Ok, do you really think that they were working every single second of the hours you paid for?

No you wouldn't. The shop wouldn't release the car. If they gave you an estimate and you agreed to pay for it when the job was done, you don't get to decide that they didn't work hard enough to get paid in full.


Shops give you a quote for the entire job and when you agree to pay it, they do the work. The labor hours are a part of it yes, but like I said, if that's the what they quoted you, that's book time, you don't get to decide how much of it you're actually gonna pay.

 

THANK YOU!!

It is the "book" that is the rip-off, not necessarily the shops.

The dealers will tell you that according to the 'book' the WHOLE rear axle MUST BE dropped to get the tank down for a fuel pump change.

When the dealers do this they DO NOT drop the axle at all.

 

where is $100/hr "typical" for ANY shop, thats DEALER level rates, shop rates are more in the $60-$70 range last I looked which would put you around a grand, heck I just paid $450 labor to have the transmission swapped out in my 4WD Trailblazer and that took them less then a day to do in actual time.

 

^^^Yes, even Hawks T.G., (as much as they are hated by most on here) only charges ~$1200.00 labor to R&R an engine in these cars.
They are also very reasonable on their asking prices for used LS1/6 long blocks and complete engines.

I did find a local (f body tuner) shop which only charges $1050.00 for this job.

 

You asked about independent shops, not tuner shops. A shop that specializes in LS powered cars will know if something can be done significantly faster than book time. I wouldn't even expect them to look at book times, and I'd expect their hourly rate to be lower.

Dealers and indie shops rarely ever see performance cars. I've never had a 4th gen f-body brought into a shop I worked for. So there's no way they could know that the book time is high, and if the tech has never removed an engine from a 4th gen, he's not going to do it as fast as a shop that specializes in them. Like I said, book time is 16 hr to remove and replace the engine. Depending on area, indie shops are $80-$100/hr, dealers are $100-$150. $1600 to R&R your engine is exactly what I'd expect a shop to quote.

 

Businesses want to make x amount off of a job and they will. Doesn't matter how long it will take.

That $$$/hr labor is just something to feed the customer.

 

Another thought to consider. The tech may only see 20-25% of that $80/hr anyway. So good thing the book calls for double the time i'm going to take on it.

We've all had those jobs that we finish in half the time, followed by those jobs that for one reason or another everything goes wrong.

 

True, if a shop pays a guy $20 per hr he's supposed to pay another %40 percent on top of it to workers comp here in California. And that's for each employee.

The only way around it is to pay **** $10/hr labor under the table, and that's why businesses are leaving Ca.

So (2) hourly workers at $20 a piece will cost the owner $100 per hr just to have them.

Lol learn to work on vehicles is what I said to myself after getting a $2,000 quote to do a cam swap back in 05' when I started this hobby

 

That is pretty much why I became a tech in the first place. Learned alot. And got out.

 

I just got a quote to change out an oil pump and o-ring seal for AT MOST $500.00 for labor.

The dealer wanted close to $1500.00 (labor only) for the same exact job, and most LSx tuner shops want ~$1200.00 (labor only).

Granted, like the posts above bring up, the first low quote is a small shop, with low overhead, and the owner does most of the work, with help from one or two other techs.

 

$1500 to change an oil pump? Should be about 6 hours.