Average Repair Bill at a shop

[The Critic]

Guy in the video manages a repair shop that works on fairly late-model vehicles. Judging by the jobs he has open, it seems like the average work order is well over $1K, probably over $1500 in that video.

I am curious how that compares to what others are seeing in the field.

 

[RooflessVW]

From my time at VW it was either a basic service or $750+

 

[MrLemonade]

Well, if I have a big job, I'll order the parts online in advance and generally score some huge discount. My local shop will install my parts I supply.

I just had a bunch or am doing a bunch of repairs/maintenance on several vehicles. But I'm aggressively getting parts bought and work done before serious inflation strikes so my vehicles are all tip-top for the next 10-20 years of ~1000 miles per vehicle per year driving, which is about what I do. I'm trying to really get ahead of the curve.

1998 Ford Explorer, 4.0L SOHC with 203k miles - recent work done: manifold and valve cover gaskets, belts, hoses, flush and fill radiator, fuel filter, thermostat, sensors and seals as needed, etc. I also personally changed plugs and wires and Cleaned Mass Air Flow Sensor, Clean Throttle Body, Replaced EGR with new, oil and filter change. I've got about $1000 into the maintenance between my shop ($900) and me ($100) and it's almost tip-top with a minor issue still remaining.

2004 4Runner (4.7L with 202k miles) is tip top, just had major work done - Timing belt & serpentine belt (both were replaced with new but old ones looked excellent with at least 100k miles on them), water pump & gasket, camshaft seal, seals, gaskets, thermostat, PCV, timing belt idler & tensioner & pully, flush and fill radiator, fuel pump and filter, EFI relay. Parts and labor ran about $1400. Different shop did CV axle shaft replaced, flushed power steering and ATF, and new front rotors ($900). Another shop (best transmission shop in town, very honest) fixed a leaking 4WD transfer case, luckily cheaply, only about $50! I also did an oil/filter change. So about $2300 to address everything wrong and perform all needed maintenance in the last 18 months.

I'm doing likewise with my two other Tundras, so expecting similar costs. It's critical maintenance, but also important to do it now as I expect massive inflation is upon us, and parts are getting or may get harder to source as used cars get more common b/c nobody can buy a $80,000 new car or truck...

I have two Ford Panthers and have some various routine things to do but nothing too major. I expect less than $100 in maintenance items for each and I already have the parts and will do these myself.

At the rate I drive, probably 5000 miles annually between 7 vehicles, I am hoping that once I get ahead on all these items I'll be set for the next 10-20 years of driving without major repair bills...

 

[cb_13]

One of the best techs I've ever worked with once told me that once he opened the hood on a diesel it was $5k before he could close it again

 

[dadto2]

I figure I'm going to drop at least grand every time I go to the shop. $115.00 labor rate and parts don't come cheap. Adds up pretty quick!

 

[spackard]

I thought he did a recent video talking about how stimulus checks seemed to result in people coming in and paying multi-thousand repair tickets on their cars.

 

[MolaKule]

How can there be such a thing as an average repair bill?

If we are talking about labor rates, then maybe there is a range of labor rates.

 

[The Critic]

How can there be such a thing as an average repair bill?

If we talking about labor rates, then maybe there is a range of labor rates.

Shops tend to measure this figure by "average labor hours per repair order." That is a common metric used to gauge shop performance.

 

[bdcardinal]

Shops tend to measure this figure by "average labor hours per repair order." That is a common metric used to gauge shop performance.

Yup, it is one of the metrics including average labor hours, parts percentage markup, initial estimate versus actual total. Among a bunch of others. It is pretty fascinating when you learn about it all.

 

[Kruse]

$1,000 to $1,500? I believe it. My kid has a Navigator with 125K miles that has been giving him starting problems. He lives too far away for me to drive to him to do the repair. It had a factory alternator and a battery that was over 3 years old, so I just told the service adviser to replace both the alternator and the battery. The alternator replacement is a fairly simple job. This was at a Ford dealership and the repair was right at $800.
For those of you who know Ford replacement parts, Ford gives as few accessories as possible with your replacement parts. That means, you must take off the old alternator pulley and install it on the replacement alternator, a less than 5-minute job for a seasoned tech with an impact gun. That alternator pulley swap was $50 alone.

 

[atikovi]

Judging by the jobs he has open, it seems like the average work order is well over $1K, probably over $1500 in that video.

This is primarily dependent on location. A lower income area where most cars aren't worth $1500 to begin with, that wouldn't fly.

 

[vw7674]

How can there be such a thing as an average repair bill?

If we talking about labor rates, then maybe there is a range of labor rates.

It must get more technical once you consider variables. Like how many customers decline repair(s) & drive or tow it elsewhere.
Need another measurement for that one. I do remember using an Amazon sold$22.00 'split flange' to repair an exhaust that was quoted at $450-ish. If you have tools & a computer/smart phone, why get fleeced unless you're beyond your skill & comfort level?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Every time my 530i goes into the shop it's at least $1K.

 

[himemsys]

With my older vehicles, I like to find a local guy with a good rep or a small shop with good reviews. Less overhead means lower labor rates. Newer vehicles, I may stick with the dealer, or depending on how much I trust the local guy/how much he's proven himself, go with him. In warranty, stick with dealer. I've had several service visits well under $1000. The most expensive was a head gasket and camshaft plug replacement which was $1500, and that included a lot of line items, including replacing thermostat and flushing radiator. Currently I got a guy replacing the rear axle on my 08 Ranger with a salvaged one and he's estimating $500 for parts and labor. I had a wiper motor replacement done for $300, clutch pedal repair for $200, and power steering hose/pipe for $300. So it's not a guarantee that it'll be >$1k.

 

[Andrew1972]

My findings are $500 tops for my Acura or Honda at a Subaru specialist . Our VW 2018 80k has not hit anything yet in repairs so no idea. I don’t have an Indy yet for the VW.

 

[IndyIan]

Yikes! I guess I've always been driving old simple junk but the only time I've got above $1k was a head gasket/timing belt/water pump plus some brakes stuff on the old Neon... But that was quite a while ago too. Anything to do with the suspension seemed to be an hour per corner plus parts which doesn't add up to that much on my cars.
My local mechanic is pretty cheap, but quite busy too. He replaced the alternator(I supplied it, off my old focus) and did a certification inspection on my new focus wagon for $135 1.5hrs, which I thought was pretty good. I find with youtube I can do most simple part swap jobs that don't require fancy tools, and so far the tricky stuff has held together for the most part.

 

[doublebase]

I'd say average bill is somewhere between $1,000-$1,500 bucks like the video says, easily.

 

[jeepman3071]

Not surprised. Parts are expensive, labor is expensive/more time consuming, overhead of running a shop is expensive, taxes are expensive. The costs with doing business (repairs) are only going up. I find it interesting when people buy a $50,000 vehicle then moan and complain when they can't get a brake job for $200.

 

[The Critic]

Not surprised. Parts are expensive, labor is expensive/more time consuming, overhead of running a shop is expensive, taxes are expensive. The costs with doing business (repairs) are only going up. I find it interesting when people buy a $50,000 vehicle then moan and complain when they can't get a brake job for $200.

Was at the dealer last week. Heard an advisor recommending a brake job to a customer on the phone. New pads and resurface rotors, $435.

 

[Duffyjr]

Was at the dealer last week. Heard an advisor recommending a brake job to a customer on the phone. New pads and resurface rotors, $435.

That's almost exactly what my mech quoted me for my Lucerne.

$100 to resurface, $200 for ceramic pads and 2 hours labor, $430

Two hours for labor, can one mech do a brake job in 2 hours?