Mechanic Labour Rates

Brian2011

Hi,

What are the typical labour rates for an independent garage? I was charged 50 euro per hour inclusive of VAT for 3 hours labour, and the job, which was a wiring job was done in 2 and a half hours (from when I brought in to time collected) with no parts needed. This seems excessive to me, €40 per hour would have been more than enough, plus rounding up the half hour not really fair.

Stheno

Did you know the rate prior to agreeing to have them doing the work?

power pants

50 is about average. should have asked beforehand as already said

Brian2011

power pants wrote: »

50 is about average. should have asked beforehand as already said

It might be average in Dublin and cities, but outside not.

Stheno

Did you query being charged for the three hours?

power pants

Brian2011 wrote: »

It might be average in Dublin and cities, but outside not.

Fair point. Thats what they charged you though, did you ask before hand about rates and quotes etc?

Dozer Dave

Why did you not state that you are not paying for 3 hours labour if the car was only there 2.5 hours? crying about it on boards wont make your situation any better.

Brian2011

Dozer Dave wrote: »

Why did you not state that you are not paying for 3 hours labour if the car was only there 2.5 hours? crying about it on boards wont make your situation any better.

Because I would not have expected to be ripped off by a well recommended and reliable mechanic, and I'm not the type to kick up a fuss over 25 euro or in general, but anyway not going back there.

Can someone please answer my question about labour rates outside cities, in the country please?

Stheno

Brian2011 wrote: »

Because I would not have expected to be ripped off by a well recommended and reliable mechanic, and I'm not the type to kick up a fuss over 25 euro or in general, but anyway not going back there.

Can someone please answer my question about labour rates outside cities, in the country please?

No one can it will vary garage by garage tbh

power pants

does the receipt say 2.5 hours labour or did you time it as that?

It is possible they had it in for 2 hours and 40 mins and then round up to the nearest half hour. Not saying it is fair but its not uncommon either.

Fwiw I am the type the person to go back and question something if I dont feel satisfied. Nothing to do with the monetary amount but the prinicpal.

Brian2011

Stheno wrote: »

No one can it will vary garage by garage tbh

A typical range like? Independent only.

ShaunieVW

Garages have huge overheads, think of how much tools cost on there own keeping up with modern diagnostics and constant training. Unless it's a back alley gutter 50 euro isn't bad IMO.

Brian2011

power pants wrote: »

does the receipt say 2.5 hours labour or did you time it as that?

It is possible they had it in for 2 hours and 40 mins and then round up to the nearest half hour. Not saying it is fair but its not uncommon either.

Fwiw I am the type the person to go back and question something if I dont feel satisfied. Nothing to do with the monetary amount but the prinicpal.

Good for you, but I am not, unless it was really taking the p**s altogether which has never happened.

Stoolbend

Is it possible there was more than one person working in the car.

power pants

Brian2011 wrote: »

Good for you, but I am not, unless it was really taking the p**s altogether which has never happened.

Doesnt really bother you, yet you make a thread and a rant about them

#breezy :pac:

Brian2011

power pants wrote: »

does the receipt say 2.5 hours labour or did you time it as that?

It is possible they had it in for 2 hours and 40 mins and then round up to the nearest half hour. Not saying it is fair but its not uncommon either.

Fwiw I am the type the person to go back and question something if I dont feel satisfied. Nothing to do with the monetary amount but the prinicpal.

3 hours on receipt.

biko

50 is pretty common in all cities unless you go to some small local indy in the sticks.

gaz wac

fwiw my garage is €25 per hour...Meath

Brian2011

power pants wrote: »

Doesnt really bother you, yet you make a thread and a rant about them

#breezy :pac:

I wanted to know rates so I won't gat ripped off in the future, I am not ranting, I wanted to know if what I paid was excessive or not.

Dr.Rieux

50 would be about right I'd say, they may have had 2 lads working on the car for 1.5 hours to make the 3 hours labour cost

George Dalton

We charge €50 per hour ex VAT which is about average unless you are going the black market route.

To be honest if a job is particularly challenging and/or requires specialist tools or knowledge or if it is something I can use previous experience to pinpoint the issue faster than someone else may be able to do then I will often charge out more time than was actually spent on the job. I don't think there is anything wrong with doing that. Surely the better you are at your job the more you should be entitled to charge, not the other way round

bmwguy

Brian2011 wrote: »

A typical range like? Independent only.

€40 to €60

dieselbug

George Dalton wrote: »

We charge €50 per hour ex VAT which is about average unless you are going the black market route.

To be honest if a job is particularly challenging and/or requires specialist tools or knowledge or if it is something I can use previous experience to pinpoint the issue faster than someone else may be able to do then I will often charge out more time than was actually spent on the job. I don't think there is anything wrong with doing that. Surely the better you are at your job the more you should be entitled to charge, not the other way round

The other side to this is the job you have no previous experience on and may struggle with. The result is you spend too much time on it but it is a learning curve. You end up losing as you cannot justify chargeing out all the time spent on it due to your lack of experience on this particular issue.

But next time you come across the same issue you make up some of that loss, ie experience as above.

Brian2011

gaz wac wrote: »

fwiw my garage is €25 per hour...Meath

Great, now I really don't know, I am now thinking that most posters are from Dublin where you pay well for everything.

Stheno

Brian2011 wrote: »

Great, now I really don't know, I am now thinking that most posters are from Dublin where you pay well for everything.

George Dalton is down near Portlaoise

charcosull

I have used a few over the years ranging from 40 (Galway) to 60 (Kildare)

dieselbug

Brian2011 wrote: »

Great, now I really don't know, I am now thinking that most posters are from Dublin where you pay well for everything.

I know of a garage way out in the sticks that charge 60euro ex vat ph.
No sales just soley service and repairs and that was some time back, they may well be chargeing more now and they are busy.

I dont believe any garage can survive and progress at 25euro ph. At that rate they are chargeing only for their time and not allowing any expense for premises, tooling, insurance training etc.

Del2005

Brian2011 wrote: »

Because I would not have expected to be ripped off by a well recommended and reliable mechanic, and I'm not the type to kick up a fuss over 25 euro or in general, but anyway not going back there.

Maybe the garage charging €50 per hour will fix the car rather than the garage charging €25. You pay for experience and if the garage is recommended then they obviously do a good job and others think that their rates are reasonable.

porsche boy

I operate at 50p/h inc vat in Dublin. Someone posted they charge 25? unless thats a garage out the back of a house i cant see how they are covering overheads such as rent, rates, wages, insurance etc.
Another way to look at it OP is you get what you pay for. If your repair is good and dosent fail you again i think you have spent 150 well.

discodavie

This is my local lads rates

CiniO

Brian2011 wrote: »

Hi,

What are the typical labour rates for an independent garage? I was charged 50 euro per hour inclusive of VAT for 3 hours labour, and the job, which was a wiring job was done in 2 and a half hours (from when I brought in to time collected) with no parts needed. This seems excessive to me, €40 per hour would have been more than enough, plus rounding up the half hour not really fair.

I though hourly rates are rates per one mechanic working on your car.
I remember I paid for 3 garage hours once, even though car was in only for an hour. However 3 mechanics worked on it for this hour.

Maybe it was the same case with you.

PADRAIC.M

Kildare area is roughly 40-50 + vat, I know 3 main dealers which are 50 +vat in this area but also know another which is 75-100 +vat depending on which of their brands you are dealing with