To return to the initial topic of this post, casting aside who needs sacked beaten-up or shot, I have thought about this post many times today, as this is something that is part of my everyday life in our garage & never very far from my thoughts at most other times either (the losses we all suffer is a very real cost to all our businesses, yet most of the time we seem to accept them, scuff our feet for a bit then move on), only when someone like Alan brings it up, does it get a bit more thought with possible changes in mind.
I am now in my forties, with a little executive spread round my midrifft (some refer to this as a being overweight, which does no favours when trying to beat the ICME manual!). I dont do much general mechanical stuff these days & tend to do a mixture of general management, technical back-up & any difficult diagnostic work we get in, but when someone is on holiday I have a go & must say that I find it a real eye-opener these days.
I have come to realise that it is of vital importance that anyone who is in charge of a workshop & its charge-out rates should either have a go at doing some of the jobs so they can experience just how difficult some jobs can be, or at very least, spend some time in the workshop to get a feel for how issues can arise & where money can/is being lost.
I am also very aware that specialising is the only way to best efficiency (we are VAG specialists, still do many makes, but are trying to reduce the number of makes all the time, where possible).
Back to charging time, we have recently taken on a new mechanic from the local VW dealer & for most VAG jobs he can do in a very respectable time, in fact some jobs he can smoke though (timing belts & waterpumps are a breeze, Golf TDi`s are easily done in just over an hour inc coolant change & we charge 3 hrs, book time of 2.5 for TBK + .5 for pump/flush & bleed), gearboxes fly out & in as though half the bolts were missing before he started & although he makes good use of air tools, starts all threads by hand & final checks with a spanner or bar, yet the same man can get in a right knot over some brake-pipes & we have been able to show him that you can press a new bush into a suspension arm & with a little care, you can even strip a brake caliper to clean & grease a sticking piston without having to fit a new one every time! & although he seems to know every common place to look for a broken wire or vacuum hose, does not know how to read a wiring diagram, so I guess what I am trying to point out, is that experience is a key factor in what you can charge for a man`s time doing a job & every man will take a different time to do a similar task.
To charge this out though, can be difficult as you all know, so for some reason we all use book times, but also seem to forget that this is only a guide that to my understanding was worked out on a new car, by a mechanic with brand experience & all data & tools on his lap.
If you do a steering rack on a 6 year old car, the time may be 2.2 hrs new, given that so many components could be tight, rounded, damaged etc, it may not be unrealistic to take a further 50% on top of this, esp by the time the tracking is set & may need a tweak to get the wheel straight, despite the laser alignment gear etc, but how many allow this at time of quote?
We try to write on the job card any difficulties & charge extra if heat is req`d (can seem a bit mean, but its an eye-watering experience to nip down for a change of gas bottles these days).
Another thing, if a mechanic hits problems & we have quoted a price, most of the time we roll over & spit chips, wishing we have never seen the job, but what's wrong with contacting the customer to advise the car may not be ready tonight due to complications & pointing out that the extra labour required will change the initial costing & they are welcome to come & inspect, this could make the difference between profit/break-even or loss.
I often look at the repair times on Autodata & consider if the job really could be done on a car of whatever age in that time & base my price on realistic experience, I also often wonder about the time I am looking at & wonder how I would approach the same situation if the time was different? e.g if you took three hours to do a job & there was no problems at all, then saw that the book time was 2.2, would you charge 2.2 & think I must get better at doing that? would you charge 3 anyway cause that`s what it took or if in fact the book time was 4 hours what then?
If when quoting, (something I am not very keen to do or good at) should we add say 15% as a buffer? or are we too afraid we wont get the work? I had a friend who did that & it seemed to work well for him.
Most of our work is not priced, which i realise we are very lucky with, but when asked to price a job, these days i often ask if they are phoning round looking for the cheapest price or the want the best job? & explain that as a company, we are proud of our reputation & trying to make a good job, not be the cheapest & that you cant do both which gives us a chance to up-sell our quality to them.
When we price a service, we advise the difference between a dealer 'pen' service & how we strip & lub brakes, clean & grease wheels & use a torque wrench so they can get the wheel off at the roadside. we advise what a service is for & in fact the main reason for doing so is to get to the next one with least fuss & drama, in the safest manner!
We currently have two mechanics, myself & a receptionist + my semi-retired parents involved, last year we had more staff & found that the more men in the workshop, the more chatting, lost potential, sneaky days-off etc, by watching how we charge & the work we accept, we can make similar money currently & not take on jobs just because we need to try to fill the diary (saves a lot of quotes & dealing with lots of people we have never seen before).
We sublet our MOTs & have often thought of doing our own, yet often feel sorry for the people that do, because i`m sure you want/need the test fee, but may not always want the repairs, which gets me back to specialising/experience or only taking on what you know, we make good money sorting most things VAG, get on well with Volvo`s, BM`S, Fords etc but never make a bean sorting Mercs or modern Landrovers & would cut-off a testicle before taking in Alfa`s, Smart For Two`s, Espace`s or shitty old Jag`s!
Regards to all, Phil.
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