In today’s society, the first thing that we do on a daily basis is try not to be in a situation to get taken advantage of.
When you’re making a purchase at the local pharmacy, you find the best deal to save money. When you go to dinner you ask about the evening special to try and save money. The same thing when needing car repairs, you question whether or not you can cut corners to save money. Yes, is the answer to all of these scenarios? When needing any type of repair to your vehicle, don’t feel pressured to have the repair done right now, regardless of how severe it might be. You have a choice to either bow down to the first person who tells you it needs to be repaired, or the smart thing to do would be to fall back on your gut instinct and find a way to save yourself some money, just like you would at dinner or at the pharmacy.
First and foremost what do we do? Let’s start by reviewing the “how to” automotive articles to gain an understanding of what makes these automobiles function. Next, let me bring you up to speed on how the money thing works in the automotive industry. All repairs that are performed at repair shops anywhere use suggested repair times. What are suggested repair times? There is a system that has been put into place that helps repair shops with regulating the charges to customers for repairs. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s a good working guideline of what to charge for repairs. If you went in for open heart surgery and the surgeon saw an extra valve that needed repaired, you can bet somewhere along the lines it’s going to get fixed and cost more money. The same goes for your car, with one exception you can get several opinions without having to make a quick decision. This might even allow you to see how the estimates vary from one shop to another. If your car needs a water pump replaced and the shop you are at looks it up and it says it takes four hours to replace, take their hourly shop rate and multiply it by the number of hours to perform the repair. If the shop rate is $80 per hour, then $80 X 4 hours = $320.00. Now the only place where there might be a discrepancy, would be, mileage, age, or condition of the vehicle being repaired. There is no law that says you have to abide by the labor time guide, but it’s been known for years that if you want to stay in business then there is room to be flexible. This is where you have the upper hand. When vehicles get older or are exposed to road salt and rust, this greatly affects how nuts and bolts get removed to repair parts of your car. Labor times are based on all parts being replaced without any problems. If the shop wants your business, then they should show you the book time to do the job and work with you on the estimate. If your knowledgeable on the repairs and have a good grasp on how the labor times work, pick a shop that you are comfortable with or shop around until you find one that helps you save money. You should be able to save at least $100 or more every time you go in for repairs.
Labor time guide
With that in mind, here’s a web site that you could purchase your own labor time guide from and be one step ahead of the game. autorepairmanual.biz The most expensive labor guide is around $165.00 for both domestic and import 2008 edition, but you can get some 2005 and older books around $99.00.
