Get yer spanners out!

Car dealerships charging more than legal firms?

http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/st...711811,00.html




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Reading the Guardian? Shame on you!

Nice article. I'm not surprised.

[Skip]

Scary statistics!

I have to admit I was quite surprised when I asked my local Suzuki dealer what it would cost to do an 11,000 miles service on my bike. ~£200 said the oik on the service desk - what does that include I asked - his reply was "Oil and filter change, brake fluid change and general check over the bike" - £200!!! Maybe I am wrong, but that seemed rather steep!

This doesn'tsurprise me at all. The Renault main dealer here in S'bury quoted me £300 for the 36K mile service on my Clio. The local garage charged me £125.

I couldn't charge the sort of rates that the Renault dealership charges, I'd have no work. I've said it before - everyone thinks lawyers are hugely wealthy. Maybe so if you're a partner in a large corporate firm but not otherwise.

[rictus01]

Might be time to sort the old overall out then????????????

Na, this IT stuff is money for old rope

Cheers Mark.

I always used to service my bikes on my own - there is absolutely no point in taking a bike for a service just to collect the warrenty and dealers stamp - in case you are genuinely thinking of selling it on in the near future.

If you're gonna run it into the ground, or hang onto it, get a decent tool kit (i got a professional one from halfords with a lifetime warrenty for £150 2 years ago) i swear by it. Next get a Haynes manual -and get your fingers dirty, scrape a few nuckles on bolts and things, and learn how to do it yourself. Or better still - get yourself on a course like Cloggsy has done... worth its weight in gold if you ask me.

[embee]

Couple of things about the article.

The hourly rate the dealership charges is not what the mechanic/technician is paid, so not valid to say a mech is paid more than a barrister.

I'm not sure whether their comment about an independent has to be VAT registerd to maintain the warranty is correct, I thought they simply were required to be "competent" (a very wooly legal term used in all sorts of cases, such as Part-P electrical issues, open to wide interpretation).

Doesn't affect me, I'm a DIY believer (Damage It Yourself).

Originally Posted by embee

The hourly rate the dealership charges is not what the mechanic/technician is paid, so not valid to say a mech is paid more than a barrister.

I agree, I just wanted to be a little sensationalist . However it's certainly frightening how much some dealerships charge.

I'm not sure whether their comment about an independent has to be VAT registerd to maintain the warranty is correct, I thought they simply were required to be "competent" (a very wooly legal term used in all sorts of cases, such as Part-P electrical issues, open to wide interpretation).

Yes I thought this too. I cannot see how VAT registration is in any related. After all, with the threshhold now at £60k, it's quite possible for a lone mechanic to operate within that and still offer the same level of service and competency (if not better) than that of a largish dealership. I think the journo got it wrong.


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Funny thing I noticed... when I lived in more developed countries in Europe I noticed that the gap in wages between skilled labourers and white collar workers decreased. This trend almost hit parrity in Norway (AFAIK). Also, the more our (say Ireland and UK) societies progress, the more this gap narrows.

(Maybe I am naive thinking that in the above case the guy who gets the money is the actual mechanic...)

But, I suppose I see nothing wrong with a car mechanic making a good wage. Or a coal miner, or whatever. Who says lawyers make so much money? We just agreed on that? Ok, so they need a lot of education. Compare the situation with Science. I am working with science people from Rockerfeller, NYU, Cornell and Harvard. They are very very educated, very smart, and almost all of them earn similar amounts of money as say subway drivers. (ie not that much...)

I can afford my SV and some other nice things. I like my job. Its unmercifully hard, but its alright. I prefer to do this than subway driving.

Generally I dont hear complaints from anyone here.

Comparison with lawyers isn't exactly like-for-like. Modern garages need a lot of high tech tools, equipment and facilities so overheads are pretty high.

Having said that, had my car in for service last week - they asked if I wanted the battery replacing in my remote control for £12.70. I bought a battery, flipped open the battery compartment of the control and popped in the new battery. Battery cost £1.75 and it took less than a minute to do. Work the hourly rate out from that.

Cheers Keith