I just had some car work done in Minneapolis, and they charged me $90/hr for labor! Is that a fair price?
Maintenance & Repairs - 9 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Yes they go by Nation time schedules and figure off of that. If the book says it takes 2 hrs to fix something and it takes longer you should only be paying for the 2 hrs. They use a National figure so that you can get an estimate before telling them to start the work and you know the cost up front...Good Luck
2 :
Well it all depends on what mechanic at that particular auto repair facility worked on your car, you know some mechanic's labor might be higher than others due to the job they are doing. Plus thats how they make their money in their labor.
3 :
It isn't out of line at all. Most shops charge within a few dollars of that per hour, most dealerships charge that or more. If you can, buy a chilton guide or service manual for your car, and follow the step by step directions to repair it yourself. Granted, you can't do everything, but what you can, saves you big bucks.
4 :
yup ive heard of mechanics charging up to 130 bucks an hour
5 :
No - anything more than 50.00 per hour is a rip off. Nobady is that good that they deserve 90.00 per hour, unless you have a Lambo, Ferrari or something along those lines.
6 :
I don't know about Minneapolis, but here in Calgary, Canada, The average shop rate is about that, the average shop rate (including dealerships) in the area I work in is about $105. The shop I work at is at $98/hour, at the top of the private shops. (I say its about the same because of the exchange rate). Its really hard to say what a fair price is. If I go to a smaller city, or a city thats not as rich as calgary, the shop rate may be down to $60/hour. Or if i go to a city thats a lot richer then calgar it may be up at $115/hour. Shop rates very by city to city, and then area to area (within the city). These are questions that are quite hard to answer. Someone might be used to paying $40/hour and is saying you're getting ripped off, and then you'll think you're getting ripped off, when you're really not. You may have gotten a shop with a cheaper shop rate then others, and you're actually getting a deal. If you're worried about shop rates, call around to other shops in your area and ask why they charge per hour. You're going to get such a wide varity of answers here its probably going to confuse you. Call around to shops in your area ask for the shop rate, and if the shop you went to charges within the same price range, I wouldn't worry about it, even if they are at the higher end of the price range. However if they are quite more expencive then the others, you may want to give them a call and ask why they are.
7 :
Yes, $90 per hour is a very fair price in a large city. Why is labor so high? Cars are getting more complex with computers and electronics, and it's harder to find people who can work on them. Today's auto mechanics are very smart people. Since a bad mechanic can cost a shop (and their customers) money, shops must pay a premium to get the good ones. This cost is passed on to the consumer. Anyone who says that a mechanic should not charge more than $50 per hour is either not a mechanic, or they are so old school that they don't understand the tools and technology required to work on modern vehicles.l
8 :
Well, I have had several NEW vehicles over the past few years that have had MAJOR mechanical problems, and ALL were dealt with at the dealership. I have never once seen a labor rate higher than 50$/hr. And they were ALL A.S.E. certified new car dealership repair shops !
9 :
I work in a shop in Minneapolis. That is slightly on the low side of the going rate in this area. It has nothing to do with how good the shop is or anything like that. It has to do with keeping the doors open. At less than $90/hour in this market a shop would be bankrupt in weeks. Taxes, insurance, lease rates, property taxes, licensing, utilities, salaries, health care costs, etc, etc, etc... all go in to figuring out how much a shop has to charge to stay alive. That can vary widely. Head out of the cities into rural markets with much lower costs of living and the hourly rates can drop substantially. One of the shops under the same ownership as the one I work at is about 40 miles outside the cities and they charge $20/hr less because the cost of doing business in that small town is so much less.
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