Oh brother, shop rates.

[89Suburban]

I recently had a well off American Legion friend of mine ask what a 2 bay shop would cosr ro set up. I told him that first you gotta find the bays, allow for buy or rent, utilities, insurance, lifts, equipment and licenses...
$400k. He about crapped his pants. Let alone the personal tool investment.

I got a guy at work asking me to do the front LCA's on his '07 Honda Accord. He's gonna get a quote from the shop and have me take a bid on the job if I want it.

 

[RVTSP21K]

Damn! My daughter's grandfather (ex's dad) was quoted almost $300 to swap out a belt tensioner and an idler pulley on his 2013 Silverado. I told him I'd do it for a case of Yuengling. I had the job done in 15 minutes.

Perfect example of how it behooves us to learn how to fix our own ****.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Dunno if this is the right place but dayum... went to smog the tahoe today and technician found a coolant leak. Kudos to him and hooking me up with a gal of coolant but, again, datum.
View attachment 456020

I think i did this before and it was like a fifteen dollar part.

Outrageous prices for sure, and you can certainly do better at RockAuto.com or GMPartsDirect.com.

I would say, though, if you have not yet changed out all of your cooling/heating hoses and the plastic Tees by the firewall, you should do it as soon as convenient. A burst hose or Tee will certainly ruin your day if you are away from home at the time (I know).

 

[georgerenner]

 

[alvocado]

Not a chevy but my wife's VW Jetta needs new front brakes, and the dealer quoted me over $700. 00.. Rockauto has pads and rotors for $90.00 for both right and left needless to say I'll be doing a break job myself.

@opfor2 check out FCPeuro.com for your VW. I've owned Audis for 15 years and they have a lifetime guarantee on every part they sell, including fluids. Buy brakes or an oil change kit once and then it's only the cost to return the used parts for every change thereafter.

 

[OR VietVet]

I got a guy at work asking me to do the front LCA's on his '07 Honda Accord. He's gonna get a quote from the shop and have me take a bid on the job if I want it.

Labor guide calls for 1.5 hours on one side and 2.3 for both. Screw that 2.3 price. I would double the 1.5. BUT, you will not be in a shop atmosphere and likely without a lift. If it was me, I would estimate 4 hours total at your labor rate and you should still be less than the shop labor. Is he supplying the parts? If you or the customer gets the parts, you are gonna save $ on parts cost, depending on where you get them and if you get discounts, like I do.

IIRC, the job is pretty easy. Don't have to deal with the strut, just sway bar links and such. If you bid 4 hours labor, you are still gonna save the guy a bunch of labor $.

BUT, if in a salt area and dealing with rust, I always tell people that if the parts come apart ok, then here is my ESTIMATE. If the rust hinders the work, the time may have to be adjusted. You need to allow for cost of penetrant and whatever else you may use during the process.

If you sail right thru the job and feel like it, you can always make him happy and adjust the price down. If he helps, I would not adjust down much.