What to charge for maintenance?

[Farmer]

I have a farmer friend that's not very good at his maintenance, so he asked me to do it for him... He's bringing me 4 vehicles to work on, needs the following work done. Probably will have to do some miscellaneous stuff too i.e. top up fluids, bulbs, tire pressure etc. Looked at his Truck and Sienna, definitely needs an engine degreasing, its a mess under the hood.

'04 Dodge Ram 3500 5.9L Cummins
Oil / Air / Fuel Filter
Transmission Service + Filter
Hood Struts
Differential Fluid
'96 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0L
Oil / Air Filter
Transmission Service + Filter
Water Pump
Serpentine Belt
Thermostat + Gasket
Valve Cover Gasket
Spark Plugs
Coolant
'99 Toyota Sienna 3.0L 1MZFE
Oil / Air Filter
Transmission Dump & Fill
PCV Valve
'08/'09? Honda Odyssey 3.5L
Oil / Air Filter

 

[Doc8404]

What's the going rate in your area? I would do it for 50% of that

 

[Farmer]

Originally Posted By: rsylvstr
What's the going rate in your area? I would do it for 50% of that


I think most places are charging 80-90 per hour. What about parts? Same price as I pay would be the most fair. I do get very good pricing at the Parts Stores I visit.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: rsylvstr
What's the going rate in your area? I would do it for 50% of that

That's if he can do it as quickly as a pro, some of the stuff i can do in 1 hour takes a DIY 3-4 to do. If you charge 50% of what i charge you will paying double what i would have done it for.

Go by flat rate time and charge 50% of the going rate, additional time for rusted bolts that need drilling and tapping.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: rsylvstr
What's the going rate in your area? I would do it for 50% of that

That's if he can do it as quickly as a pro, some of the stuff i can do in 1 hour takes a DIY 3-4 to do. If you charge 50% of what i charge you will paying double what i would have done it for.

Go by flat rate time and charge 50% of the going rate, additional time for rusted bolts that need drilling and tapping.


I'd agree - actual time spent on the job. Maybe a small markup (10%) on parts, or at least round up to the next $10. Lastly, I'd do 1 vehicle at a time, and make sure the parts and service are paid for before starting the next one.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: Farmer
Originally Posted By: rsylvstr
What's the going rate in your area? I would do it for 50% of that


I think most places are charging 80-90 per hour. What about parts? Same price as I pay would be the most fair. I do get very good pricing at the Parts Stores I visit.


Charge over-the-counter price, same as he'd get if he walked in the parts store. You might want to look at what kind of liability your insurance covers since you're doing auto repair for pay. You may be doing the work at a discount but your liability is the same as the pros. Cash money, neighbors, etc all goes out the window if something goes wrong and someone gets hurt.

 

[edwardh1]

whats your policy if the xmision breaks week after you change the filter?

 

[Bluestream]

Use Mitchell flat rate times

 

[Bandito440]

Hopefully he's a very good friend. Anything that breaks will likely be your fault otherwise.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Charge him 150% going rate, or an hourly rate that is double of what you get paid at your day job.

Negligent owner with neglected vehicles is a problem. You ready to be blamed for every possible future issue?

Liability

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: Farmer
I have a farmer friend that's not very good at his maintenance, so he asked me to do it for him... He's bringing me 4 vehicles to work on, needs the following work done. Probably will have to do some miscellaneous stuff too i.e. top up fluids, bulbs, tire pressure etc. Looked at his Truck and Sienna, definitely needs an engine degreasing, its a mess under the hood.

'04 Dodge Ram 3500 5.9L Cummins
Oil / Air / Fuel Filter
Transmission Service + Filter
Hood Struts
Differential Fluid
'96 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0L
Oil / Air Filter
Transmission Service + Filter
Water Pump
Serpentine Belt
Thermostat + Gasket
Valve Cover Gasket
Spark Plugs
Coolant
'99 Toyota Sienna 3.0L 1MZFE
Oil / Air Filter
Transmission Dump & Fill
PCV Valve
'08/'09? Honda Odyssey 3.5L
Oil / Air Filter


Are you supplying all parts as well? I would go by what you charge per hour for him. I'd Start with the Sienna and Odyssey first. Then do the Ram and leave the Cherokee for last.

Make sure you use the correct fluids for the Tranny, you don't want to be blamed for premature tranny failure on the Dodge and Jeep when you change fluids.

 

[bradepb]

I stopped doing side work years ago. Can of worms especially on neglected vehicles. Anything goes wrong it is awkward and potentially cost a friend. The only vehicles I touch other than at work are my children"s.

 

[Farmer]

Parts I am supplying my self, filters are mostly Wix except Oil / Fuel on the Ram are going to be Baldwin. The Jeep I am definitely doing last since its going to sitting in the shop for a few days or maybe the whole week. Depends how busy I am during the week.

ATF wise I'll be using in the Jeep/Ram will be Mobil ATF +4. Sienna I'll just use Valvoline ML ATF.

Where can I access the Mitchell flat rate time thing? I want to be fair as possible and not take him for a ride for his money. Just trying to help him out.

I don't mind starting with any of the other three vehicles. I drive a 2010 Ram 3500 6.7L and most of the things are very similar of whats on his truck, and I've done all those things I need to do for his. So it shouldn't be a problem.

Oil I will be using Delo 400 15W40 for the truck and the rest PYB 5W30 and 10W30 for the Jeep.

 

[cjcride]

Lot of good advice already.
I have a mechanic buddy and the liability is the biggest problem he said.

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

Originally Posted By: bradepb
I stopped doing side work years ago. Can of worms especially on neglected vehicles. Anything goes wrong it is awkward and potentially cost a friend. The only vehicles I touch other than at work are my children"s.


Exactly, unless Farmer is going to get something in writing about the friend dismissing all potential liability issues I would steer clear of getting involved with that mess.

 

[Malo83]

Charge a Grand plus parts

 

[HangFire]

As a side note, don't degrease under the hood, unless required for diagnostics, or if it just makes your job too hard.

Reason- greasy oily trucks don't rust like clean ones do.

 

[The Critic]

I usually charge about 1/2 the market rate and about 10% mark up on parts. For labor times I use flat rate or a commonly accepted flat rate.

Typically this is $80/hr. The market rate is $135-$170/hr here. For parts I mostly use OE and some premium aftermarket.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: bradepb
I stopped doing side work years ago. Can of worms especially on neglected vehicles. Anything goes wrong it is awkward and potentially cost a friend. The only vehicles I touch other than at work are my children"s.


Yup. I do work on families cars and have two friends that I will help do something when they need it.

But other than that it is a can or worms (and even then you need to draw the line sometimes). One of my friends put a set of rod bearings in a car for another friend one time. The one with the car had been told it needed an engine. They decided maybe they could get a while longer out of it and stuck some rod bearings in it for very little money. Six or eight months later it blew up - in somewhat spectacular fashion - and the friend with the cars wife wanted the other friend to buy the engine and put it in for free. There was talk of small claims court and I'm sure they are no longer friends.

I probably work too cheap, but I used to get $16.00 a flat rate hour (that was my part) I figure it has gone up a bit since then so I usually just round it off to about $20.00 FT/hr, and charge whatever I pay for parts. Oil changes I basically do for free.

Oil changes and transmission services are pretty cheap at dealers around here, You won't make any money doing Oil changes and Trans services unless you charge more than a dealer and if you do then when he finds out, he's probably going to be hard to get along with.

 

[Farmer]

I spoke to him about liability issues and he understands anything could go wrong. Who ever was doing his maintenance before wasn't very good at doing an oil change. Oil filter was not even hand tight on his truck. Could be the reason why it has oil / mudcake all over his suspension parts.