Auto Repair Shop Hourly Rate Q

[spooln30]

Hey guys I have came to the decision that is time for me to move on in my career. I am just very unhappy with where I work from the lack of appreciation that my boss/owner of the shop I work at shows. What really pisses me off is I have almost four years working for him and when I should get good work he instead gives it to his golden boy who has not even a year in. I mean hes a good tech but a nut and bolt type Mech, just ok with Dia cars/trucks. I, on the other hand am really good at finding out whats "really" wrong instead of just replacing what ever the code is and hope for the best. What it comes down to is I'm the best Mech in the shop and I'm not trying to float my own boat. Back in June 2010 the owner basically forced all five employees to become self employed and start a Corporation. Main reason was so he can save money on his end with not having to pay into Wis work comp and Unemployment Insurances and having to pay his accountant to work up our yearly W2's. So now I have to pay that plus $100 a quarter for his and now our accountant to file our taxes. Total BS and if we didn't want to do this then we probably lose our jobs. Oh yea I also lost my Vac time I had. ANOTHER thing is we get no benefits like Health Insurance. Never did. The only good thing to come of this is I am Corporated and starting a shop I have one huge less step. I've found a couple of rental shops that I will be looking at this week. So my question is what is the average shop hourly rate in the Milwaukee area and what do you guys think would be fair. At my shop it's $98.45/HR so I will be under that to boost my business faster. I have a number on my business plan but I'm just curious to see what you guys think. Also BCMers will always get a discount.

[nismodave]

Wow, that sucks.

Good luck with your new Venture!!

[spooln30]

Thanks a lot man. My business will mainly be a repair shop for Import (Japaneese) and Domestic cars. Being I have a huge performance background I will also cater to those customers as well. One thing I will try to stick by is not to refuse any work. I have a good friend that buys cars/trucks at the auctions. He and four of his buddies all do buy/sell cars and they are always calling me to work on cars they buy. I feel comfortable in starting my shop cuz I know I'll have work right away. Being a one man operation will be hard but currently am able to pump out 60-70 hours a week flat rate even with a hurt back. Just lately that amount of hours hasn't been available.*

[Dr.Buick]

98.00 is big money per hour, but it seems like the norm. I get 50 a hour, and I cant keep up!

[juicedimpss]

Ill be the first to say it,it aint easy being the "one man shop" but if it was easy,i guess everyone would be doin it.
good luck in your endeavors. shop rate will need to be decided based on what your monthly overhead is,along with what a "comparable"shop nearby charges. you MAY be able to charge the same or even more depending on how good their reputation with the community is.

[Russ Jerome]

Being a mechanic with experience as a service writer as well as filling in as a service manager, I would "fully quote" all jobs. Since I would greet the person, do the work and control everything I know what the possible oversight or un forseen issues could (highly unlikely when you dont have to pay an idiot) possible be. Big shops have to start with hourly rate, 80% of those employees are retards who cant find there ass with both hands. People like to know what it will cost, if you dont know what its gonna take you up front then you have to stick with hr rates.

[Russ Jerome]

Truck dealers are all around 99hr in SE WI with tech rates starting at low teens to 30 +/- hr.

[spooln30]

Thanks for the info guys! Funny with two phone calls it stepped up to a two tech and one used car sales shop. I have sold my own jobs at my current shop now, so I can talk with people and help them understand what is needed on their automobiles. I hope that this one shop that is Ava for rent will work out.

[Crawlin]

Like Ron said, as a one man shop I can only assume it will be based on how much your overhead is.

Shop rental
company insurance
health insurance
electricity and utility bills
waste disposal fees
garbage pick up
water bills
"supplies" (paper towl, soap, brake cleaner, carb cleaner, blah blah blah)
initial investment in tools(which I know you have most, but any shop supplied tools/diagnostic equipment now needed to be purchased)
lifts
tire machines
signage for building
advertising(i don't know if it costs anything to be in the yellow pages?)
edit - now that i see you got more people, now legal fees to draft contract of employment or ownership, as good of friends as they are, when shit hits the fan you'll be thankful for that contract.
edit #2 - dealer license for your location
insurance for the cars being sold on your lot

lots to think about and I'm sure I'm missing a ton of it

Definitely good luck!

if i remember right, at House of Harley our labor rate was $98/hr and they did a breakdown one day of what the "overhead" costs of the shop was and I think it was $70-75 based on the payscales of the employees. So almost $25/hr of markup for the house/owner

[Cjburn]

From when I was in a support industry for the automotive world, the smallest labor charge/hr was right around $85 hour, to around $110/hr for some dealerships. They sometimes have shop charges or environmental charges that back door customers and piss them off.

[Russ Jerome]

They sometimes have shop charges or environmental charges that back door customers and piss them off.

The a great point! Dealerships will charge .72cents for a single .8cent wire tie yet tag a 5% "misc" charge on bill! Fully quoting jobs that include tax and misc goes a long way personalize the customers experience.

Running your own shop and knowing your abilities can earn trust quickly, knowing a "hesitation on acceleration" on a late model GM fly bye TB will be at worst 2.0 hrs diag and at worst both peddle/TB R/R the highest cost will be 3hrs and $460 cost parts,worst case scenario when a dealer will be over $1200 min (more like $1450) for same parts/labor. Win win and profit for more tools to save even fore time.

[Plum Crazy]

98.00 is big money per hour, but it seems like the norm. I get 50 a hour, and I cant keep up!

We are right on the WI/IL border and we are at 106/Hr. I wish I saw some of that 106!

[Coops Brother]

I have our shop rate at $60/ hr, it has been that rate for over 2 years....