How did you find a good mechanic/Auto Repair shop?

Wouldn’t a shop be happy with charging, say, $100/hr to install customer supplied parts with no warranty come-back headaches?

@insightful‌

They’re already charging $100/hr

If I had my own shop, there’s no way in H . . L that I would agree to install customer supplied parts

I would say “It’s my shop and I’m dictating the terms of the repair. If you do not agree with that, them I’m afraid we can’t do business. Have a nice day.”

We’ve already been through this . . . shops have to make a fair profit on the parts, if they want to stay in business

We've already been through this . . . shops have to make a fair profit on the parts, if they want to stay in business

I know a few shops that will allow the customer to supply the parts…they don’t do it all the time…but they have no problem with it. One shop has been in business for at least 30 years…the other just recently turned the reins over to their son after 40 years…so it’s not hurting them that much.

I seriously doubt that a shop is going to get many customers that supply their own parts. Most customers can’t be bothered. An educated guess - I’d say less then 1% would even bothered.

The other problem with the customer supplying their own parts is that they are not always the right parts. That could be a problem when the mechanic had to torch off the old part…only to find that the customer supplied part is the wrong part. Now your lift is tied up until you go get the correct part.
I agreed to let someone buy their own rear, rotors and brakes and I’d do the work. I opened the rotor boxes and found fronts…where I needed rears. I had the receipt, but my local “Advanced” shop would only send me to the store where the customer bought them…45 minutes away!!!

Yosemite

How many customers are willing to pay for the the labor of a mechanic to deal with a defective part supplied by customer. It happens and my indy says more often now then before he thinks due to cheaper manufacture. He ends up repairing things twice but eats since he does parts/labor only.

Are you willing to pay twice to for a repair if you supply bad or incorrect part?

The only parts I’ve ever supplied are tires from Tire Rack. The Honda dealer put the last set on for me. I had them do it because I worried about the TPMS sensors being damaged. Ironically, a year later, the TPMS system started malfunctioning.

Truthfully, I’d be embarrassed to take, say, a water pump to a shop and ask them to install it. But I can afford not to be embarrassed. Maybe others can’t.

@AndrewRA; made another good point here.

You buy the cheapest fuel pump and take to me to install. Three weeks later this pump fails and now you want me to cover the labor to install another cheap pump.
Had I had the choice I would be looking at price and the name of the manufacture of the pump. I’d rather pay a more for a pump made by a well respected company that has a good track record.

I rarely buy the highest priced option…but not the cheapest either.

Yosemite