Tough One

But your market will support you doing the work over and over and over .....

I know you said you get labor reimbursement but what about diag time, service writer time, etc. I use quality parts, charge my matrix mark-up and  labor. If I go used parts or econo I make sure it is clearly understood by the customer that is their decision. If I have to redo one then I will submit for reimbursement but not worry because I made a reasonable profit up front. Maybe you could offer your customers the option of quality or economy....labor stays the same. Then it was their decision if/when it craps out. 

If they dont accept it I'll find another line of work lol!

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Our market wont support those prices unfortunately. Everyone around here are hardcore price shoppers. Atleast from my experience.

 

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That's unfortunate, in my area there is a independent chain that sells these quality parts and I get them at cheaper prices than most of what Advance Auto Parts, NAPA, CARQUEST, etc can sell them to me. I truly will not use these products because they have caused me WAY TOO MUCH of my shops time. That time will eventually add up to be a lot of lost revenue. I don't know your market and I won't pretend to but you may want to take a second look. Revamp yourself and serve your higher end customers if possible. I will not bend to price shoppers anymore. If you have work done at my shop, it will be done once and correctly the first time.

Just read your last post, 10-15% mark up!!!!! How can you survive or even make a profit? I honestly don't think we can help you here. My shop would not be open with 10-15% mark up on parts. You sell a part that costs you $100 for $110-$115?

 

That's unfortunate, in my area there is a independent chain that sells these quality parts and I get them at cheaper prices than most of what Advance Auto Parts, NAPA, CARQUEST, etc can sell them to me.  I truly will not use these products because they have caused me WAY TOO MUCH of my shops time.  That time will eventually add up to be a lot of lost revenue.  I don't know your market and I won't pretend to but you may want to take a second look.  Revamp yourself and serve your higher end customers if possible.  I will not bend to price shoppers anymore.  If you have work done at my shop, it will be done once and correctly the first time.

 

Just read your last post, 10-15% mark up!!!!! How can you survive or even make a profit? I honestly don't think we can help you here.  My shop would not be open with 10-15% mark up on parts.  You sell a part that costs you $100 for $110-$115?

We're all small shop working on growing but find ourselves undercut by competition. Now I'll admit we catered bottom shoppers for years and we've only recently moved away from working for them so my view might be slightly tilted. Most customers we used to see would push a vehicle to the point repairs were more than the worth of the vehicle. Now we're seeing some newer cars and folks more apt to go for a bigger job. We've not really changed much as we're working on our business plan and intend to start improving with a goal and plan and to work the plan in stead of fighting blindly.

Our local dealers are all at $70 hourly rate and we're currently at 65 and look to start working up first of the year. We really don't have many part options for same day delivery so we're also looking at ways around this! Really appreciate your input!

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In order to achieve 50-55% Part margin you must be marking up atleast 100% on stuff or you wouldn't even be close. (Just want to make sure we are on the same page) I can't believe your dealers are only at $70/hr. Are you a very rural farm area or how would you describe your sales area?

In order to achieve 50-55% Part margin you must be marking up atleast 100% on stuff or you wouldn't even be close.  (Just want to make sure we are on the same page)  I can't believe your dealers are only at $70/hr.  Are you a very rural farm area or how would you describe your sales area?

I'm not sure why pricing has held low so long. As I mentioned before one shop that quite popular is at 40 an hour. Theres some that I'm sure are higher. One of the smaller chain stores is the highest at 80 an hour. Im not really to worried about others seeing my matrix. I've really struggled thinking its too high but our good customers dont seem to mind.

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I know I do not own a shop, but I do plenty of side work (legitimate, I report it and have a business with insurance, growing a clientele to one day hopefully make the leap), and my rule of thumb is to not even get involved with the price shoppers. I give them my price and that is that. If they insist on providing their own (cheap) parts, my labor rate goes up a bit to absorb the part profit loss and I make it very clear, and have it written very clearly on the receipt they receive, that I do not warranty their part nor cover the labor of replacing it due to premature failure of said part.

_{I had similar quality issues with a local supplier. It happened to be mostly on starters also. I let them know of the quality issues. They said no one else in town is complaining. They did not address my concerns and we buy some were else. I do not like to have to do a job twice. It happens from time to time but to me quality is the key. I want my customers trust and feel like I will do what is needed to earn that. We do not install customer provided parts unless its a wiper blade, bulb or maybe a hard to find part on a classic car. As far as parts matrix goes well every shops overhead is different. That should dictate your matrix not other shops and what they charge. You need to charge enough to stay open pay the bills etc.}

Go read the story "Cheap Parts - Cheap Cigars" Been down this road a lot. I tell all my customers that I only will sell AC Delco, Bosch, Motorcraft, and a few other brands. I do have a few off brands that I'll get but, I also tell them I don't like using them. I'll give the customer the break down on the warranties and most of the time they'll go with the better brand.

Some customers see the warranties offered as an indication of quality. When in fact it's just bait on a hook. They get ya to buy it and then replace it and replace it and replace it. That's when I tell them the part cost and my labor time are not associated in anyway. If the unit fails I'm doing it all over again for a price...not for free.

Being 30 minutes west of NYC I am very fortunate to have good parts availability. As far as starters and alternators any that are purchased from the parts stores seem to be reman with inferior parts hence they do not last. Nothing is worse than a customer getting stuck because of the cheapo part. The original lasts 150k, 10 years maybe and the cheapo one goes bad in a few months. Not good for my reputation. I am fortunate to have a suppler of new OE starters and alternators. It is his only business and ships worldwide carrying automotive, medium and heavy truck, heavy equipment basically anything that has a starter or alternator. I have only had one comeback that I could remember and I think it was damaged out of the box, like it was dropped hard. Now that is quality! Also what I like is they are small business and independents like us. If you can wait they can ship. Here is a link to their website https://www.therobson.com/page.php?view=about-us. .

If at all possible I only use Oem electrical parts, I know for a fact because I've tracked it that if I use a tough one or any other aftermarket junk it will be back to the shop within a year and a half to two years. Failed. It does take a little extra time but I'm totally up front with the customers. I tell them for a little extra money they can have a genuine Oem part in which I never have problems with. And anymore it's not just electrical parts, racks, brake calipers, radiators, it's all junk and seems like it keeps getting worse, I put a set of Moog upper and lower balljoints in a 4wd Dodge truck one month ago, the guy took it to another shop to have it aligned and they couldn't align it because the lower balljoints were so sloppy, The brake calipers are a joke from Aap, cradles that are wrong, hardware that doesn't fit, rotors that are machined wrong, I started making a list in a notebook so I could give it to my salesman. I get so pissed off because I watch all of the guys leaving the parts store at 5 pm and I'm there till seven replacing defective parts for free.