I’d like to know how many hours an indy will charge me to do a simply drain and fill on my tranny.
Is the guide they use to determine # of hours to bill somewhere on the internet?
This site is pretty good. It even drills down to the average prices in your location.
Flat rate manual could be a useful google phrase too. But you already have a site. I’m always late these days. I cheated and saw the next comment. It’s true.
Your best bet is to call a local shop and ask them…
You’re going to have to ask the shop what the price will be. Every shop will have different policies for pricing–some may use a labor guide, some will have a “one price fits all” procedural charge, some may charge whatever they feel like that day.
Keep in mind that labor guides are just that; a guide only. Guides such as Chiltons, Motor, and so on usually have something in the foreword about this and that additional time should be allowed for rust, frozen or mangled fasteners, or even cleaning if the situation warrants it.
If the labor guides says 1 hour to change spark plugs and it turns out to be a 3 hour job because the plugs are frozen in place, threads are pulling when the plugs are removed, and so on then the labor guide has to go out the window.
Yeah its all variable… use the guide estimate it going badly 3-4x so you have a safety net… then again… they could get in and find several issues all together from running it with an issue soooo… who knows… or a terrible mechanic… when i was young I hit a large bump… transmission mounts gave in some way… torque would twist the whole thing even the shifter would bounce… took it in 10 days later go to pick it up… 3000 dollars lol and they have literally cut my shifter out of the floor of my truck because they couldnt disconnect the gearbox… i could now see the highway as i drove… an they put a lien on it anticipated me to refuse for damages and go to court… but they knew me and knew it was my only vehicle so they had me over a barrel… so pick one you trust even if its more expensive… a good honest mechanic is indispensable for serious jobs. Spark plugs I just do myself… worst job ever was on a 89 nissan 300zx turbo… the spark plugs were a nightmare to even get to… but i did it with some weird swiveling and long ratchet adaptors. Even then tho… sometimes they just overlook something. My favorite mechanic was a bmw/audi kinda guy and he had a slick volvo 850 turbo if i recall that he sold me dirty cheap because he couldnt figure out the misfires… he warned me up an down… good guy. However he had milled the heads to increase compression on a turbo charged aluminum head vehicle so any spooling past 3000rpm immediately fried the recommended ngk copper plugs… put some nice bosch platinums in her… good to go never burnt another plug… and she would break traction thru 3rd gear like 35-40mph amazing torquey monster… unfortunately eventually the heads wouldnt take the compression and a slightly increase in boost via the turbo valve actuator an they warped hard… shredded the valve cover bolts… an it was 1100 dollars for a single head replacement just parts lol… so its all in the ether money is less important than a trustworthy competent mechanic find one stick with them.
OK , I give up . What does this have to do with a 10 year old thread about shop hours ?
Well shop hours equates to price… if their asking about hours they want to know how to price a repair job… an its not really doable without a honest mechanic even then sometimes… so a good mechanic is the best way to know. Cheats and bad mechanics are where the price issues arise. You can read shop hours all day an wont me a thing if you don’t have a mechanic thats worth a damn.
Labor guides are suggestions only. There is usually a disclaimer that extra time may (and should) be allotted for rust or other issues which cause problems.
Other problems could be butchered fasteners, missing/wrong parts, and Lord knows what else inflicted upon a car by the owner or others who were involved in working on the car in the past.
And it’s not a rare thing to get into a job and run into snags that simply cannot be foreseen.