Mechanic's parts guy too expensive?

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NMBurb02

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Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here goes.

I had a front wheel hub/bearing assembly on the GP replaced by my mechanic. They diagnosed it last night, I was told it would be about $400 parts and labor, I gave a verbal okay and left without signing anything (they know me pretty well by now with all of the problems I have had with the Burb and GP over the past year). I picked it up this afternoon and the total was $417. I signed and left, but then noticed that the price on the hub/bearing assembly was $265! Sure, it's a Timken, but AZ has the same part in stock for $145! Is my mechanic (and by extension me) getting screwed by his parts guy, or is that a normal markup for a same day delivered part? I had something similar a while back when they wanted to charge me $10 per spark plug and I instead picked up the same parts at AZ for $7 each and did them myself.
 
LOL, it is just more profit going to someone. The mechanic likely buys at wholesale, which is roughly the price you see online. He then sells it to you roughly for retail, which is the full price you see. The difference he pockets.

Is profit a bad thing?

Mechanics are nowhere near as bad as HVAC guys who on top of >$200/hr also charge $2000 for a $1000 item...
 
I quit going to a shop when they started charging 200%-300% over MSRP for parts...that's just beyond a reasonable profit, not even considering that they can get parts wholesale.
 
I assume the mechanic is providing you a warranty on the labor and the part. If that part fails, by no fault of the mechanic, he has to replace it and eat the labor cost. I think it's reasonable for a small markup for the parts. Overall the price of the total job seems reasonable to me.
 
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My local independent shop allows his customers to bring their own parts as long as they are brand new and of high quality.
 
I don't begrudge him for making a profit (I'm a big capitalist/free market guy), but wondering if that is a normal markup.

I totally trust the shop. The original reason for taking the car in was that an inner cv joint was throwing grease, so I was going to have him replace the half axle (sorry Travel, I wasn't quite ready to tackle a DIY boot replacent and the wife didn't want me spending money on specialized tools I probably would never use again and a Saturday afternoon trying to do get it done), but when they took a look at it, they found the boot was undamaged and the large boot clamp had come a bit loose, so they just tightened it back up. They could have just charged me $250 to replace the entire half axle and I would have been none the wiser. The "whop whop" noise (that's how they wrote it up on the invoice) I was hearing turned out to be the POS Chinese bearing that was put on the car 3,000 miles ago, so I had them replace it while it was there.
 
Originally Posted By: cmorr
I assume the mechanic is providing you a warranty on the labor and the part. If that part fails, by no fault of the mechanic, he has to replace it and eat the labor cost. I think it's reasonable for a small markup for the parts. Overall the price of the total job seems reasonable to me.

12 month/12,000 mile warranty. Hadn't thought about that, but the labor costs were only $132, so he is almost banking on the part failing if he is charging $100 over retail on the part.
 
For that price he should've installed an OE hub. He probably got the hub 20-30% less than a local parts store retail price with a commercial account (or he should have) and marked it up. Seems a little high to me especially if he's not providing at least a one year warranty on both parts and labor and of course however longer the manufacturer warrants the part.

$165 seems like a more reasonable price on the hub but it's not uncommon for shops to mark parts up higher. At least he didn't use a junk brand hub.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
My local independent shop allows his customers to bring their own parts as long as they are brand new and of high quality.

I might try that the next time I need something done, if I know what needs to be done beforehand. He is located a bit out of my way and they're generally pretty busy, so I'm not gonna drop it off for diagnostics, pick it up, grab the part (or mail order), and bring it all back. I'll accept a $100 premium to avoid that hassle.
 
Where are you getting the $100 over retail figure? You said you researched the part and he charged you $100 under retail.

If you're happy with the shop and the work, why are you looking for a reason not to be?
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
For that price he should've installed an OE hub. He probably got the hub 20-30% less than a local parts store retail price with a commercial account (or he should have) and marked it up. Seems a little high to me especially if he's not providing at least a one year warranty on both parts and labor and of course however longer the manufacturer warrants the part.

$165 seems like a more reasonable price on the hub but it's not uncommon for shops to mark parts up higher. At least he didn't use a junk brand hub.

You were probably typing when I posted the shop warranty.

They normally use SKF hubs, but none were in stock, so they went with the Timkens.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
My local independent shop allows his customers to bring their own parts as long as they are brand new and of high quality.





Only thing is they usually won't warranty labor if it fails. But who cares when you could mail order the OE part and save up to a $100 over a marked up aftermarket part.
 
He quoted you a price of four hundred dollars. And four hundred dollars it was. Honestly, what's the problem? What do you think he should have charged you out the door for his time and labor and parts and one day service and ........
 
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Originally Posted By: AlienBug
Where are you getting the $100 over retail figure? You said you researched the part and he charged you $100 under retail.

If you're happy with the shop and the work, why are you looking for a reason not to be?


The Timken hub may retail for around $150-165 at say Advance Auto. I could see some mark up over retail since parts and labor are warrantied.
 
Also as far as AZ goes, a lot of mechanics won't use them. They have a wholesale rep coming around constantly trying to get us to buy from them. So far it is just oil and parts for techs personal cars they don't care about.

Also parts houses prices are all over the map. O'Reilly's charges us 8.99 a quart for Mobil 1 0w40 and shows the list is 12.99 a quart.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
What is true MSRP on the part? Do not factor in what online parts houses show, true MSRP.


I know everybody needs a profit to keep the doors open and the paychecks signed, but MSRP means absolutely nothing, except that all people involved will make a huge profit.
I just got two small bolts that hold the radiator shroud to the radiator for my Jeep from the Chrysler dealer. I would have got the nuts from them also, except they were discontinued. I don't exactly remember the size or the thread on them, except they are about 3/4" long and half the diameter of a pencil. The total cost of these two fasteners was a few pennies shy of $10. I went to Fastenal to get two washers and two Nylock nuts for these and the bill came to $.32, plus tax, so roughly $.36 (thirty six cents).
My post is not a complaint about the cost from Chrysler. If it was, I would have purchased the bolts from Fastenal also. It's just that MSRP from Jeep/Chrysler (or any other dealer) is a lot different than MSRP from Fastenal, or any other aftermarket supplier.
 
Originally Posted By: AlienBug
Where are you getting the $100 over retail figure? You said you researched the part and he charged you $100 under retail.

If you're happy with the shop and the work, why are you looking for a reason not to be?

I consider retail to be the going retail price (what I can get it for locally without sales, promotions, etc.). MSRP doesn't mean squat. If a manufacturer markets their parts on the basis of quality, not price, then they will suggest a higher retail price and most will sell below that, especially in a competitive marketplace.

I'm not looking for a reason to be unhappy with the shop and wasn't planning on storming in to get some of my money back or never going back, I just want to make sure that I'm not getting screwed. They're out of my way but I make the trip because I like and trust them. If they're out of my way and I'm getting shafted on parts prices, then I may start looking for a shop 5 minutes from my house rather than 20 minutes (up to 40 minutes with traffic). With the input I got here, I feel like I'm being treated fairly and the scale is still tilted in their favor.
 
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