Marking up the price of parts is a standard practice in the automotive industry, vehicle manufactures allow dealers to mark up the parts prices for warranty and recall repairs 20% to 25%. The dealer is expected to make a profit on the transaction even when the manufacture pays the bill.
Somebody stated that this topic has been discussed in every way possible so I may be just repeating what others have already posted.
There is something wrong with your computer, when you type in your daily activities it appears on the Car Talk message board. Your statement that you have departed appears in a thread titled âAuto parts markupâ.
Yeah yeah. People that donât like it just flag me. Can you tell I could care less about how much parts are marked up? The bottom line is what I pay and makes no matter if it is parts or labor. If I donât like it I can do it myself. What else is there to say in this circular discussion?
In spring I had an ac charge with dye. Came back in August and the ac is not cooling. Took it to the shop, they called and said the condenser could be $400 if they could find one. So it ends up the shop is under new owners since spring. The guy says the first place he called the part was $400, he thought the price was high, the guy wanting to sell him the part said what do you care the customer pays for it. He called around and my price on the receipt was $128. Looked it up on rock and it was $88. I said thank you and bet you like repeat customers. No problem in my book! It was the same part number I was told.
No where have I actually insulted you. I cannot say the same about your comments.You have questioned my judgement, and taken offence when none was intended. You seem to only want clients who will never question a bill. Somehow writing about actual examples and experiences does not matter. You have never done business with me, nor ever seen me walk into your shop but somehow you know ahead of time that I am going to be some probblem, when in fact I am anything but.
You have a good business model, and I am sure its what some customers want, especially if they are only comfortable at a dealer. You provide some extra value that entails extra expense for your business. There are other shops who do not do all that you do and do not have your location, and instead pay lower lease rates and have less overhead.And PS I phone and discuss and negotiate the job ahead of time, leave the car the agreed upon day and time with the offending parts and diagrams, return that same day to pick it up and pay my bill in fullâŠ
You want to fix your own car to save money except when you donât have time and then you want to supply your own parts to save you money. Many shops will not do business that way, but you say you have two that will.
You seem to be offended that no one is viewing you as Godâs gift to mechanics. You come across as very self important, and for some reason think everyone has to logically be on your side.
I want to fix my car because I enjoy doing so, saving money is a bonus. Sometimes as I said I cannot for differing reasons.
I can only say oldtimer that you have completely misread my posts. If you did understand you would be hard-pressed to question my logic because I have been very clear as to the whys and wherefores.
I donât know if some of you are being disingenuous or you just engage in all or nothing thinking but so far I find most of the arguments being made take the form of pure ad hominen attacks.
For those unfamiliar with the term Ad hominem (Latin for âto the personâ), short for argumentum ad hominem , typically refers to a fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by instead attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.[2]âŠ
A car dealer is divided into departments with a manager for each department. The departments are 1) new car sales; 2) used car sales; 3) service; 4) parts; and sometimes 5) body shop. Each department needs to show a profit. The parts department is important not only to supply parts to the mechanics in the service area repairing a customerâs car but to have parts available to other shops and walk in customers. The parts department is a business and like any business must show a profit.
Seems to me that the mechanics own their own business and are free to operate the way they want to operate and charge whatever price they feel is appropriate.
The customer can try to negotiate something else, and if successful can then do business with the mechanic. If unsuccessful, it is time for the customer to go elsewhere for his work.
Most good mechanics have enough work and can turn down customers who donât like his operation.
Good shop and good guy. Note what the part guy said. Seems to me according to some here that buying the same part from the shop that charges far less is a travesty in terms of business acumen. They feel you should have paid 560 for the part after their âânecessaryââ markup.
Why bother reading it if you have zero interest in the subject matter? I think I will start a new thread entitled ââHow to shop for auto parts. What you need to know and what some shops donât want you to knowââ. Maybe you will provide a thoughtful comment on that one.
Actually, there are numerous examples throughout this thread where you have insulted people here and by your accounts in interactions with shops.
Is just one recent example. I can tell you have no idea that you are being insulting. Itâs a lack of social and emotional awareness and many straight line thinkers do this and cannot understand why people take offense. When you tell a professional not to overfill the engine oil, it seems like a logical request to you but most people will be offended as you are calling into question their professionalism. I donât expect you to understand as I deal with this on a regular basis. The engineering profession attracts this type of thinker and it suits that profession. However, this is why people often think engineers are arrogant, insulting people. But itâs just their nature and they donât realize theyâre doing anything wrongâŠâIâm just stating facts, why would they take offense?â Because your delivery sucks, thatâs whyâŠ
I stopped going to two dealerships because of constant overfilling. I do have a vehicle for which parts can be difficult to source and that can be more expensive than the norm. Am I betraying some secret if I reveal that many lube techs have only cursory training and are not professional mechanics?
I am only trying to explain why a consumer might have reason to be worried sometimes that they will receive less than optimal service. Also pointing out some of your clients are more personally involved with the maintenance of their car than others who have to rely on a shop to do such things as put air in their tires or replace a wiper blade.
I appreciate what you are saying, however, I will point out that I feel insulted by some of the comments here, and that I have repeatedly qualified my remarks, and have expressly gone out of my way to tell you I am not seeking to insult anyone.
I have owned a business for many years, and have a lot of sales experience, and in some cases selling to garage owners. If I was insulted and refused to do business with every business owner who seeks to negotiate a better price or payment terms, there would be precious few I could actually do business with.
Consumers? Iâm an auto repair industry insider and I canât get the level of service I strive to provide to my own customers. We recently got my wifeâs car back after 2 months in the body shop for a collision repair. The car is a 2018 and replacement parts are not quickly available. Anyway, first time we had both kids in the car we noticed the RR door does not open from the inside. The body shop did not reattach the inside handle. The car is a Cadillac and the body shop was the dealerâs own, so I expect top-notch attention to detail, which I did not get.
Auto service and repair to the public is a different business than yours. After 30+ years in this industry I have found time and time again that increasing your rates improves the quality of the customers you get. This is not an ad hominem attack but just an observation borne out of my experience in this business.
The error of their ways? I donât think so. Nothing wrong with the customer being informed and trying to get a decent deal. Should I give back the 300 bucks I saved on the cat converter parts cost? Did I commit some error and offend the almighty automotive service industry gods? The heck with that.
They could refuse to match the price. Likewise, I can refuse to pay their price. Itâs just a business transaction. The shop doesnât owe me a price match, but I donât owe them anything either. If that makes me a nickel and dimer, so be it.
And thereâs being a miserable cheapskate who âquestionsâ honest businesses and insinuates and assumes the worst things
But by being the latter . . . theyâre also saying quite a bit about themselves
And what theyâre saying isnât necessarily very flattering . . .
Hereâs something that may or may not interest whoeverâs reading this . . .
I know people who actually pride themselves on coming across as miserable nickle and dimers, who actually enjoy being known as tough customers . . . and I was using nice terminology
I donât pride myself on being a tough nut. But if I were to get an estimate with a markup on an already expensive part of 40-50% over what I, Joe Public, could buy the parts for, yeah Iâd probably question that. Or more likely just go elsewhere or do it myself. After all, if I wasnât a little âcheapâ, I wouldnât DIY anything and drive cars with over 100k miles, right?
Meh, I think Iâll try to not respond to this thread anymore. Some folks think a large markup on shop supplied parts is fine, others donât. I really donât, myself. I feel like if Iâm paying for labor and/or diagnostics, and the shop sets that rate themselves, I donât really owe them anything else.
And the steak markup at the restaurant just doesnât wash. Unless restaurants start charging a $100 appetite diagnostics fee and an hourly labor rate.
Cheapstake is someone who neglects maintenance and necessary repairs, not someone such as myself who does more rather than less.
Acemaster, luxury good sellers find the exact same thing and price for it. Its similar to the Veblen good phenomenon and you can see it at work if you go to any BMW or Mercedes service center.
And thanks Scrapyard I think in a similar way. I am under no illusions that the garages posting here are preoccupied with consumer concerns. In fact, I think most of them have confirmed my suspicions. If they are going to get twisted into a knot by my requesting they use the recommended torque settings, to me it looks like they are trying to hide something. I do not consider that attitude to be very professional.
