What's this repair worth?

[Chris142]

Got a call from a shop owner we used to deal with a lot. He had a handicapped Toyota van on the lift. Someone else jacked it up and smashed the ac lines that lead to the rear of the van.

Being a custom built van with a wheel chair lift the ac lines are custom made by the company that modified the van.

I loaded up all the stuff needed to do a Mobil repair. Fittings,sleeves, welding rod,torch, ac hose, crimper etc.

Drove about 10 miles to get there with fuel being $7 a gallon.

Cut out the smashed lines and did the repair.

Total time was 45 minutes once I got there.

I'm into the repair about $50 on my end as far as parts go. How much should I charge?

 

[wpod]

Time to load up what you needed, travel time, materials and your labor. What would a shop charge?

 

[fsdork]

At a minimum, I would say 1hr of shop rate, plus 20 miles at whatever the going rate for mileage is, plus parts including whatever the standard parts markup is.

Or whatever your competition would charge.

 

[CatCam2]

$58.23

 

[JHZR2]

Didn’t you post about this back in April?

 

[MalibuRam65]

Charge $250 to cover gas time and inflation. Everybody else doing it

 

[Chris142]

At a minimum, I would say 1hr of shop rate, plus 20 miles at whatever the going rate for mileage is, plus parts including whatever the standard parts markup is.

Or whatever your competition would charge.

There is no competition. Nobody else even relatively close by makes ac hoses.

 

[Chris142]

Didn’t you post about this back in April?

Different car and this is a mobile job. Unless I posted and forgot.

 

[Jim_Truett]

Got a call from a shop owner we used to deal with a lot. He had a handicapped Toyota van on the lift. Someone else jacked it up and smashed the ac lines that lead to the rear of the van.

Being a custom built van with a wheel chair lift the ac lines are custom made by the company that modified the van.

I loaded up all the stuff needed to do a Mobil repair. Fittings,sleeves, welding rod,torch, ac hose, crimper etc.

Drove about 10 miles to get there with fuel being $7 a gallon.

Cut out the smashed lines and did the repair.

Total time was 45 minutes once I got there.

I'm into the repair about $50 on my end as far as parts go. How much should I charge?

I'd be at $160 for this. $60 for fuel and materials, $100 for labor and expertise.

 

[RooflessVW]

There is no competition. Nobody else even relatively close by makes ac hoses.

Sounds good to me!

$250

 

[JHZR2]

Different car and this is a mobile job. Unless I posted and forgot.

Perhaps….

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/local-dealer-had-a-small-disaster.347496/

What was that job worth? Add the time and gas…

 

[spasm3]

I'm into the repair about $50 on my end as far as parts go. How much should I charge?

How much do you want to make per hour?( how much is your time worth to you?) Take your answer and multiply x hours + expenses like fuel, raw materials cost( hoses fittings etc.

 

[RoadDukie]

It's a specialist job Chris.

You could easily charge $250 as @RooflessVW said, but if you want to cut them some slack, go a buck seventy five and call it a day. They'll still keep calling you.

 

[Dave9]

"Worth" is hard to equate in this day and age. I mean it is worth, the same as any closest competitor would charge (someone WOULD do the work at the right price point, competitors is more an issue of effort to find them), but personally, since I don't do work for disabled people as a profession, (though I have had that opportunity too) I try to cut them some slack if I can. At the same time I don't mean suffering a loss, bills have to be paid, going in the red does not make it sustainable towards helping others next time, either.

So, you drive 10 miles, 45min job, 10 mi back, call that $200 worth of time in CA, plus $20 in vehicle wear/gas, $50 in materials = $270 total, or deduct $200 from that if you want to donate the time.

What you could easily charge is $1000. Just sayin', don't do that for people in hardship but make sure you are never in the red unless it's an exceptional case, otherwise you need to be able to sustain the good deeds.

 

[ecotourist]

I don't think charging as much as you can is a good way to do business.

It sounds as though you spent an hour on the job including your driving time. A reasonable hourly rate would be $100. Your costs are $50.

Sounds like a bill for $150.

 

[RhondaHonda]

I’d say $250 is very fair if a business. If a cash job, maybe slightly less without insurance, taxes, etc. I’d tell them $325 and say you are helping them out at $250 but likely wouldn’t go less than that.

 

[Jethro_Bob]

"Worth" is hard to equate in this day and age. I mean it is worth, the same as any closest competitor would charge (someone WOULD do the work at the right price point, competitors is more an issue of effort to find them), but personally, since I don't do work for disabled people as a profession, (though I have had that opportunity too) I try to cut them some slack if I can. At the same time I don't mean suffering a loss, bills have to be paid, going in the red does not make it sustainable towards helping others next time, either.

So, you drive 10 miles, 45min job, 10 mi back, call that $200 worth of time in CA, plus $20 in vehicle wear/gas, $50 in materials = $270 total, or deduct $200 from that if you want to donate the time.

What you could easily charge is $1000. Just sayin', don't do that for people in hardship but make sure you are never in the red unless it's an exceptional case, otherwise you need to be able to sustain the good deeds.

A shop damaged the van, it should come out of their pockets. Also since this seems to be a recurring issue, at some point the conversion company should be held accountable for bad placement of ac lines.

 

[OilUzer]

iirc, the mechanics in our area charge for:

• Time. Fixed rate/hr or adjusted depending on complexity and expertise required. Min 45 minutes.
• Parts & material.
• Shop rags. lol I assume it's not included in the "material" above.
• Disposal of material.
• Tax

Plus

• Mechanic cost & total time to travel.
• Mobile service fee if not included in the above.
• Gas $ (AAA used to have wear & tear cost per mile) If not included in the Mobile service fee.

Deduct:

whatever discount you fell like ... For example if you are being nice and not really that busy and want to help or acquire new customers, word of mouth, help people with limited income, etc.

I'm sure I missed something else besides the shop rags.

 

[skyactiv]

I’m a semi mechanic and don’t do side work. If I did, it would be my overtime rate at a minimum which would be a bargain for the customer. Plus a 3 hour minimum. So if your OT rate is $60 an hour and it takes you 1 hour to do the job, charge $180 plus parts.

 

[mattd]

At least 200$, if not 250$