Repair shops have been marking up parts 30-50% since the beginning of time. They are not about to give it up…That’s how shops stay in business…
I would sometimes install customers parts but not very often. Half the time, the parts were the wrong ones and could not be used, a zero sum game…
In our shop there was a sign…
Labor Rate: $30/hour
If you supply parts, $60/hour
If you watch, $100/hour
If you help, $200/hour…
I want to eat in a restaurant owned by you, but I’m going to provide my own food for you to fix for me. I get sick because the beef was from a steer with mad cow disease…
See where this is going?
Just as retailers make money both on the products and the services, so do the automotive shops. The only difference is that in the retail trade, the services are built into the cost of the goods, and in “service industries” (like automotive shops) the services are specifically costed seperately.
If a shop does an honest and competant job fixing my vehicle I’m more than happy to pay him his due, which includes the shop time AND the parts markups. And in addition to my check, he’ll also have my thanks and my good references.