What are you people paying for a mechanic per hour?

[HONK]

It has come to my attention that mechanic rates vary wildly.


I've paid $80, $120, $160, and $165 AUD per hour for people to do very basic stuff such as change a wheel bearing or control arm, etc.


Most mechanics around here are $160 currently which I think is a bit much, all the McDonald's mechanic's are $160, such as rapid tune and ultra tune...


The little unknown Indian mechanics seem to like to charge $80-$100 per hour.


How much do you people pay on average?

[HONK]

Also, why does Pedders charge $150 for an alignment whilst Rapid tune charges $90 for example?

[Citroënbender]

$120+/hr minimum

[swamp]

Pedders
$160/hour

Wheel align
$90
Be carefull of the lazy wheel aligner "close enough is good enough ""
Carried out by trained donkeys , no idea of hourly rate for donkeys ,sorry. Yes some wheel aligners have less intelligence than a donkey and can be more lazy than a sloth .

[Dr Terry]

It all has to do with overheads.

If the workshop is a small operation, with no franchise fees & low rent (outer suburbs or country), then the labour rate can be sub $100 per hour (+gst).

If, on the other hand the operation has office staff, high Sydney type rent & franchise fees then it can be over $200 per hour (+gst).

To equip a modern workshop nowadays, is getting very costly. For example a decent scanner can cost $6,000 - $8,000, plus twice yearly updates. I've run a workshop for nearly 50 years, ask me how I know these things.

Dr Terry

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Dr Terry

It all has to do with overheads.

If the workshop is a small operation, with no franchise fees & low rent (outer suburbs or country), then the labour rate can be sub $100 per hour (+gst).

If, on the other hand the operation has office staff, high Sydney type rent & franchise fees then it can be over $200 per hour (+gst).

To equip a modern workshop nowadays, is getting very costly. For example a decent scanner can cost $6,000 - $8,000, plus twice yearly updates. I've run a workshop for nearly 50 years, ask me how I know these things.

Dr Terry

This exactly, the hourly rate is indicative of overheads, with commercial rents you're also responsible for ALL of landlords outgoings too.

[T3rminator]

I think my mech is now $140 + GST. Yes, Pedders is $160 but I find they can usually do suspension and steering related stuff quicker, and quite often they can give you a quote so you know what you are up for right at the start.

You will find the $120+ wheel alignments are different to the $90 ones. I got a $120+ alignment done once, and it took the bloke quite a long time because he had to add shims to get the geometry right. The $90 ones won't go through stuff like that. I get the 120+ alignments done once in a while. $90 for quick toe and go.

[Giant Cranium]

Originally Posted by HONK

Also, why does Pedders charge $150 for an alignment whilst Rapid tune charges $90 for example?

heasmans charge over 200 but it takes over an hour, it involves at least 4 test drives and many adjustments, they were the only ones to get my liberty gt to steer straight.

you get what you pay for

[Dr Terry]

Wheel alignments are a whole other story.

Most tyre shops just do a check toe in adjust, they wouldn't know how to adjust camber & many have never even heard of castor.

That is the difference between the $90 job & the $200 job.

Dr Terry

[Cav]

$145 hour at Yeppoon

He takes ya money with a smile

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Cav

$145 hour at Yeppoon

He takes ya money with a smile

I find most do, Cav.

[HONK]

Originally Posted by Dr Terry

Wheel alignments are a whole other story.Most tyre shops just do a check toe in adjust, they wouldn't know how to adjust camber & many have never even heard of castor.That is the difference between the $90 job & the $200 job.Dr Terry

I have learned this with my FG after around 5 alignments in six months...

One of the tyre shops even put the car in BF XR6 spec.
A clown show.

[arm79]

Ahhh... Still on that old chestnut.

I'm thinking your not paying enough. If you cant get satisfactory service out of what your paying someone now you need to up the ante. I figure into the $225 to $250 per hour range.

You obviously need the best of the best!

[Interceptor]

where is "around here"?

[T3rminator]

Originally Posted by arm79

Ahhh... Still on that old chestnut.



I'm thinking your not paying enough. If you cant get satisfactory service out of what your paying someone now you need to up the ante. I figure into the $225 to $250 per hour range.



You obviously need the best of the best!

Airtasker ftw.

[lra]

I recently bought 4 rims fitted with NanKang Chinese tyres that were less than 2 years old. I wanted the rims, but not the tyres, wrong size and specs, but the tyres were unused, still had the furry bits on them.

Took them to a dealer who specialises in used tyres, and offered them to him, free.
He ummed and ahhed and complained that it would cost him (being a one man operation who was not busy at the time) $60 to strip the rims.
As it takes all of about 2 minutes to strip a rim, i.e.10 minutes @ $60 = $360 per hour !

At this point, I said "OK, you don't want them, then ," shut the lid of the ute, and drove away wondering WTF ?

[Citroënbender]

Sounds like his fishing attempt was lost at sea.

We had a far more expensive version of that aversion to work, just today, I wanted to clean an intercooler off a failed turbo motor and was overruled; too hard and not necessary. It was full of oil from the last breakdown, the newly rebuilt motor ran away and damaged itself badly. Driven distance was less than 50 metres.

[swamp]

hi
Even the Wheel align specialist in my area could not Wheel align 4x camber/caster bolts . It could not possibly be any easier.
Asked for increased caster by 1 deg with 1/2 degree split .
Result not adjusted
Never been back for the Toyota but the ""Pj Ranger spot on ""yet the Ranger has shims ,,,,,,,,,work that out

2nd Toyota had very very light steering 1 deg caster etc asked ""dealer""" to 2---2.5 deg result turned caster up to 2.5--3.25 deg . Adjusters were as far as they could adjust ...............really ,,,,

Price in Australia is not a reflection of quality .
Have every single road worthy report should be rechecked .

Fail yet passed
ball joints
oil leak
muffler major holes wrapped in repair tape
undersized discs
caliper dragging
extractors riding on chassis
seat belts
***Prepurchase missed as above plus more
brake fluid fail
rotting radiator core
cooling system pressure test ,,, thats xtra on top of the $160 inspection
way over charge aircon

These are all overcharged no matter how much because above is poor service

Don`t even get me started on good parts that are failed badly yet 24hrs before they were in excellent condition
Rubber stress lines that cause suspension bushes to fail instantly .

[Dr Smith]

Merc dealer - left kidney....

[LG17]

South Burnett - I pay $75 per hour and he is a very good mechanic, very thorough.