Free Brake Inspections!

[emax4]

I'm near Pittsburgh PA, and around here I've seen multiple shops that post a sign saying that if you bring your parts in rather than buying from the shop directly, they charge 2x for labor. I never argued with it because it made sense to me, but don't other places do this? Wouldn't your old shop have done that too?

[nuthing12]

I let him rant and rave and foam at the mouth. Then when he stopped I said in my Sergeant's voice: "give me the number for your district manager. NOW!"

Dead silence for about 2 seconds and then "click!" as he hung up. After that, the number of deadbeats dropped substantially.

That' s the most beautiful response I've heard in a long time. Kudos to you NCO!

[NCO]

I'm near Pittsburgh PA, and around here I've seen multiple shops that post a sign saying that if you bring your parts in rather than buying from the shop directly, they charge 2x for labor. I never argued with it because it made sense to me, but don't other places do this? Wouldn't your old shop have done that too?

Yeah and when we told people the labor would be twice as high, they went elsewhere. Which was actually a good thing because that made room for the good customers.

[underemployeed]

I don't mind dealing with a diagnostics charge if they are upfront about it. Unlike when my gf went into the shop across from her work that used to but still might be part of the parent company and they said it would cost $25 to look at her car, they ended up charging $75 along with giving an outrageous quote for the work to be done with plenty of filler services. Although, they decided it was in their best interest to give a full refund after I made a phone call for her.

It is funny how people who know nothing about a subject expect, well actually demand you share your knowledge and don't find it fit to offer any compensation or purchases like the people who go to best buy for computer advice on and toys R us for toys, then make their purchases at walmart

[protege]

I'm near Pittsburgh PA, and around here I've seen multiple shops that post a sign saying that if you bring your parts in rather than buying from the shop directly, they charge 2x for labor.

I don't ever remember seeing a sign like that locally...and I've lived here 35 years. I'd be surprised if someone tried to get away with that now--too many big chain garages in the area to compete with now. But, I do know that some dealers get upset if you bring in "outside" (not OEM) parts for them to install.

For example, a certain Mazda agent (Don Allen, which isn't there now) actually refused to install some oxygen sensors (which I'd ordered from an online vendor--they were the same parts Mazda used, yet were half the price) on a Protege I once owned. Of course, this is the same dealer who seemed to think that internal combustion was magic Instead, I went to my local chain garage, who was happy to do the job.

[Shalom]

My local garage does let me buy parts for them to install, and just charges me the basic labor rate. It might be because I've been bringing my cars to them since 1998 (when the owner's father was still the owner), and because I generally leave it and tell them whenever they get around to it is fine. I'm not altogether sure that he'd do this for just anyone.

Case in point: recently I needed an alternator. Mine had seized and stalled the engine; it's the second time that's happened, so I dug around in the back of the old file cabinet and found the receipt for the previous one. Unfortunately the 2-year warranty had expired 14 years prior. (What, doesn't everyone keep their cars for 17 years and counting?) Bought a new Remy alternator from Advance Auto Parts (online coupons are the shiznit, thank you Google!) picked it up at the local store, and tried to install it. Found that the bolts on the tensioner had welded themselves in place and I couldn't budge it with my longest breaker bar. Had AAA tow it to the station, he slapped in the new alternator the next day and charged me half an hour's labor. I'd honestly been expecting to pay him quite a bit more than that.

I do ask his advice on which manufacturers' parts are worth buying, though; wheel bearings, for example, he suggested I go with Timken, even though they were twice the price of the next cheaper ones. He'd have installed the cheaper ones if I'd insisted, but with the warning that I'd be seeing him again for the same thing in a year.

[Caractacus_Potts]

My local garage does let me buy parts for them to install, and just charges me the basic labor rate.

My alternator went on a Saturday night and at the suggestion of the AAA driver I had it towed to a garage up the rode from my house. I wanted to get an idea of how much it would cost me so even though I knew the shop was closed on Sunday I went there and saw a sign stating $50/hour labor. I went across the street to a parts store and found out that a re-built alternator would cost $100. I figured two hours labor so if the quote came in between $200 and $300 I would just have the garage do it. I get the call Monday morning...

Garage: Yeah, it's the alternator and it will be $550 to fix.
Me: WHAT! I was figuring about two hours labor for about $100 in labor.
G: Yeah, that's what I figured but you have a foreign car and those parts cost an arm and a leg.
Me: Hey! I know where I can get a rebuilt alternator for $100. If I buy the alternator can you put it in for me?
G: (clearly not happy he broke out the labor cost for me) Yeah...I guess we can do that.

So I call the auto parts place only to find out they don't have the part anymore...

Me: But I was in there yesterday and you had one on the shelf.
AP: Actually we still have it on the shelf but the garage across the street put it on hold for a job they may have.
Me: Actually...I don't think the garage across the street will still need that part.
AP: Well, just have them call and cancel and we can sell it to you.

So I had to go down there and get the owner of the garage to call the parts place to tell them he doesn't need the *$400 alternator ain't foreign cars expensive* alternator after all. And you know if I was getting it for $100 he was probably buying it from the parts place for a lot less than that.

The asshole sabotaged my car. He bent a metal bracket so that it was rubbing against the belt and the belt snapped about a week after he did the work. If I could have proved he did it deliberately I would have sued his ass (the guy turned four shades of red when I caught him red handed lying to me about the part and he never said another word to me after he called to tell the parts place he didn't need the alternator after all so I doubt the bent bracket was an 'honest' mistake).

As it is I just went to every consumer site I could find and outed him and his cheating ass. It's Gulbicki's in Lowell, MA. If anyone is from that area stay away from this place like it is the plague.

[Caractacus_Potts]

I'm near Pittsburgh PA, and around here I've seen multiple shops that post a sign saying that if you bring your parts in rather than buying from the shop directly, they charge 2x for labor.

I saw a sign (99.99% sure it was a joke) that said:

LABOR:
$50/hour
$60/hour if you want to watch
$70/hour if you want to help
$80/hour if you already tried to fix it yourself and couldn't

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Always nice to shut down freeloaders and raging douchebags like the Autozone Manager.



I'm glad to see the phrase I coined is still getting play!

I have a variation of that.

Rev it up! I can't hear how SMALL your dick is.

Cracks my Mom up every time. She's even using it now.

[Sleepwalker]

My current mechanic doesn't charge for diagnostics, and I don't bring my own parts. The markup is reasonable, and it is good to have a mechanic you trust.

[emax4]

Now that's got me thinking. As a garage, obvious you need to make money to stay in business. However, what do garage owners and managers think when they have a customer that has bought their own parts?

Is the business satisfied because that's less time they have to not only call their distributor or local auto parts place, then get their vehicle to retrieve the part and take it back to install it? Let's say the part(s) the customer needs is/are on backorder at their distributor and/or the auto parts place. Is the business still satisfied as this means the turnaround time is quicker on the customer getting their car back?

OR

Is the business dissatisfied as this means that they can't charge for a trip or delivery fee from the shop having to go get the part themselves, or not having to charge a convenience fee for doing the above legwork that a customer has already done?

I understand that different auto shops may have different financial situations, as some may be hurting for business and customers over others, so the opinion can vary. But what's your take on it? I prefer to just get my own parts as I can comparison shop and find the better price, but I always worry about pissing off the staff at the shop I go to because I didn't get the parts from them.

I had to have some rear suspension work on my '97 Corolla (when I had it), and NTB wanted to charge $700 for just the parts. Looking around and buying a few things on the internet I got to a little under half of what they wanted. I also had a friend of a friend do the work and it only cost me a few bucks. I realize National Tire and Battery is just that, National. But I didn't know if they're franchised or corporate, and in any case I probably didn't put as much money in their pocket, yet they're still going strong today. (famous last words..) I believe that some business don't necessarily prey on customers, but if the customer doesn't know what they're getting into or how much things should really cost, then it's easy to get a few extra bucks out of them. I also realize that business are aware that customers want to save money though, hence looking around and shopping for the better deal, but the shop doesn't always come out as the victor either.

[redleg]

i was always taught that if you want a free diagnostic you use the TM for that vehicle. and do your own PMCS.

and welcome to the boards sarge.

[protege]

If I could have proved he did it deliberately I would have sued his ass (the guy turned four shades of red when I caught him red handed lying to me about the part and he never said another word to me after he called to tell the parts place he didn't need the alternator after all so I doubt the bent bracket was an 'honest' mistake).

Seems like he was pissed, and thought he'd take it out on your car. I've posted about how I caught the local "British car specialist," which is well-known in MG circles. Basically, they half-assed the repairs simply to get rid of me. They lost parts, didn't do what they were supposed to, and damaged my car when it was in their care. Final straw came when the car somehow passed its state inspection...yet had *several* things that would have failed it. The horns, windshield wiper jets, and hazard lights didn't work. Any of those things would have caused the car to fail. Turns out the 'mechanic' just slapped the sticker on it.

Rather than go over there with a bat, I took a more civilized approach. That is, my dad (who does some freelance writing) and I put together a strongly-worded letter. I didn't resort to any four-letter words, but I made it clear that they'd fucked me over, and I could prove it. Copies of the various invoices were included, along with a Cc: to a lawyer...who happened to not only be across the street...but one of my dad's classmates. From what I understand, the shop owner went *pale* while reading the letter

As it is I just went to every consumer site I could find and outed him and his cheating ass. It's Gulbicki's in Lowell, MA. If anyone is from that area stay away from this place like it is the plague.

I've done that as well. I've gone to the consumer sites, and every MG message board I belong to. From what I understand though, according to others in the MG world, "everyone's had a car at McB Autosport [in Bridgeville] *once.* With a heavy emphasis on the "once." Other than going back to pick up some things that those idiots lost, get my money back on some of the "repairs," and to have a huge dent (that *they* put there ) on the hood...I haven't been back.

If McB would have said "Hey, we fucked up. Bring the car back and we'll fix it," I wouldn't have been nearly as mad. However, after a year of leaving messages, the owner constantly ducking me, I was pissed. They damaged my car, didn't want to own up to it, and I'd had enough.

[Mikkel]

Now that's got me thinking. As a garage, obvious you need to make money to stay in business. However, what do garage owners and managers think when they have a customer that has bought their own parts?

As a bicycle mechanic I can say I hated when people bought their own parts.
My prices was very reasonable, I was quite sure that if the customers found cheaper parts, they would be lower quality too.
Then when I used their tyres, chain or whatever and they broke or wore out too fast, who do you think got blamed?

[NCO]

Can't make money on labor alone. Labor pays for the techs salaries as well as the tire/lube guys. Parts have to be marked up to cover warrantying them as well as provide income for the business. Trust me, the parts suppliers don't pay much in the way of labor claims if they pay them at all.