No shocker, but a rip-off story...

Originally Posted by 01rangerxl
Originally Posted by hallstevenson

Just checked and even that ^^ probably isn't accurate anymore (the MSRP is wildly inflated). RA sells that part for $90, Amazon is $93. A shop might be paying $50-75 for this, yeah ?


No, Rock Auto and Amazon don't do wholesale pricing like that, and it's rare anyone will be cheaper than those two.

For me to get an equivalent part in the next couple hours, I could buy a "Precision" (probably Moog) line part from O'Reilly's for $167, an SKF from NAPA for $169, or a Motorcraft from the Motorcraft place for $177. I'd probably sell it for $250. $387 does seem high, but it lines right up with O'Reilly's "suggested list" on their commercial website, so his list is probably just the inflated list shown on his supplier's website, not even something he calculated based on his cost. If I went into my local O'Reilly's as a regular retail customer right now, the hub would be $228 (not including sales tax).



Exactly, on OReilly's commercial page (First Call Online) they list Mobil 1 0W40 at $16.93/qt with my cost being $9.99. The 5qt M1 0W40 shows a list of $67.78 and my cost being $39.99
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Negative. When I sell to a shop they get 20% off MSRP, some are at 25% off if they buy a lot. What they charge their customers is their deal.

Only 20-25% off ? I guess it's different for OEM parts....

Originally Posted by 01rangerxl
For me to get an equivalent part in the next couple hours, I could buy a "Precision" (probably Moog) line part from O'Reilly's for $167, an SKF from NAPA for $169, or a Motorcraft from the Motorcraft place for $177. I'd probably sell it for $250. $387 does seem high, but it lines right up with O'Reilly's "suggested list" on their commercial website, so his list is probably just the inflated list shown on his supplier's website, not even something he calculated based on his cost. If I went into my local O'Reilly's as a regular retail customer right now, the hub would be $228 (not including sales tax).

Even auto parts stores like Autozone, etc don't sell items at full MSRP normally, do they ? It always seems like there's discounts or lower prices on a daily basis. I always thought that repair shops were offered much lower pricing - not the wildly misunderstood "wholesale" pricing - and it allowed them margin to mark them back up to what appear to be regular prices.

Then again, the majority of people getting car repairs done doesn't scrutinize their bills. They a) only care about the final, total cost and b) that the repair is done and done correctly.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Negative. When I sell to a shop they get 20% off MSRP, some are at 25% off if they buy a lot. What they charge their customers is their deal.

Only 20-25% off ? I guess it's different for OEM parts....


And that is for parts with an MSRP. Ford no longer has list/MSRP pricing on numerous parts now. They let us either calculate it ourselves, or we can pay to use a program that gives us insurance negotiated list pricing. For instance a customer called with a 2019 Ranger needing a taillamp. That was one of those parts, so I entered it into the program and it gave me a list of $1304.54
 
Originally Posted by AC1DD
Originally Posted by grampi
Originally Posted by AC1DD
Originally Posted by domer10
I have personal friends who own shops....and trust me the mark up on their end is bogus and they will be first to admit it. If they need a part they call Napa, the same Napa that me or that exact person could go to and pick up said part. The shop then adds a additional 40 percent mark up on a part that got delivered from a store a mile away. Shops make their bones on unsuspecting customers. Overhead or not, they charge 100 dollars a hr some shops. On a employee that makes less than 25hr. There is no justification for marking up a part 40 percent and then claim overhead. Shops are all about gouging unknowing customers.



Bingo....most are rip off artists, that is if they even do any work at all that you pay for. Nobody says they shouldn't mark up some parts to make money but the outrageous amounts they usually charge seems like highway robbery.


This is something that people have been going round and round about for years. The trick is finding an auto repair place that you can trust. I am lucky to have found one. They do have to pay for their overhead so there are going to be mark ups, and you are having them do something you can't do, or just don't want to do so you're going to have to pay for that service. It's the consumer's responsibility to use a place that is giving you a good value for the amount you are paying. If a person feels like they are being ripped off, then it's time to find another repair shop...



You just summed up the bottom line though...you were "lucky" to have found a shop that is competent, and not ripping you off.
Those shops are literally as rare as hens teeth.
21.gif



I am lucky, and I'll be the first to admit it...
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson

Even auto parts stores like Autozone, etc don't sell items at full MSRP normally, do they ? It always seems like there's discounts or lower prices on a daily basis. I always thought that repair shops were offered much lower pricing - not the wildly misunderstood "wholesale" pricing - and it allowed them margin to mark them back up to what appear to be regular prices.

Then again, the majority of people getting car repairs done doesn't scrutinize their bills. They a) only care about the final, total cost and b) that the repair is done and done correctly.


They have different "list" prices for different sales channels. This isn't necessarily based off any suggested retail price from the manufacturer. Shops/commercial accounts order parts through completely different websites than retail customers. For example, like bdcardinal mentioned, O'Reilly's has firstcallonline.com for commercial accounts, and oreillyauto.com for retail customers. First Call shows my actual cost, and a suggested "list," which is often much higher than what is shown on oreillyauto.com/in store. I don't use the suggested list prices because they generally are kind of ridiculous, I base my pricing off the margin I am going for and my cost, but some people probably do just give their customers the suggested list because it's easy and gives them plenty of margin.

Also, like bdcardinal mentioned, we don't get huge discounts on everything. Our cost on many fluids is basically the same as a retail customer would pay in store, or only slightly less. On other things like brake kits (pads and rotors together) we get much bigger discounts.

Another thing worth noting, the sales and specials offered to retail customers are not offered to commercial customers. So we can't stack online discount codes and things like that on top of the commercial discount we are already getting.
 
Originally Posted by clinebarger
Well.....I'm very busy & backlogged 2 weeks right now! And know work is lost because of it. All I can do is keep appointments & do quality work by working on no more than 2 vehicles at once.

I've been advised to hire help....No thanks, I've managed enough mechanics in my career!


You sound like my mechanic with 3 bays. He does not answer phone during day . He catches up on voicemail and email daily end of day. He is booked out 2-3 weeks typically.
 
Originally Posted by 01rangerxl
Originally Posted by Falcon_LS
That's a bit of a mark up.

That being said, I just bought wheel hubs for my Explorer and went with SKF. Did the same on my Grand Marquis last year, never had a problem.

I had problems with Moog hubs I've installed for a friend, which only lasted about 18 months.


SKF is probably the best readily available hub/bearing manufacturer now.

I managed to find Koyo bearings via NAPA a couple years ago and am currently running them on my old TTB Explorer and 02 2WD Ranger. Doubt I'll be able to find them easily again.

Timken.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson

Then again, the majority of people getting car repairs done doesn't scrutinize their bills. They a) only care about the final, total cost and b) that the repair is done and done correctly.

Pretty much how I operate. Was like that on my camber bolts and alignment. Yeah I squawed a bit about the price on the bolts but ultimately it came in about what I budgeted for..so eff', I figure the mechanics gotta eat too. And at the end of the day knowing it was done right and warrantied and not by my 12pk of PBR beer while he's doing the job neighbor, is worth paying a little extra....
 
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Originally Posted by Mad_Hatter
Originally Posted by hallstevenson

Then again, the majority of people getting car repairs done doesn't scrutinize their bills. They a) only care about the final, total cost and b) that the repair is done and done correctly.

Pretty much how I operate. Was like that on my camber bolts and alignment. Yeah I squawed a bit about the price on the bolts but ultimately it came in about what I budgeted for..so eff', I figure the mechanics gotta eat too. And at the end of the day knowing it was done right and warrantied and not by my 12pk of PBR beer while he's doing the job neighbor, is worth paying a little extra....



Yep, getting a "competent" mechanic is worth getting soaked a bit in price, where I'm at it is literally impossible to find competent mechanics even for very basic cars that are 20 years old or so...truly terrible.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by clinebarger
At 100% markup....$387.00 is definitely believable. While I believe 100% is excessive.....A lot of shops do it that way!
Moog lists the part (513275) for $188.90 on their website which is most likely the suggested retail price.

I thought shops typically charge the customer the MSRP amount while they generally pay well under that. Using the part you list, they're probably paying 50% of that price.

Just checked and even that ^^ probably isn't accurate anymore (the MSRP is wildly inflated). RA sells that part for $90, Amazon is $93. A shop might be paying $50-75 for this, yeah ?


Well.....I called AutoZone Commercial, My price is $125 including tax & it lists for $208. They certainly attempted to gouge on the part!

Amazon, RA, & Summit Racing are usually cheaper than Brick & Mortar stores even with a Account/Shop discount! Doing Timing Chains & Phasers on a 2008 5.4L F250 right now......Summit KILLS the local competition!
The VVT Phasers from my local Ford dealer are cheaper than the OE rebox Melling ones from Summit.....But everything else which includes Spark Plugs, Timing Chain set, Valve Cover gaskets, Oil Pump & Timing Cover gaskets will save the client over $100.

I'm fortunate to have a Summit Racing distribution center in my backyard, If not for that.....I'd use Rock Auto a lot more. Not the biggest Amazon fan with 3rd party sellers & the price changes.
 
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[/quote]

Exactly, on OReilly's commercial page (First Call Online) they list Mobil 1 0W40 at $16.93/qt with my cost being $9.99. The 5qt M1 0W40 shows a list of $67.78 and my cost being $39.99[/quote]

Today

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I think the mark up is quite a bit more in Canada than the USA.
I have 2 stories.
Struts Bilstien from RA $126. NAPA $369. Repair shop $800
Windshield washer pump from RA $7. Napa $41. Repair shop $120.
 
I asked the manager why the Moog part was so expensive? I told him I did all the wheel hubs myself within the last year, in fact the 2 rear hubs were done in July using Moog parts sourced from Rock Auto, and I paid $ 125 CAD for each Moog wheel hub. $ 387 per each is over 3x the selling price of RA !!

His response: "well, Rock Auto is just putting junk Chinese parts in Moog boxes and shipping them out" "ours come with a 3 year warranty" I said that so do the Moog parts that RA supplies, in fact 1 of the front wheel hubs that I installed failed early, and RA paid for my return shipping and gave me a full refund. He had no answer.

I could accept that this chain would mark up their parts 80-100 % but 300% higher than RA or Amazon.ca is insane! And RA and Amazon.ca are also making money on their selling prices.

I am doing the repair myself, I accept it won't be convenient, I have other things I would prefer to do, but enough is enough. I ordered the Moog hub from Amazon.ca for $144 CAD and it will be delivered by 9pm Tuesday. RA wanted $120 CAD plus $21 CAD shipping, but it would have been 3-4 days at least.


Rant over.
tell me such nonsense and you have just shot yourself in both feet.
nothing further you say is believable.
and you certainly wont get the job!
slandering your competition is just plain bad form.
 
I get my Tacomas timing belt, water pump, idlers, etc done every 100k (300K coming up!), and I want Toyota parts. The last place did an ok job (found a few non-critical) missing bolts, etc.) but they would not warranty the work unless they used their parts. I could kinda see that, but I took them Toyota parts to put on. figured I'd take a chance. Is this the normal routine?
If the bolts weren't critical the mfg would have left them off.so it is a crap job.
 
tell me such nonsense and you have just shot yourself in both feet.
nothing further you say is believable.
and you certainly wont get the job!
slandering your competition is just plain bad form.
You do realize this is over a year old? You saw the thread on the "Similar threads" at the bottom of the page? They really should do something about that.
 
You do realize this is over a year old? You saw the thread on the "Similar threads" at the bottom of the page? They really should do something about that.
Well there's a date on the post but I guess people ignore that. At least it's only a year, not sure what the record is so far, maybe 12-13 years?
 
No, people don't look for a date, they just see "Similar threads" below their post and assume it's current, even though I see one that has, "last replied to" in 2017.
 
Did you really expect a shop to price match Rock auto? His cost for the part is likely much more locally. Shops do not like to deal with mail order parts as returns are a major hassle vs calling up a local place and getting things handled immediatley.
 
No, people don't look for a date, they just see "Similar threads" below their post and assume it's current, even though I see one that has, "last replied to" in 2017.
Lol. I read the first post and it said unexpected snow so it seemed legit.
 
This is a nonsensical post. The issue here is that in today's environment-the value that people put on craftsmen (inc. mechanics, plumbers, electricians,etc.) is very low. The OP was not getting ripped off. In addition (skirting the "politics issue") there are certain things that are a way of life in Canada that necessitate much higher profit margins that in the U.S. I have have visited Canada four times.

This reminds me of a diatribe post on here where another poster on BITOG-posting in great detail how he skirted paying a higher price in Canada by having a part shipped somewhere else, then reshipping it, or crossing to pick it up. Can't quite remember the nuances of the post.

Enough said.
 
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