Drake

We have the same markup and margin no matter where the parts come from. Do you tell your customers where their other parts come from? Then why should you tell them stuff is coming from the dealer. They are just another supplier. Why should you make less because the car needs special or rare parts or fluids. Also stop using the dealer for domestic parts. Try Universal Lift, Rowerdink, or for Chrysler try to find a wholesale dealer with a parts warehouse like Milosch in Michigan.

So last month my shop sold a total of 45 sets or 90 shocks and struts. I personally sold aproximately 30 sets. We generally start talking to customers about them at 70K miles. They key with this is consistency and a understanding of why they should be replaced. Shocks should be replaced not because of a bouncy ride. The job or function of a shock or strut is to hold or push a tire to the ground after hitting a bump. This is not something that can be replicated or measured in a shop setting. Ride control replacement is a preventative maintenance repair. It should be done before problems arise. If you wait till after the problem arises you are actually doing your customers a disservice. As a car goes down the road the piston articulates thousands of times every minute. The internal valves wear out and the fluid breaks down due to heat and pressure. Seals on modern struts and shocks do not usually leak. This is an outdated sales technique. Seals on modern shocks and struts can handle much more pressure and tend to last much longer than the useful life of the shock or strut. I typically get a 50% margin on the parts and charge a flat fee for installation. If you are trying to sell shocks and struts at book time you are probably pricing yourself out of the market. You should call a few local shops near buy you and see what they are charging then structure a system that works based on your demographic. Where I work our labor rate is $97.16 an hour. We charge one and a half hours to install a set of struts a half hour to install a set of shocks and one hour to install a set of quick struts. This may seem low however, this should be more of a gross prophit sale than a margin sale.

My shop also does a gross profit plan. This kind of pay structure really helps encourage the technicians to increase productivity and work together to solve problems. I recommend having morning meeting so it has our entire staff to go over productivity goals and monthly projections. With a gross prophit pay plan technitians will keep eachother accountable for hours and will work together to increase hours and abilities.