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Date:         Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:09:32 -0500
Reply-To:     Bruce Nadig <motorbruce@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Bruce Nadig <motorbruce@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: NVC: "Book Rate" vs Actual Time
Comments: To: jbange@GMAIL.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Book Rate and Hourly Labor Charges can be manipulated in many different ways.

I have worked in both the automotive and motorcycle repair industries. I have worked at motorcycle dealerships, car dealerships, and independent repair shops.

I have seen flat rate used in some interesting ways, and for the most part, they are usually fair. Many times, dealerships (and often independent repair shops) will use flat rates that are provided by the car/motorcycle manufacturer. All of these times were developed by the manufacturer to determine how much the manufacturer will pay the dealership for warranty work. The result? Quite often the flat rate provided by a manufacturer will be difficult to meet or beat. Why? That way the manufacturer will be paying the dealerships as little as possible on warranty work. It is in their best interest to do so.

The dealerships know this. So, it is not uncommon for the dealerships to multiply the manufacturer's flat rate for customer pay work. For example, if a given job is listed as 2.0 hours by the manufacturer, the shop may use a multiplying factor - typically anywhere from 1.1 to 1.5. So that same one hour flat rate would be 2.0 hours x 1.25 = 2.50 hours charged to the customer.

Is this fair? From my experience, yes. There are two primary reasons for this. First, as indicated above, the manufacturer's flat rate may be hard to meet. Second, the flat rates were developed using a pristine vehicle with no modifications, no dirt or grime, no frozen bolts or fasteners, etc. It is just a fact that older cars/motorcycles will take more time to work on.

Finally, a minimum shop charge, typically 0.5 hours, is quite fair. I have seen jobs that are listed as taking 0.1 or 0.2 hours (6 or 12 minutes). Even for the most simple jobs, it is difficult for a mechanic to get a ticket for a job, pull the vehicle into the shop, diagnose the problem (is the bulb burned out, or is the fuse bad?), get the parts necessary for the repair, do the repair, test drive the vehicle, complete his portion of the paperwork, do a quick and basic safety inspection on the vehicle, and remove the vehicle from the shop.

I always made all of my mechanics complete a check sheet for EVERY job. Tire pressure was to be checked, all lights and signals were checked, etc. Even if the car had been in the shop just the day before, I always had the mechanic check all of these things and perform a test drive to make sure the vehicle was safe.

I hope that this helps all of you understand the billing process a bit better.

Cheers, Bruce motorbruce@hotmail.com


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