Wobbly
Veteran Member
What's the conversion between VW allotted labor "time units" and terrestrial time?
Much of that depends on the shop.whitedog said:So how do the mechanics get paid for diagnostic time on a shop job? (As opposed to a warranty job)
I hear ya.oilhammer said:I probably do more little tidbits for free than I should, but I so enjoy what I do it pays off in other ways.
Like others have basically said, shops have to collect sufficient funds to pay techs and run their business.Wobbly said:Thanks.
Are VW dealers required to base their labor charges on these times, or are they creative in applying them?
And be sure they actually have the ability to perform the job in question correctly. The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after a cheap price is forgotten.Plus 3 Golfer said:...
Bottom line Wobbly, get comparable out-the-door prices for the job being done including parts list and labor. Don't worry about the TUs and labor rates.
To me,this would definitely be repeat business and high praise of the shop to anyone who needs work done on a vehicle.Any mechanic that goes out of his way being honest and upfront gets high praise from me !!!oilhammer said:I probably do more little tidbits for free than I should, but I so enjoy what I do it pays off in other ways.
Sometimes we get nothing. It depends on shop policy. I will always go the extra mile to help out a customer but I do want to get paid for my labors. Believe it or not I have even had customers try to haggle price on side jobs where I was charging $20 an hour. I can't compete with Sears on struts for example using OEM parts. Parts alone cost more than they charge for the whole job. What many do not realize is that their upsell of unneeded items is quite common. When they get out of there that $100 advertised price for struts is now over 1k.whitedog said:So how do the mechanics get paid for diagnostic time on a shop job? (As opposed to a warranty job)
Unfortunately, that is why it's so difficult for some shops to sell things like all of the parts in the timing belt SYSTEM. They just went through some hard upsell from the dealer or whatnot, then they hear about all of these "other parts" that the mechanic says should be changed.hevster1 said:What many do not realize is that their upsell of unneeded items is quite common. When they get out of there that $100 advertised price for struts is now over 1k.
Yep, you work on so many TDIs because of your reputation and if you send out a car that fails what can that do to your rep? It's like I never rebuilt a Deere engine that didn't get a new oil pump. I never took one apart to inspect it, but for 1-2% of the price of the total rebuild job, it's worth it especially when downtime caused by low oil pressure can cost the profit in a job.jasonTDI said:FWIW I don't give a choice about TB repair. Either you do it all or you move along. Had a few go elsewhere over the years but that's the way I roll on that.
Eric: I hope you meant that a typically well-equipped mechanic has more invested in HIS STALL than the business does. That would be very accurate.cadman1940 said:I must ask how many of the people here realse that a good mechanic with a crediable suply of tools has a really large investment in his job. It is not uncommon to find that the mechanics in dealerships have more mony invested in their job than their employer. I find it not uncommon that mechanics will have 100,000 dollars and it is not uncommon to find this number much higher. The Doctor you go to for health problems has only 2 models to be concerned with yet a mechanic has how many? To further put this in perspective a mechanic working in a shop often has more in tools than that Dr has in education and tools to work on you. I have never forgot a customer at a shop I worked in in 1962 wanted to borrow a screwdriver and plires to tighten his tag while I worked on the front end of his car. I noticed that he was poking around in my tools and then I would hear the back door on the car slam shut. After finishing my work I walked back and opened the door and there was a substantial pile of my tools. I removed them and told him to get in the passenger side we were going for a road test. I drove back to the bosses office door and explained the problem to my employer and that further this person was not welcome in my stall. I would work on his car but he would not be with it. Thanks Eric A mechanic for most of my worklife.