And they service thousands of vehicles. The vast majority with no issues.
A couple of shops near me used to be great. The one 30 minutes away used to be really reasonable but now that they are busy have really raised prices. The other one near me the owner retired and sold it to two Employees working there. I had brake work done and the front desk lady tried to get me to pay for front rotors as they were rusty. I told her yeah my car sat for a while cast iron rotors do that. Really rubbed me the wrong way. They also couldn't figure out the rough Idle while warm. I had to dig and came to the conclusion of one or two things while on a Neon Forum. And they are professional mechanics?
That is about what we have around here. They have grown to be the largest body shop chain not because they are good, but because a large corporation is trying to corner the market. They have been buying up independent shops much like corporate has been doing in other areas. We are morphing into a system where smaller business are becoming less common.
You would be correct Sir. Its paranoia run rampant to turn your vehicle over to anyone else on here. Well...it's a combination of paranoia and just being plan cheap!
I think the cheap part is a lot bigger. People expect to pay bottom dollar but receive top treatment. I can't even count how many posts here go something like this: "my mechanic wants $500 for a brake job, but I can get them for $150 from RA, is he trying to scam me?"
There's a great shop (not cheap at all); I was there when a customer was crying about the price. I told him, "OK, what don't you buy $20K worth of tools, put a lift in your garage and get a combined hundreds of years of knowledge?"I think the cheap part is a lot bigger. People expect to pay bottom dollar but receive top treatment. I can't even count how many posts here go something like this: "my mechanic wants $500 for a brake job, but I can get them for $150 from RA, is he trying to scam me?"
It's ridiculous expectations and this is from people on here that at least have some sort of idea what's involved with working on cars. Imagine dealing with normies
Part of the problem is that customers really have no idea how to price out the amount of labor for a job so they think the shop is scamming them which in some cases it is. In the BMW world I've seen quotes where the shop was double dipping on labor. For example adding labor ($100) to change the oil on top of the labor to replace an oil pan gasket where draining the oil is part of the process of changing the gasket. So the customer is getting charged $100 in labor to pour a few bottles of oil? I've also seen quotes where they markup an OE/Aftermarket part well above the retail price of a genuine part. Customer paying $40 for a $15 Elring gasket.I think the cheap part is a lot bigger. People expect to pay bottom dollar but receive top treatment. I can't even count how many posts here go something like this: "my mechanic wants $500 for a brake job, but I can get them for $150 from RA, is he trying to scam me?"
It's ridiculous expectations and this is from people on here that at least have some sort of idea what's involved with working on cars. Imagine dealing with normies
People get upset at $150+ an hour labor charges these days. I am starting to get the impression that it is not so easy to hire competent techs at the salary levels needed to keep the hourly labor charge all that much lower and still make it a profitable shop with all of the other expenses like property taxes, various insurance costs (which have gone through the roof in some places) and a host of other expenses which have all seen the impact of inflation.I think the cheap part is a lot bigger. People expect to pay bottom dollar but receive top treatment. I can't even count how many posts here go something like this: "my mechanic wants $500 for a brake job, but I can get them for $150 from RA, is he trying to scam me?"
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It's ridiculous expectations and this is from people on here that at least have some sort of idea what's involved with working on cars. Imagine dealing with normies
I think the cheap part is a lot bigger. People expect to pay bottom dollar but receive top treatment. I can't even count how many posts here go something like this: "my mechanic wants $500 for a brake job, but I can get them for $150 from RA, is he trying to scam me?"
It's ridiculous expectations and this is from people on here that at least have some sort of idea what's involved with working on cars. Imagine dealing with normies
It's such a complicated matter though. You don't need a $1000 worth of tools to do oil changes or most brake jobs, and smart consumers have realized that and are doing the work themselves.
