Dealer labor costs?

[MarkZ28]

It doesnt take me an hour to do an oil change, not even the first time on a Spyder. Shouldnt charge an hour or more if it doesn't take an hour or more. Car dealers do the same though. Private owned shops also have overhead and they charge less than dealers do, and they don't have the sales side to help offset any deficits in service expenses.
The dealer I took my Spyder to(for warranty belt replacememnt and recalls) also sells Suzuki and I think Honda. Didnt know if they paid different rates for different brands.
I didn't mean to say anybody who doesnt do their own work is bad. To me its too dang expensive to have someone else do something I can do for a lot less. I have never taken any vehicle to a dealer or service shop except when I had no choice(warranty, recall, or machine shops type stuff) and I hate having anyone else touch my stuff, lol. I'm pretty anal with my vehicles so I hate having no control over what happens with my cars/bikes.

 

[M2Wild]

It doesnt take me an hour to do an oil change, not even the first time on a Spyder. Shouldnt charge an hour or more if it doesn't take an hour or more. Car dealers do the same though.

One time my Lexus dealer charged me $45 labor for putting on two $3 wiper blades. They said the service guideline indicated that it takes 10 min. for each wiper all though they admitted that it took the tech only 5 min. for both. I was ripping mad and told them to either remove it or they will never ever see me servicing or purchasing any of my vehicles at any of their dealerships ever again. They removed it ... but I was still mad that they have the balls to even attempt that kind of horse shyt with me.

 

[BajaRon]

Unless you know what it acutally costs the dealership to perform the work "Overhead" as mentioned before, it's hard to know if the dealer is ripping you off or not. As long as the overall cost is in the ballpark for the work being done.

But no matter how you slice it, $250 is a lot of money. You can get a great MC helmet, 1/2 an exhaust or 1-1/2 rear tires for that amount.

I'm too tight. That's why I do my own work whenever possible.

 

[hondaman]

If the motorcycle shops are like how I get paid to work on cars its on a book time.I do everything from rebuild an engine to just change oil.On a oil change I only get .3 of an hour to do it.Thats to get the keys,pull the car in,do the oil change,check the car over,brakes,tires,leaks,suspension,wipers,lights etc etc.pull the car around,fill out the paper work.From start to finish it takes 30 min+
So I will do about 5 oil changes a day so I work for one hour for free!There are lots of other things we work on and loose money on.I have even had some days that I have worked all day and made nothing.But no one cares about that.I have to buy my own tools that I have spent well over 75k on.
Now there are some things that I will beat the time on and someone might get mad but I have 16 yrs of this under my belt.I think I should beat the time.The last few years we have had out labor times cut many times and if they cut much more I will be finished.

If someone gives you a price and you dont like it then go somewhere else.There is allways someone cheaper but it might not be better.....

 

[boborgera]

Now there are some things that I will beat the time on and someone might get mad but I have 16 yrs of this under my belt.

:agree:When a customer would say to me you did that job fast, would charge me less than the agreed upon price i just tell them. You pay me for what i know not just what i do.


If someone gives you a price and you dont like it then go somewhere else.There is allways someone cheaper but it might not be better.....

:agree::agree:

 

[bone crusher]

I pay the dealership to do the scheduled maintenance for me...why? Because I don't have too much time to fiddle around with the bike and I don't mind keeping my dealership in business. Most of my mods I did myself and/or with a friend, but for service, I gladly go to the dealer.

Sure, a lot of people want to save the buck and do the work by themselves...that's cool...but there are plenty of us who are quite busy and don't have time to play around with the bike...and if something goes wrong, certainly don't have the time to deal with those issues.

 

[kytten]

I admit that I didn't ask the cost when I took it in. Having no mechanical abilities to speak of, nor any motorcycle experience previous to my Spyder I didn't even consider the option of changing my own oil much less the rest of the checks that needed to be done.

I didn't necessarily think the dealer was being unfair with his charges. I just recognized that I dropped a lot more money for that oil change than I ever have for an oil change on my car. I also looked at the price of the actual items they used vs the price they charged for labor and was concerned about the fact that labor was so much.

Having read through the instructions for changing the oil and read a few people's takes on getting the body panels off... *shrug* I may try it once myself. Otherwise, the oil changes are probably infrequent enough, given that I'm not a huge mileage rider at this point, that dropping a couple hundred on one now and then isn't going to even come close to the amount I'll spend on mods, etc.

Provided the price seems fair and comparable to the other prices being charged I don't really have a problem with paying it. Though I suppose if I wanted to be a good consumer, I'd shop around.

 

[M2Wild]

I admit that I didn't ask the cost when I took it in. Having no mechanical abilities to speak of, .... , that dropping a couple hundred on one now and then isn't going to even come close to the amount I'll spend on mods, etc.

Wait til you get prices for installing mods from dealer. That will make oil change look like peanuts. Same thing with mods, determination, patience, ability to follow instructions and of course the right tools (nothing fancy) will let you do it yourself and save $$$. I did all mine by myself with basic tools. Did it over winter lay-up so I don't have to finish it in one day.

 

[scudrunner]

I used to do all my own maintenance, preventative and repair. I had a 1952 MGTD for 28 years that only saw the inside of a shop once and that was for paint. But as I get older, there are things I just can't or don't want to do any more. I'll pay the young guys to do it. At $85 an hour labor, it gets pricey just to remove plastic. I'm really tempted to shed the cover and ride it bare to the shop (4 miles) for any maintenance. But for that matter, just an oil change wouldn't seem that difficult after shedding the skin.

 

[MarkZ28]

I have worked as a mechanic and know how they get paid. Its flat rate and it flat sucks, lol. Thats how a lot of mistakes are made with techs trying to beat the time and forgetting something or breaking something in a rush to get done. Fortunately I was able to get out of that line of work. Its even worse now with all the computerised crap that you have to work around.

 

[scudrunner]

Its flat rate and it flat sucks

Quite a few years ago, I had a 300ZX that needed a new timing belt. I got a shop manual and got into it. Reading the book and doing the work as a novice, it too me 6 hours. Book time at the Nissan dealer was 6 hours, but any mechanic worth his salt (according to the service manager) could do it in 4.
I had a water pump replaced on a Ford once, and asked them to replace the lower hose too. That would cost me an extra .8 hours labor. I asked why, since they had the hose off, just put a new one back. Nope, the book called for only removing one side of the hose, not the whole hose.
The flat rate will get you every time.

 

[krb1945]

Something else to consider...

skinned knuckles, cuts, bruises, dirt, grease and a number of things I forgot about. These are all things the mechanics deal with on a daily basis and as stated above some work all day and don't make much and sometimes make nothing. The mechanics in my area only receive a small portion of that paid bill... the dealership gets the lions share and need it to cover overhead, profit and provide jobs. And I too do most of my own service and other jobs on the spyder, motorcycle, sedans and trucks. The only thing I won't tackle is working on a transmission but I well remove it and deliver it to the tranny shop. /Ken