Cost of labour at garage for repairs?

Bronco Bullfrog

Hello,


looks like I am going to need a new clutch, just what's needed in the run up to Christmas anyway, I have heard that it is a 6 hour job on my car. The last garage I used for repairs a couple of years ago, charged me €60 per hour for labour, I mentioned this to a few people and they seemed to think that was very expensive, just wondering if anyone has an idea what the going rate that garages charge for labour is around / approx?? Thanks.

Toyotafanboi

I'd be surprised if you find a good quality independent workshop working for less than that tbh, particularly if you are on the east coast.

You'll get lads doing nixers for less and lads doing it with no warranty or insurance for less but for a job by a qualified mechanic with a receipt €50-60 an hour is on the money.

Tazzimus

€60 is about right, some main dealers charge more. GF's place charge €80 an hour I think.

colm_mcm

€60 an hour would be on the low side for a tax compliant transaction.

bazz26

What are these "people" who are saying €60 a hour is expensive, basing their opinion on?

colm_mcm

bazz26 wrote: »

What are these "people" who are saying €60 a hour is expensive, basing their opinion on?

Usually they take what they earn per hour as a base line and then conclude that a grease monkey can’t possibly make more money than them.
What they miss is that the labour rate is covering the mechanic, the premises, the utilities, the equipment, and the profit.

bazz26

colm_mcm wrote: »

Usually they take what they earn per hour as a base line and then conclude that a grease monkey can’t possibly make more money than them.
What they miss is that the labour rate is covering the mechanic, the premises, the utilities, the equipment, and the profit.

I reckon they are going off labour costs on Wheeler Dealer. Sure Ed or Ant fit the parts for nothing.

Bronco Bullfrog

Thanks for the replies. I figured €60 would be about right for a proper set up. I have used the garage before numerous times no problems. I'm not originally from the town where I live. I've used other garages in the town where I live & have encountered shoddy work, wrong parts used, charged for work that was not carried out, damage done to my car, work on my car subbed out to a lad working out of a barn elsewhere etc. I just thought I would ask around as a clutch is going to be a big ticket item to replace. Someone I mentioned it to used to work in car sales & they thought it was expensive at €60 per hour, and some other ill-informed folks. I have no objection to paying the going rate for decent work, just thought I'd ask around. The car was last in that garage 2 years ago & the rate may have increased, just wanted to get an idea of a labour charge.


I asked a taxi driver the other day if he would recommend a local garage, he told me a place & said 'there cheap...but they're messy'. Great, reassuring thought I. I guess you get what you pay for. Thanks for your replies. Cheers.

Heres Johnny

That's good value once the work is solid, by no means expensive.
When I worked in a main dealership in the 2000s it was 140 per hour, and you were getting apprentices working mainly. Under supervision, but now there's a rare that will build up very quickly into a nice tidy invoice

colm_mcm

€140 an hour was very much on the high side, even 15 years ago.

Nika Bolokov

60 is a good deal. There is a shortage of qualified mechanics.

Murt10

colm_mcm wrote: »

.
What they miss is that the labour rate is covering the mechanic, the premises, the utilities, the equipment, and the profit.

And last, but by no means least, Insurance.

knifey_spoonie

Currently €60 is about about as low as you can reasonably expect. If you have previously had a good experience with them i would say go ahead with the repair.

Given the current climate a good mechanic will be cost €27-€30 per hour in wages alone. As others have said you then have to allow for the overheads, equipment etc.

Heres Johnny

colm_mcm wrote: »

€140 an hour was very much on the high side, even 15 years ago.

Bmw dealer in finglas

Henry Ford III

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

Currently €60 is about about as low as you can reasonably expect. If you have previously had a good experience with them i would say go ahead with the repair.

Given the current climate a good mechanic will be cost €27-€30 per hour in wages alone. As others have said you then have to allow for the overheads, equipment etc.

Does a mechanic earn up to €1200 per week?

knifey_spoonie

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Does a mechanic earn up to €1200 per week?

Ohh how i was waiting.

€800 Per Week

Cost to the Employer is €920 (Employers PRSI)

52 Weeks in the Year €47,820 Per Year

20 Days Holidays
9 Bank Holidays
7 Days away training
4 Days Sick

40 Days or 8 Weeks

44 Weeks = €1086 Per Working Week

5 Days @ 7.5 Hours = 37.5 Hours Per Week

€1086/37.5 = €28.96

Hellrazer

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

O

20 Days Holidays
9 Bank Holidays
7 Days away training
4 Days Sick

You cant really exclude these as you are still paying a technician for their holidays/ bank holidays / training days and if agreed sick pay.


Hes also not liable for the Employers Prsi.

A technician on 800 a week is probably (depending on his personal tax credits) clearing between €600 - 680 per week for 52 weeks not 44 as per your post.


A working week is 39 hours in most places aswell excluding breaks.

knifey_spoonie

Hellrazer wrote: »

You cant really exclude these as you are still paying a technician for their holidays/ bank holidays / training days and if agreed sick pay.


Hes also not liable for the Employers Prsi.

A technician on 800 a week is probably (depending on his personal tax credits) clearing between €600 - 680 per week for 52 weeks not 44 as per your post.


A working week is 39 hours in most places aswell excluding breaks.

Im not really sure if you are agreeing with me or not, but my point was its costs roughly €30 per hour to employ a good mechanic. What they take home is irrelevant especially when discussing retail labour rates.

It doesn't change the fact to have that person employed will cost the Garage/Business €47,820 in pay per year, and when you exclude all the non productive hours every hour you have available to sell costs €28.96

Including non productive hours is pretty standard when is comes to working out business costs. If the person is being paid its a cost that has to be accounted for.

The 37.5 Hours a week is based on 30 Minutes of breaks each day. Which is pretty much standard.

mickdw

So a mechanic earning 21.33 euro per hour for each of his 37.5 hours per week costs the business 28.96 for each productive hour. That makes sense factoring in holiday pay etc.
Adding an additional 30 per hour to cover the business facility, insurance, tools, training and profit seems reasonable.
60 must be around the minimum then for a legit business employing mechanics.

Hellrazer

knifey_spoonie wrote: »

Im not really sure if you are agreeing with me or not, but my point was its costs roughly €30 per hour to employ a good mechanic. What they take home is irrelevant especially when discussing retail labour rates.

It doesn't change the fact to have that person employed will cost the Garage/Business €47,820 in pay per year, and when you exclude all the non productive hours every hour you have available to sell costs €28.96

Including non productive hours is pretty standard when is comes to working out business costs. If the person is being paid its a cost that has to be accounted for.

The 37.5 Hours a week is based on 30 Minutes of breaks each day. Which is pretty much standard.

Apologies I was agreeing with you but actually read your post wrong. I didn't realise you were taking out the non productive hours.

But while we`re on that -some technicians also loose 1-2 hours a day with non productivity aswell. Waiting for parts, diagnostic time etc. So the 7.5 figure could be closer to 5.5 - 6.0 hours.

Also there are times when a master tech looses a lot of time on diagnosis which the manufacturers don't pay. I would have put your 30 euros figure closer to the 40 euro mark.

Main dealer hourly rate is 90+ per hour but their recovery rate - warranty,internal rate ,trade rate is between 75 - 82 (based on 90 an hour)

So realistically a tech on 40k is probably only making a dealer 30 euros an hour profit.

A second or 3rd year apprentice that can do service all day will make a lot more profit for the dealer.

khaldrogo

Bronco Bullfrog wrote: »

Hello,


looks like I am going to need a new clutch, just what's needed in the run up to Christmas anyway, I have heard that it is a 6 hour job on my car. The last garage I used for repairs a couple of years ago, charged me €60 per hour for labour, I mentioned this to a few people and they seemed to think that was very expensive, just wondering if anyone has an idea what the going rate that garages charge for labour is around / approx?? Thanks.

How many of the people you asked are working in a garage or as a mechanic?

60e ph is extremely cheap if you are going through a proper garage and getting a VAT receipt.

riemann

khaldrogo wrote: »

How many of the people you asked are working in a garage or as a mechanic?

60e ph is extremely cheap if you are going through a proper garage and getting a VAT receipt.

Ah here 60eur may be reasonable, but it ain't cheap.

Moanin

I presume they charge vat on the €60?

I know my mechanic does

Bronco Bullfrog

So, I was last at that particular garage two years ago and was charged €60 per hour for labour, and that is still the case in 2019 labour rate is €60 + vat. So I have happily paid it for four hours labour to fit a new clutch and some glow plugs and I am better informed now. Thanks for all replies.

Henry Ford III

Actually I was way off.

Of the hourly rate 33% is pay (including everything), 33% goes to overheads, and 33% profit. It's the same in every service business.

€60 x 40 x 52 = €124800.

So if the mechanic gets paid €41600 which sounds reasonable the €60 per hour charge is reasonable too.

Henry Ford III

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Bmw dealer in finglas

That is nuts.

I think BMW owners must undergo some sort of mandatory brain washing before they purchase.

The cars are overly reliable and cost a small fortune to repair and maintain.

JJJJNR

OP "looks like I am going to need a new clutch" is the car driving what are the symptoms, car model etc.

pippip

Irrespective of how much a garage charges per hour a clutch replacement is generally a set fee in any garage I've been to?

Henry Ford III

pippip wrote: »

Irrespective of how much a garage charges per hour a clutch replacement is generally a set fee in any garage I've been to?

No it's not. Something difficult and time consuming (a 4wd Subaru for example) will take a lot more time than a fwd car.

pippip

Henry Ford III wrote: »

No it's not. Something difficult and time consuming (a 4wd Subaru for example) will take a lot more time than a fwd car.

That's not what I said.
Its generally a set fee by model. i.e. Subaru 4wd Diesel is €??? Ford Mondeo 1.6 petrol is €???
Never had a garage tell me a price for clutch as parts and labour estimates.
Clutch is a set amount of known work depending on the model, I wouldn't be paying for how fast my mechanic might or might not be on a given day.

Tazzimus

pippip wrote: »

Irrespective of how much a garage charges per hour a clutch replacement is generally a set fee in any garage I've been to?

I'll get a rough price, but I know it can depend on if they run into any issues or it takes longer than expected to do.
Set price seems like an awful stupid idea, for the above reasons.

bucketybuck

pippip wrote: »

Irrespective of how much a garage charges per hour a clutch replacement is generally a set fee in any garage I've been to?

I've never had a set fee for clutch replacement in any garage I have managed.

I'll give a quote and stick to it, sure, but parts prices change so I see no reason to lock myself into a price for a job like that.

pippip

Tazzimus wrote: »

I'll get a rough price, but I know it can depend on if they run into any issues or it takes longer than expected to do.
Set price seems like an awful stupid idea, for the above reasons.

But it's known work, a good mechanic shouldn't have any issues if they know what they are doing and how to use their tools correctly and as such why I've only ever had set prices for clutch replacements.

pippip

bucketybuck wrote: »

I've never had a set fee for clutch replacement in any garage I have managed.

I'll give a quote and stick to it, sure, but parts prices change so I see no reason to lock myself into a price for a job like that.

Obviously part prices can change etc. but as you said you quote for the job at a set price and hold to it. OP seems to have got a part and labour quote with no set number of hours. So price could vary when they got to collect their car.

Tazzimus

pippip wrote: »

But it's known work, a good mechanic shouldn't have any issues if they know what they are doing and how to use their tools correctly and as such why I've only ever had set prices for clutch replacements.

The job is, but the car is the unknown variable, mechanic doesn't know what condition everything is in and that can cause delays.
A set price is just shooting themselves in the foot.

As mentioned above, most will give a quote and try stick to it as best as they can, but unknown issues can crop up as well as price changes for parts, can't expect them to do free work.

Henry Ford III

pippip wrote: »

That's not what I said.
Its generally a set fee by model. i.e. Subaru 4wd Diesel is €??? Ford Mondeo 1.6 petrol is €???
Never had a garage tell me a price for clutch as parts and labour estimates.
Clutch is a set amount of known work depending on the model, I wouldn't be paying for how fast my mechanic might or might not be on a given day.

You didn't mention specific makes or models.

Fixed menu servicing is what you're talking about and yes some makes/dealers offer it.

bucketybuck

pippip wrote: »

Obviously part prices can change etc. but as you said you quote for the job at a set price and hold to it. OP seems to have got a part and labour quote with no set number of hours. So price could vary when they got to collect their car.

No, I don't quote at a set price. Prices may be similar on jobs perhaps, but I'll always verify the actual parts prices and check the variant for labour before giving that quote.

You seem to be conflating set/menu pricing with quotes.

pippip

If you go back to my original comment what I'm saying is that I've only ever had a set fee (price) when getting a clutch done. i.e. a price is set before work begins. Which is why I find it odd what how the OP is being given their pricing.

e.g. I ring up and ask how much for clutch in 08 Ford Mondeo 1.6L petrol and they come back to me with a fee €500. Grand I leave car in.

I have never rang up and been told well parts are €200 and labour is €50 per hour and we estimate it will be between 6-7 hours.

ITman88

pippip wrote: »

If you go back to my original comment what I'm saying is that I've only ever had a set fee (price) when getting a clutch done. Which is why I find it odd what how the OP is being given their pricing.

e.g. I ring up and ask how much for clutch in 08 Ford Mondeo 1.6L petrol and they come back to me with a fee €500. Grand I leave car in.

I have never rang up and been told well parts are €200 and labour is €50 per hour and we estimate it will be between 6-7 hours.

It’s rare to quote Labour as a fixed price when the garage has absolutely no way of predicting any delay eg. subframe bolt breaks.
Of all trades the mechanics get bad rep as regards pricing!

Bronco Bullfrog

pippip wrote: »

Obviously part prices can change etc. but as you said you quote for the job at a set price and hold to it. OP seems to have got a part and labour quote with no set number of hours. So price could vary when they got to collect their car.

Oh Lawdy! What have I started, I did not ask any garage for a breakdown of prices for parts and/or labour. I was just trying to get an idea of a ball park figure for current labour charges so I could roughly estimate the cost before I took the car anywhere.
I looked at my last invoice for car repairs which was 2 years ago, labour was listed at €60 per hour. Some people I know gave me a bum steer telling me €60 per hour is expensive for labour. I thought I would put it on boards just to get an idea as I heard the job on my particular car could be 6 hours labour. The garage quoted me the "all in" price before I booked the job in with them.
I now understand that €60 per hour is reasonable, the job is done and I am back motoring again with a new clutch. Thanks again for all the posts.