Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2010 14:43:00 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: How much should parts cost?
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="utf-8"; reply-type=original
here is all the work, responsibility and effort a shop goes through when it
supplies a part for a car repair job -
first is price and quality of the part - you have to know it's going to be
adequate or better.
Availability is a factor - keeping regularly needed parts on the shelf ties
up money, and takes up space. so some of that sure, but preferred not to
have too many scheckels tied up there. .
Availability also affects quality sometimes - there may be a part that's
more readily available, but costs more or is of lower quality, and from the
'good supplier' takes a day or two.
then there's actually putting the part on the car, which is 'really' ...most
people don't realize this, but just installing the part on the car or van is
almost *incidental* to the entire proceeds. Just screwing it on is a very
tiny part of the whole job picture .....
There's the entire 'is this the part the car needs ? is it a good one ? has
the customer got the $ for it ? is it really going to fix The Issue, etc.
All that./
then there is ....fairly minor thing ..there's getting rid of the packaging
the part came in.
then there is managing cash flow to be able to pay the supplier in the first
ten days of next month for the parts the shop bought this month.
then there is documenting and carrying the thing on your invoices and tax
records for years ongoing.
I've had people work for me. I've had a guy say he was doing 'all the work'
by installing the parts on the car.
He has 'no idea.'
I might work four hard hours before I can say 'here, put this water pump on
this car' ...
that's making sure that's what that car needs, that it's all of what that
car needs, that the customer is a fair reasonable person, that their check
is good, or they have the money etc.
I identified 23 ...23 full steps in the Car Repair Process, from the time
someone calls and says ' My car does X and I need it fixed'
until the job is done, paid for , and gone. And stays fixed of course.
23 steps, and the installation of the part is only ONE of those 23 steps.
I'll install parts people ask me to install.
But I explain that I am responsible for the correct installation of the
part, not the result.
Say the car wanders all over the road ..
if they ask me to install their shocks....I put them on right, and it is
whatever it is , how it comes out.
If they want the actual problem fixed..
then they have me diagnose and come up with a plan, then we do that , and
they get the result they were really after.
and of course ..
if a shop installs a customer supplied part, and the part is faulty ..
they don't owe removing and installing the next one for free.
If they provided the part, of course they are obligated to get a good one on
the car. And if any shop ever installs a faulty part, then wants to charge
to replace it ...
that's the end of that customer for that shop of course. 'People just want
to get what they paid for.'
Heck..
they don't even really mind if it's expensive sometimes...they just want to
*get what they paid for.*
anyway ..
if you really look deep into it ..
there's a lot that goes into getting it all to work out the vast majority
of the time for each repair job.
a LOT actually !
the part itself, or the parts themselves, are only a tiny part of the whole
picture actually.
A very important one for sure though !
and really 'car repair' is pretty stressful overall...dealing with the whole
thing, and the people and cars day in and day out ..and sometimes employees
too ....
I don't envy most car repair shops and owner's.
these days it's very much about the quality of the parts we can get.
I've had to learn which parts supplier knows to get a victor rintz red
lipped diesel engine rear main seal, for example.
it's getting harder and harder it seems to consistently get really well made
parts ..
even companies traditionally supplying german parts ..
now have diesel head bolts in the same box ...but it says made in Taiwan on
it ..
and funny thing ...these days 'made in Taiwan's is not that bad a thing
actually. those are the good inexpensive parts often, not that I see many
parts from there.
I see them from Israel, Turkey sometimes, and I just got 185 R14 C tires
made in Thailand.
'parts' are a whole world unto themselves of course,
as we all know too well !
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Mcneely" <mcneely4@COX.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2010 11:07 AM
Subject: Re: How much should parts cost?
> Bruce, the most important thing is to have a good relationship with a
> shop, so that you trust the pricing. I agree that the shop should make a
> profit on its services and goods on the customer's behalf. I find that
> independent shops are the best ones to deal with.
>
> I also understand what Daryl said about the parts paying the bills (and
> also paying the shop owner -- who must be paid). But, that said, I am
> lucky to have access to a shop whose owner is willing for me to buy the
> parts myself, and he installs them at his standard labor rate. He must be
> able to pay his bills and himself (one man shop) without the parts markup.
> What I do is ask him what he will have to charge me for the part. If it
> is less than I would pay elsewhere (sometimes it is), I buy it from him.
> If it is more, and the part I can get is of equal or better quality, I may
> buy it myself and take it to him. But I may not. My guy, likes most who
> will accommodate in this way will include labor in the parts warranty if
> he supplies the part, but not if I supply it, so that is a consideration,
> especially if installing rebuilt parts such as an alternator.
>
> The trouble with the situation you mention, is that you don't really know
> what the shop is paying for the parts or what the markup is, and so you
> distrust the situation. MOST shops do not overcharge relative to their
> cost, but they may not shop for the best price for the best part, either.
> Usually, they have a supplier they deal with on a regular basis, with a
> credit line, and they are reluctant to look elsewhere for a part, if that
> supplier has the part. Even if you find a supplier that lists dealer
> (wholesale) cost in their catalog or web page, that does not mean that
> your mechanic pays that price for that part from the supplier he/she uses.
> The shop may be paying more or less than that, even from that same
> supplier, or from another one. Generally, a shop will charge you the same
> price the shop's supplier would charge you (the retail price) if you
> bought the part yourself from that supplier, so in that regard, it is a
> wash.
>
> Another consideration for me is that the shop is also providing the
> service of sourcing and acquiring the part, and not just the part itself.
> It is like concierge service at a hotel. Since I am unlikely to need
> parts on a regular basis, I have to do some research and legwork when I do
> need a part. The shop has all that down.
>
> A straightforward conversation with the shop owner might help, either your
> bottom line or if not that, your understanding.
>
> David
>
> ---- Daryl Christensen <daryl@AATRANSAXLE.COM> wrote:
>> 30% minimum is the lowest markup to stay in business. Some are up to 50%
>> or
>> more these days. Always said to me that the labor pays the help and the
>> parts pays the bills.
>>
>> Daryl of AA Transaxle
>> 425-788-4070
>> "On the cutting edge of Old technology"
>> 86 Syncro Westy with a Zetec in the trunk
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>> Of
>> Bruce Todd
>> Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2010 10:12 AM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: How much should parts cost?
>>
>> This question goes out to all the working vanagon mechanics & shops out
>> there...what would a reasonable and fair mark-up be on parts purchased by
>> the shop for the client? I think I'm getting gouged on a few things but
>> before I make a call to discuss I thought I would ask the list.
>>
>> I do understand that parts are a profit item for a shop...but what is
>> typical?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Bruce
>
> --
> David McNeely
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