them online too) Some auto parts stores se ll them. If they don't have what you want ask them if they can/will order i t for you. I have done that before at an O'Reilly's auto parts store. Hayne s and Chilton manuals for my 1983 Dodge van.

I hate to but in again, but I just cant help it, chiltondiymanuals.com ...Perhaps Clymer manuals too. They are all Real Good.

Reply to
allisellis851

"Frank S" wrote

|I was told that there is a manual auto repair shops look up to find the | number of shop hours they charge for a job. | Please don't add Windows 7 to a completely irrelevant post. You've addressed 3 groups and only one has any connection to your question.

| To be fair, I'm told they all charge that many hours even if it doesn't | take that many hours. | | For example if three jobs are done, and even if they associate with each | other, they just add up the shop hours and then charge by the $200/hour | that the local shops all seem to charge for their shop rate. | | Where can we car owners get that manual online?

Reply to
Mayayana

It's published by Chilton's. It costs money. You can probably find it at your local library if you have a good public library with a good set of Chilton's. If you ask nicely, your mechanic might let you look at it.

Not everybody does. Some do. And then there is that car with the rust problem where every job takes twice as long as the book says.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I'd be surprised if any such page exists that would/could remain valid for entire country. Too much "local" pressures etc.

What I dislike about their fixed cost repair arrangements is that if it doesn't take that long we are giving them money for nothing but if it takes longer you can be damn sure it's tacked onto the bill. And Yes I'm sure if there's three separate repairs that they charge you for three hours yet it's done in two saves you nothing but does put money in their pocket for nothing.

Next new car I buy will be partially determined by my negotiating legal requirement by them about markup on parts (100% no way), cost of repair and labor. they pay the mechanic approx. $25 Hr yet charges over $125 locally here. We are paying so management can drive a free car and owner can generate equity in his company. neither of which makes the car any better, e.g. last longer with fewer repairs required during it's lifespan, for me.

Work at a dealer, you are not welcome in my house.

Reply to
pjp

Besides the mechanic's pay rate, add in employer matching taxes, fees, licenses, inspections, insurance, rent, property tax, supplies, fixtures, advertising and so on.

Also, rate books show expected typical time for the job. Your local shop multiplies that time estimate by their billing rate, that is, Chilton's doesn't express a value for dollars, just time.

You may well be overcharged sometimes, but mechanic's pay is hardly the biggest part of shop expense.

Reply to
AMuzi

The Flat Rte manual gives time, not dollars so it is valid anywhere. Most mechanics can beat the times, especially the second time they do the job and yes, many shops pay that rate no matter how long it takes.

Correct in most cases. If replacing a timing belt there us usually an add on for the water pump at the same time though.

Good luck with that. A good mechanic is making more than $25. Sure the dealer is making a nice profit but you have no clue what it costs to operate a shop.

I'd not want to spend time with anyone with your attitude anyway even though I never worked for a dealer. Without the employees you'd not be able to by a car and get it serviced yet you refuse to socialize with the guy that washes the car or cleans the bathrooms.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Pure "flat rate" you get paid the labout units in the book - period. You wiun some, you lose some. A good mechanic, over-all, wins more than he loses.

You are paying the property taxes, the heat, the administration staff, the wear and tear on the hoists and compressors, and a "fair return on investment".

SOMETIMES the return on investment is a bit excessive - but you can't run a shop on a 100% markup on labour. Might work where you can work outsideall year, possibly under a sun-shade, with no heat, AC, etc. - but not many places like that exist. OVERHEAD on an equipped shop is HIGH.

That's too bad - because the guy whopworks at a dealership can be a good friend to have.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

There is "chilton time" and there is "factory time".

Dealers use "factory time" for most late model vehicles - and factory time is generally pretty scimpy compared to Chiltons (or Motors, or whatever "aftermarket" flat rates exist.)

The independents charge "chilton time"

Also, the "book time" isn't tecninally "hours" - it is "labour units"

- which compare closely to the number of hours an experienced mechanic with the proper tools will take tio do the job, A mechanic who has done the job many times should ALWAYS be able to do the job in fewer actual hours - while an apprentice or mechanic unfamilliar with the job will take more time.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

There is a time for a water pump, and there is a time for a timing belt - and there is an "add-on" time for common combinations. You might see 2.6 for a water pump. and 3.3 for a timing belt - with an "add-on" to the timing belt of .3 for the water puimp - or possibly an extra 1.0 because to replace the timing belkt does not require opening the cooling system, while changing the water pump does. The numbers will often be different for w or w/o AC, ot from automatic to standard trtans because of complications involved with the different options.

SOME shops ARE crooks and bill the full time for the timing belt plus the full time for the water pump. But then there are plumbers and electricians that overcharge too - not to mention Lawyers and accountants.

There are a lot of people I choose not to spend time with - but not based on what they do for a living or who they work for...

Reply to
Clare Snyder

Environmental fees, IE vapor control, cleaning solvent replacement, shop rags, all the other mandated regulations that must be followed.

The average person simply has no clue any more, since most never grew up tinkering on cars in the back yard.

Reply to
Ken Springer

Right.

That's what I've always heard. But why do you say "To be fair". Some would say it's unfair.

I hadn't heard that. That would be unfairer. Not sure how often in practice differnt tasks require the same setup work. But if you had two problems under the dash, they might well charge the price for each, even though they only took the radio etc. out once.

It used to be called, at least informally, maybe formally, the Flat Rate Manual.

Reply to
micky

I hate to bring up my blown engine again, but when I had my car towed into the shop last summer, he charged me about $90 for diagnosing the problem -- that's his standard rate -- even though I figure he knew what the problem was in 1 minute, just based on the sound.

Maybe he did some other looking around. I don't know and he didnt' say.

So like someone here said, he wins some, he loses some. This time he won.

So I'm not angry, but otoh, I did go somewhere else to get my next car's safety inspection.

But I didnt' tell him I went somewhere else and now I feel like I'm seeing two girls at the same time.

It certainly is the closest I've come in quite a while to seeing two girls at the same time.

Reply to
micky

All that. It's not only auto shops that cost a lot to run.

The failure rate for all businesses is high, mostly because they take in less money than they spend.

If owning a business were such a great deal, we'd all be doing it.

Reply to
micky

Chiltons and Motor are both labor guides, but keep in mind they are GUIDES not the be all end all. There are often circumstances that can contribute t o a higher time needed, especially if you?re in the rust belt.

Reply to
ajryan360

Thanks Ken,

That's a nice site which is probably what *most* people want. a. Cost for the job b. Cost for the part.

So I understand why that site is useful to *other* people.

But it's the exact *opposite* of what I want. I don't want the final cost (that's easy) nor the parts cost (that's easy).

What I'm looking for is the number of hours only. (The rest is just simple math.)

Reply to
Frank S

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