Be aware of over searvicing - Check your bill & Do not get bitten

Workshop consumables is a hard one. A 200ltr drum of parts cleaner is 700.00. thats once every six months. Wurth bill for cans of Carby clean bolts zip ties rags and a thousand other little things comes to about 500.00 a month, And up here the only place to get rid of waste oil is the council tip and you have to take it out there yourself in containers no larger than 205 ltr, cost is 80cents a ltr disposal.
I try to be as fair as possible and the charge can be anywhere from five to twentfive dollars depending on what we do to the vehicle. From making and welding a new exhaust to a rebuild of diff or gearbox to a simple service.
But in today's economic climate it is to great a cost to try to absorb the same as freight. For some obscure reason Toll thinks we moved the town and has now made us country ie:- not on a regular flight route, min airbag thirty-six dollars, Road freight min thirty-eight dollars. To much to absorb as every part comes from somewhere else.
But I do agree you need to at least question it and have it explained, I am quite happy for you to look at any original invoices at any time as covs, Kyatts and repco now attach all freight invoices to there parts invoice.

Squizzy. My father and uncle both had mechanical workshops and I know where you are coming from. I agree you have to cover you legitimate costs, user has to pay. You will get no comeback from me if your bill is fair and correct.
Though I must admit it is hard to pay the labour costs when the mechanic is charged to you at $85 an hour. That cost must include a fair amount of O/Heads, consumables and profit.

Cheers Tony

I'm with Axel on this one. It's as big a rort as a "Loan Establishment Fee" at the banks.

What next, your local restaurant adds on a fee for consumables. After all they have to put some oil in the pan to fry your Scallopini. Dishwasing Detergent, Floor Cleaner and Dish Cloths all cost money.

Cheers,

Jim.

ask them what the Environmental levy is for...answer is generally to get rid of old oil.....

duh.....they generally Sell it to the recyclers

G/day Member no 1

Mobil Jabiru just had 45 x 208 lt drums of old oil emptied and taken to Darwin, It cost them 60 cents per litre to dispose off, we had 200 tyres taken away at $2 per tyre and we pay buy the tonne to have the batteries to be taken away and disposed off.

Cheers Steve.

Squizzy, as you say, you also need to get rid of your waste (oil, coolants, etc.). We charge an Environmental Levy of $7.50 on every job that has oils, oily rags, coolant from our machines (not engine coolant), and any other waste that is generated that can't be put into the council's rubbish bin or recycling.

At the end of the day you're not in business to go broke, but you're not in it to rip people off either.

BTW, I stopped buying from Wurth and reduced my annual consumables bill by 36%, but still with the same annual usage.

Jim, you say it's a rort. So when you make a set of drawers do you just charge for materials and labour and donate the cost of everything else out of the goodness of your heart?

Louie

Louie,

I say it's a rort because it's not up front.

When I quote someone, it's a fair dinkhum quote. I don't sneak in a fitting charge or the like. 80% of the units we sell we fit free because I morally can't stitch someone up for 10 minutes work. If it's a dificult fit I let them know up front and give them the option of doing it themselves to save a few bucks.

And I do also have waste removal costs. But along with rent, electricity, insurance etc, that is factored into my overheads.

Cheers,

Jim.

Squizzy , I agree that some of the costings you quote are an exorbitant impost on a mechanical workshop ,, the thing is that they are already paid for in the Labour charges are they not ? How else can you explain a labour charge of $85 / $130 per hr when the actual mechanic gets $20 per hr or less... next thing will be a seperate charge of $2 per hr per customer for the workshop electricity ,,,

Steve
we have recycling mobs here in adelaide who pay for the old oil
i assume it would happen in most places...especially capital cities where the recycle plants are ..

Most mechanics here are paid between 25 and 30 dollars an hour. Basically you can double that to how much a mechanic costs you with super, workers comp, phone calls and time spent ordering parts or answering queries insurance and this far away from cities you either supply accommodation or a couple of hundred dollars a week rent assistance. Rates, water, electricity, workshop maintenance, uniforms are all factored into this hourly rate.
After all that there is consumables, and yes you could just add the cost of disposal to the price of the oil, but then everyone would complain about the cost. every shop in this town charges disposal even when you supply your own oil.
Add to this we are the contractor that goes to the Bungles or up on to Mitchell plateau or Gregory national park and picks you up when you break down. This takes a heavy toll of these trucks and the maintenance is impossible to factor in completely. When you get back to town we find you accommodation and a hire car and deliver you to these (not paid for in the tow and we don't charge this hour or hour and a half) and then we do what is humanly possible to get you back on the road as we realize you are on holiday and every day you loose is one you miss out on.
All in all I think we a fair.

Wise move . My maintainer is knowledgeable and does nice work , but he charged $35 for supplying an axle stub dust cap that at Nunawading Landrover costs $3.50 . Now , like you , I buy the parts and he can fit them .

he can still put an extra hour's labour on

Steve posted "he can still put an extra hour's labour on"

Steve, I go to a dealer that has fixed price servicing. When i ring to book the service I ask how much is included for the engine oil cost.
I then ensure that much is deducted from the a/c.