What is the fair labour rate these days?

mac167

A well-known independent garage online based in Dundalk publicly stated that their labour rate is €88.10 + VAT which worked out to €100 an hour. This gets me thinking, what is the fair labour rate these days, regardless from main dealer or independent garages?

User1998

I paid €88.10 + VAT to replace pads & discs

And I paid €88.10 + VAT to replace 2x rear shocks

2015 VW Golf and 2015 VW Polo

Not sure what that translates to per hour, but I have always found this mechanic to be reasonable. He could do it cheaper for cash and there are lads out there who are cheaper again but won’t give receipts which is no good to me anymore

Hellrazer

Main dealers are always going to be higher - last place I was in was actually cheaper than the Indys listed above - we were at 75 + vat.

Ive worked in dealers as low as €65.00 (many years ago) to as high as €120.00 + VAT.

Ive found it also depends on the brand and location - leafy D4 suburb Volvo dealer and youre going to pay a higher hourly rate than one in a midland town.

There is no "fair" rate as far as Im concerned - its what the customer is willing to pay. But it does pay to shop around.

The Volvo indy who I used to send users here to (sadly no longer with us) charged €60 an hour but he was a genius with them and could easily have doubled that and still would have been out the door with work.

Then theres the other side of Indys - some who I wouldnt give minimum wage to.

Its all relative and word of mouth is often a better indicator than someones hourly rate.

bucketybuck

Fair has got nothing to do with it.

magicbastarder

i'd say it's fairer to call it hourly rate because you're not just paying for labour, you're paying for their equipment, insurance, etc. too.