DewayneP

I'm not so sure about the last quote. Didn't we hear that when obdii took over? No one will be able to afford the complex diagnostic equipment, etc... I actually think it is getting easier and less expensive to purchase diagnostic equipment that was before off limits to DIY'ers. This also leads to the "I know what is wrong, just replace the (insert part name here) for me, it'll just take a few minutes and shouldn't cost me more than $10. Here, I already bought the part.

Wow is all I can say. They are only accounting for an 18% markup on their parts supplier's prices. That's crazy. What happens when that cheap part craps out and I have to remove it for the customer, they have to pack it up and ship it back (paying for shipping), then we both have to wait for the replacement to come in? The whole show segment and autoMD website are created to make shops look bad, that's all there is to it. It also looks like a front for the AutoMD website's parts supplier. Why don't they give you different supplier choices and their prices? How about a dealer price listed for the OEM part for comparison? I noticed on the show how they glossed over the good shops and only pointed out the "bad" ones. Like Gonzo said in his latest writeup, do we ask for a better price at any other retail establishment? Nope. There is price-matching that is done at retail establishments but that requires the customer to do some legwork first and not just on the internet and it also has to be for the "same exact product and must be in-stock ". I think, as a shop owner, you have to do what is right for the customer and your shop. If you are fair in your pricing and provide quality work then the "shop around" customer isn't the customer you want as they will always be "shopping around".

Is anyone else having to pay for used oil recycling? The local company that picks up oil for recycling has decided that it needs to charge for a service that used to be free. They now want $.32/quart for waste oil pickup. That is over $70 for 55 gallons. They take this oil and sell it to re-refiners but they said that no-one is buying anymore and they are having to store it in rail cars. According to state law I am not allowed to charge my customers for oil recycling (I'd have to hide the cost in the price of new oil). I'm thinking I will have to get an oil burner so I can dispose of my own used oil. Anyone in other parts of the country having this problem?

I would just like to comment on the "brow beating" you get for your labor rate and parts prices. Don't worry about it, that's my take. There will always be someone willing to do the job for less. However, that person is probably an un-registered back-yard mechanic that does work on the side. He won't back up his work and when the repair fails the customer will be left for dead. I used to worry about my prices until I realized that people may question your pricing but that doesn't mean they are questioning you or your integrity. You know you do the best job with the best parts at the best value (notice I didn't say price?). A small shop like yours and mine will grow by word of mouth. They see a price for a part on the internet and think that is what you should charge them. People will begin to realize what they have with you and will become repeat customers. I would rather have 100 repeat customers than have 1000 customers that only show up once looking for the best price. While you are growing your best asset will be that you will get to know your customer's vehicles inside and out and you will be able to predict when they will be back for service. I wish I was as brave as you and take on some help but I just can't justify it, yet. I was just talking with one of my customers that was leaving for vacation. I told him I was swamped and may not get to his vehicle for a few days. He said "that's great!! When are you going to hire some employees to help out? I want to get more people to use you for their vehicle maintenance needs, but not if it means I have to wait for service." Word of mouth is the best and the worst advertising you can get. If you are doing as good a job as you sound like you are, word of mouth will get you more customers than you can deal with. All you can do at this point is take it one day at a time.

The 2 CTS' I've had in my shop were both Leased vehicles. Of course, people who lease don't think they should have to perform any maintenance on their own dime. Your price is right in line with what it should be. There is no way the dealer would have been the same.

I would like to see the exact wording of the law, but it seems as though a written estimate is a must and if you are going to go over that estimate you need to have the customer come down to the shop and sign an agreement to the overages. This is another case of protecting the guilty while harming the innocent. It looks as though all shops are now considered crooked. I wonder how long before NY follows suit?

Sorry, I know this is an old topic, but I too have my shop in NY and can tell you it is crazy. I just recently began the "process" of being able to perform NYS inspections at my shop. Well, It's been 3 months and over $3000 later and I'm still not ready to go. Way too many Chiefs AND Indians in the NY DMV. Not only that, but why did I want to do inspections in the first place? An inspection costs the customer $21 (for most vehicles outside of NY City, there are differing prices dependent upon vehicle age as low as $6 for a trailer), the sticker itself is $6/each, a dedicated phoneline is needed at $50/month, 2 phone calls to the testing center at $.325/each, paper, ink for a laser printer I HAD to buy (no choice with the inspection computer other than laser or inkjet) by the time I'm done paying all of the hands in the pot I'll be lucky if I make $10 for an inspection that is supposed to take at least 20 minutes (not including getting the car in the bay and up on the lift). Tell me again why I wanted to do inspections in NY? Are there other states out there that have to deal with this? I think the company that makes the NYS Computers is making them for other states, do they cost as much for you? I am of the opinion that NYS needs to raise the price we get for an inspection to at least $30 so we don't have to rely on the "inspector finding work that needs to be performed". I think if they raised the price there would be less fraud in vehicle inspections in NYS. What's everyone else dealing with?

Hello. This is my first post on this site (great site, by the way) and I thought I should share what little experience I have. I have my own part-time one bay shop with me as the do-everything guy. I started out my first 2 years being concerned that someone would look online and see what a part costs and complain about my price so I always charged the same or slightly less than the customer-accepted lowball Autozone price (I have a master-installer account with the local NAPA so I get better prices than even Autozone). I have realized now in the last few months that I can't and won't survive with little or no parts markup. I've started with a modest (in my opinion) 25% markup on all parts regardless of price. I only have a couple of exceptions to that rule: oil filters; if my cost is under $5.00 then the price is $5.00 if my cost is over $5.00 then I mark it up 25% (that is because I charge $26.95 for an oil change with specific pricing on parts and labor). The other is small items like light bulbs. I have a standard price on general light bulbs of $2.48. All of my generic bulbs are under this price by a lot but if they aren't (like a headlight bulb, for example) then it gets the 25% markup. I lost way too much money by trying to be nice and I don't even have any overhead (I work out of my father-in-laws garage and he pays for electricity and heat). I already have the lowest labor rate in the area and I had the lowest parts price too. I'm only in it part-time but will be going full time in about 6 years when my oldest son can start to help me. I think the lowest markup you can do without losing money is 25%, no less. I have also gone to using the flatrate for labor no matter how much I can beat it by, and if it takes longer to do a job (I live smack dab in the center of the rust belt) then I charge actual clock hours. Those are my limited experiences, so take them with a grain of salt. Oh, by the way, a lot of my customers are friends and even they tell me "You NEED to mark up your parts, I expect it. If I wanted to go to Autozone and buy the parts to fix it myself I wouldn't be in your shop. What I don't expect is when a shop quotes a price on a part and it is 2 or 3 times what I can buy it for over the counter"