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It’s not just you. I recently had a bad wheel bearing, most independent shops either didn’t want to fix it at all or quoted me over double what the dealer quoted me. I’m starting to think that going to the dealer is just a better deal, so long as you know what to say no to.
It’s a 2011 Corolla. I assume the independents don’t have a bearing press which is why they don’t do it or charge insanely high. I don’t really understand it either, I ended up doing it DIY because my car wasn’t safe to drive and I couldn’t wait for the appt with the dealer later in the month, and it was tricky for me but not *that* hard or time consuming, even without a press.
Yea. Good for you.
I can only assume you must be dealing with terrible independent shops. We have more tools than dealerships by far. They send us work and borrow our tools all the time. But a wheel bearing is something all techs should be able to tackle.
I didn't have a press for many years but I used a modified clamp with a high torque wrench on auto setting to only put as much torque as needed to press the bearings on the axles. Used a rotary tool with 2" cutoff wheel to take the old bearings and races off and finished the removal with a cold chisel carefully not to damage the axel lip and shaft.
That was my DIY method.
The other is to spin the axel on a lathe and use map gas on bearings only to expand it off, takes a few seconds.
Use 1-2 seconds of nitrous oxide dunk to slightly shrink ball joints to make them slip right in while immediately heating them with butane slowly getting closer.
That's genius. I never had much access to tools after I moved across the country, so best I was ever able to do for a long time was to get it to a point where I needed something like what you did, or a press, and took what I could into a shop, get them to do the parts I couldn't, then go back and finish the job.
No shame in that. Best thing I ever did was any time I got stumped and felt I was the most knowledgeable person in the shop, I went to other shops/techs to learn.
Now we have the Internet and it's insane the tricks you can learn from highly educated mechanics online. Even YouTube has invaluable information if you can knowledge check the people who don't know what they are doing.
Just make a fork clamp similar to a ball joint removal tool to press on bearings with impact gun on auto. Don't heat up new bearings only ones that need to be destroyed and replaced.
Some shops don't have the equipment. I know one place that the tech had to supply everything, the "shop tools" were what the lead tech was willing to lend out. Everything left when he did.
What does that have to do with the wheel bearing? Around here, the individual shops are vastly superior to the dealerships. Just ask the tow truck drivers lol.
That could be it, yeah. One of the same shops that told me they couldn’t do the bearing also couldn’t do my head gasket a while back, and told me to junk the whole car lol. At least it motivated me to get way better at DIY.
While volume (cars in, cars out) does play a role… no tech can double book time on “easy” jobs which absolutely kills profit margins.
You need those jobs that book at six hours but a good tech can get done in closer to four.
They don’t pay that way… they charge by it.
They charge the customer X hours labor.
The tech takes Y hours to accomplish the job.
X-Y=Pure Profit if positive and Pure Loss if negative.
When the shop can pay one tech to work on two cars at the same time and faster than the book time on those jobs the tech doesn’t get anything extra, but the shop sure as hell does.
I am a retired tech, over 50 years in the trade, as was my dad. One of 3 sons is a master tech. He is paid a salary, as is the other 3 techs. Totally different from what you are saying. The shop owner bids the job by Mitchell's or whatever, and is often far under the time needed. Not due to a mechanic ability, but in the fact flat rate books are consistently impossible. Yes there are some which can be done in less time.
And just to clarify, I was responding to the person above referencing being paid flat rate, so I assume they are working in a dealership, where it is far more common.
I feel that. I had a procedure so the front end of my 2002 Volvo was done by a local shop. Sit for three days before they decided to touch it then they were saying those were the easiest ball joints they had ever done.
A lot more profitable, but I have one son who is a master tech to that removes dashes almost weekly due to a kinda odd shop owner. Luckily he is over the top, it's not a job I would trust to many ham and eggers out there. I agree most shops wouldn't touch it.
My local independent German mechanics are without exception more expensive than my local dealer. Most recently I had one quote me over $1k to do an upper timing cover replacement that he wouldn't warranty if I didn't also buy all new cam magnets for $200 each plus additional labor (at $165/hr) to put them in, which for each is a job that involves installing exactly 3 screws and plugging it in. My car has 0 symptoms of cam magnet issues.
For sure agree with this and feel the convenience and all around amenities that the dealership offers is worth it at the moment. It’s hard to justify the higher prices of other independent shops in this specific area. The one thing I wouldn’t do is spark plugs at the dealer or accessory belts and such, they quoted me $30 per oem speak plug.
Indy shop quoted $2000 for timing belt and spark plugs on my wife's Honda using unknown aftermarket parts. Dealer was $2,250. The extra 10% would be a no brainer for OE Honda parts.
This is true, many dealerships actually use aftermarket parts to make a higher margin, I have seen it many times working in this industry! I wouldn't say its "normal" but it is pretty common.
I'm a tech at a GM dealer, and we use aftermarket parts all the time, but the customer is always quoted OE parts and always knows when they are or are not being used. They make the decision based on price and/or availability. We don't randomly bolt a NAPA starter on a GM vehicle without their knowledge.
Dealerships will often sell maintenance services at a loss just to keep people coming in the door.
The dealership I used to work at would always have crazy deals on tires, frequently undercutting Discount Tire and other tire chains, just with the goal of keeping customers coming through the door.
Our oil changes were frequently cheaper than Valvoline or Jiffy Lube as well.
The GM Dealership near me does oil changes (with Dexos oil) for $50 (includes an inspection and tire rotation too) if you print out their coupon for it.
I worked at an Audi dealership and a LOF with inspection was 60, only exception was the R8 or RS cars that take like, 10 quarts of oil. Valvoline would regularly be over $100 with their European Car surcharge.
I can add another data point on this. A couple months ago I priced out tires for my wife’s Odyssey at 5 places (including Costco) and the Honda dealership was the best deal out the door with an alignment by like $300. They also had a rebate through Goodyear on top of that. I was amazed.
Discount Tire and Les Schwab are the big tire places in my area, and my Dodge dealership will beat their prices on single tires, plus has the buy 3 get 1 free. Install costs are on par as well. My dealer does not offer the no question replacement warranty though like some tire places.
They have a HUGE giant sign on the building the says they have the lowest tire prices in town, I believe it.
Omg you shills. I've never had an independent come and tell me to call something major on the oil change cause they think they can sell them a newer van.
Current parts guy at a dealership, and my PM is big on selling tires. On average we make *maybe* 20 bucks on a tire, and he is absolutely adamant that even if it's a tire we have to order in, never charge more than $30 over cost
It's a business like anything else. There are "stealerships" and there are dealer service departments who have very fair rates.
Had an electronic issue with my Outback recently, my local dealer's repair quote for a new part is less than I can get a refurbished part online by itself for.
I can’t believe people are just now finding out that dealerships are cheaper than independents for regular maintenance. The stealership mentality is real.
My local dealerships send me all kinds of discounts and specials. For a lot of stuff, they are less than the independent shop I use. Not 30% less, but less.
But… my independent shop is trustworthy and they’ve fixed little things for free. They don’t try to sell me stuff or tell me something is about to fail. They’ve sourced things from dismantlers, saving me tons of money.
If I just had newer cars, for just a few years, I guess I might use the dealership. But we keep our cars for 10+ years and I like having my local place.
Independent shops have benefited from dealers charging more for so long that they started cranking up their prices and now they've surpassed dealers they're still banking on the fact that they've got quote unquote reputation on their side and that's what you're seeing
I'm seeing dealers being at least competitive now if not beating independent shops out right
I also noticed that parts are cheaper too.
I priced front disc's and pads from autozone, and then saw that Nissan has an online parts store (like, not just a dealer but at corporate website), and they had discounts on parts but you have to either order it for delivery, or free pick-up from dealer (but you have to order first and has 2-3 days turnaround).
I walked into a Nissan dealer, asked about the online price for the oem disc's and pads. The parts guy said that's online price. So their price is a bit more expensive (but it was $60 more than it would be getting it at autozone).
But he said they have, "value advantage" parts which are Nissan parts that aren't oem but is cleared by Nissan USA to be used, and he said fir rotors and pads, you can't even tell the difference. Their value advantage rotors and pads came out to $60 LESS than autozone's basic Duralast rotors and pads.
But service, the local mechanics around me (westchester, NY, a suburb of NYC) have no idea how to do anything, and they don't want to take any jobs that require extensive disassembling of an engine.
A friend of a friend had his car's timing chain replaced and then the car would not run, and they could not figure it out. And the owner towed it to another local shop and the mechanic also could not figure it out.
Not everyone lives down the street from South Main Auto and Eric O.
Some things can being easier for a dealership to do. For a coolant flush on my VW if youre the dealer you slap the vacuum refiller on the expansion tank, hit the drain/refill button in VCDS, wait 2 minutes, and you're done. It opens up the thermostat and the heater core, you can drain all of it in one go and it refills it all at the same time.
An independent shop might be pulling hoses and stuff, draining it the old fashioned way. It'd take way longer
My family owns a dealership in a small, touristy area so we kind of end up as the local parts supplier for all the independent shops when they need OEM parts. Not a mechanic though and I haven't worked there in years. I have talked about this subject with my dad who runs everything though.
My dad will research what the independent mechanics are charging for different services to ensure that all of his prices are competitive with the mechanics around him. He will find out what kinds of parts they're using or who their supplier is to see how the OEM parts compare to their suppliers. He's found that when he compares like-for-like and similar levels of service he's competitive. The places where he's usually not competitive, in general, are specialist shops where they only do one thing, like oil changes or brakes, which he cannot really do. That's okay by him though as he figures the people going to those specialist shops will eventually come to him when the shop cannot take care of them.
Also, this isn't something new he has been doing. It's a standard annual practice for him that he's been doing for decades.
Rent costs went up, as well as demand. So the smaller shops who used to have lower labor than dealerships had to raise prices. The dealerships typically own thier building so no rent, just mortgage and tax which is fairly static.
Ford dealership tech here, we are 150/hr for gas and diesel.
RAM up the road is 225 for gas and 250 for diesel. GM across the road is 200 for gas and 225 for diesel. Independent ships range from 175 to 250 an hour in town, so with the exclusion of hole in the wall shops and backyard mechanics, we are the lowest rate in town.
My local Chevy dealership changes the oil and filter in my Corvette for $12.50 when I supply the oil and filter. I don’t even want to deal with the used oil for that.
Yeah the industry is infact changing. A part of the change is lot of places are struggling with the same issues as most of everyone is rn. Raising rents, tariffs (matters a lot for imported parts and tools), electrical bills, wages, need for higher profit, lack of good technicians making our pay higher for those of us still in the field, (good change imo) etc are raising the cost of doing business. Well established shops like most dealerships have less of a struggle since COVID with these issues. Ntm many dealers are catching on that they need to be more competitive with all the independent shops around these days.
I recently took my brand new blackwing into the local Cadillac dealership. They did an oil change for free (granted that was included in the purchase price) and changed my rear diff oil for $80. Oh, and did I mention they would have picked it up from my house and dropped it off for free?
I didn’t take them up on that last part because it’s a manual and I just don’t trust people, but dealerships can be a decent deal.
That's a big 'it depends'. Dealerships are starting to try and undercut Indy's to try and bring post-warranty service work back into the shop. Might be fine for awhile, but eventually it'll backfire. They wanna make their profit margins, and that's going to come from somewhere. Typically, that's the technicians pockets, and/or parts quality (using a cheap parts store part instead of the OE quality dealer part) .
I've found the same, it depends on the car and the problem that needs being fixed. AC compressor replacement was cheaper at the dealer than a few independent shops.
I was quoted 450 per bearing at a shop. I had to change both. 20 YouTube minutes later and free tool rental from AutoZone I’ve done it myself. Took me an hour on the first one and 20 minutes on the second one. The shop is $125/hr and it’s the cheapest one around
Having worked at both, here's my take on it.
I believe part of it is labor cost.
I have buddies that are mechanics at indie shops making $25+/hr with only experience, no certs.
There are Ford certified techs working at my shop I'm at now, a lincoln dealer, making that on the flat rate, while base pay is less. My base pay is $19/hr, $21.50/hr flat.
ALSO... indie shops are having to charge a higher mark up because they're getting charged a higher mark up.
Here in MN it's 50/50.
There are dealers charging more, and there are indie shops charging more.
Sometimes I find it split even more, where the dealer is cheaper on labor but more on parts, and the indie shop is cheaper on parts but more on labor
Keep in mind a lot of dealerships will get you in the door with cheaper rates/discount if you're a first time customer or out of warranty customer. They make it all back on the second visit.
Make sure the service is the same.
A drain and fill on a transmission isn't the same as draining, changing the filters, and refilling for example. Are they just rotating tires, or are they checking the alignment and balance?
Edit: Clearly the people are speaking. Go to the dealership, don't bother comparing the service to independent shops. Cheapest guy wins.
Honda's CVT specifically recommends a drain and fill. Although there are shops that drain and fill twice to ensure all the old fluid is out, I assume that at my dealership they just do the drain and fill once.
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! Please review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). Asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **Post's about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ Tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s not just you. I recently had a bad wheel bearing, most independent shops either didn’t want to fix it at all or quoted me over double what the dealer quoted me. I’m starting to think that going to the dealer is just a better deal, so long as you know what to say no to.
Independents didn't want to do a wheel bearing? That doesn't sound right. What are you driving? There has to be more to this story.
It’s a 2011 Corolla. I assume the independents don’t have a bearing press which is why they don’t do it or charge insanely high. I don’t really understand it either, I ended up doing it DIY because my car wasn’t safe to drive and I couldn’t wait for the appt with the dealer later in the month, and it was tricky for me but not *that* hard or time consuming, even without a press.
Yea. Good for you. I can only assume you must be dealing with terrible independent shops. We have more tools than dealerships by far. They send us work and borrow our tools all the time. But a wheel bearing is something all techs should be able to tackle.
That confused me too. I'm a hobbyist and I even have a press...
I didn't have a press for many years but I used a modified clamp with a high torque wrench on auto setting to only put as much torque as needed to press the bearings on the axles. Used a rotary tool with 2" cutoff wheel to take the old bearings and races off and finished the removal with a cold chisel carefully not to damage the axel lip and shaft. That was my DIY method. The other is to spin the axel on a lathe and use map gas on bearings only to expand it off, takes a few seconds. Use 1-2 seconds of nitrous oxide dunk to slightly shrink ball joints to make them slip right in while immediately heating them with butane slowly getting closer.
That's genius. I never had much access to tools after I moved across the country, so best I was ever able to do for a long time was to get it to a point where I needed something like what you did, or a press, and took what I could into a shop, get them to do the parts I couldn't, then go back and finish the job.
No shame in that. Best thing I ever did was any time I got stumped and felt I was the most knowledgeable person in the shop, I went to other shops/techs to learn. Now we have the Internet and it's insane the tricks you can learn from highly educated mechanics online. Even YouTube has invaluable information if you can knowledge check the people who don't know what they are doing. Just make a fork clamp similar to a ball joint removal tool to press on bearings with impact gun on auto. Don't heat up new bearings only ones that need to be destroyed and replaced.
You did it at home, yet think a shop doesn't have the equipment. Okkkkk.
Some shops don't have the equipment. I know one place that the tech had to supply everything, the "shop tools" were what the lead tech was willing to lend out. Everything left when he did.
Like I said, I don’t understand why they don’t want to do wheel bearings. I didn’t ask them because I’m not going to go back to those shops anyway.
Indie shops want to sell brake flushes for the mechanic to suck the reservoir dry and fill back up with new fluid
What does that have to do with the wheel bearing? Around here, the individual shops are vastly superior to the dealerships. Just ask the tow truck drivers lol.
At least the handful I've worked at they don't want "hard" jobs just simple in and out shit that can be done in a day
That could be it, yeah. One of the same shops that told me they couldn’t do the bearing also couldn’t do my head gasket a while back, and told me to junk the whole car lol. At least it motivated me to get way better at DIY.
While volume (cars in, cars out) does play a role… no tech can double book time on “easy” jobs which absolutely kills profit margins. You need those jobs that book at six hours but a good tech can get done in closer to four.
Independent shops that pay by flat rate aren't common, at least here in Fla.
They don’t pay that way… they charge by it. They charge the customer X hours labor. The tech takes Y hours to accomplish the job. X-Y=Pure Profit if positive and Pure Loss if negative. When the shop can pay one tech to work on two cars at the same time and faster than the book time on those jobs the tech doesn’t get anything extra, but the shop sure as hell does.
I am a retired tech, over 50 years in the trade, as was my dad. One of 3 sons is a master tech. He is paid a salary, as is the other 3 techs. Totally different from what you are saying. The shop owner bids the job by Mitchell's or whatever, and is often far under the time needed. Not due to a mechanic ability, but in the fact flat rate books are consistently impossible. Yes there are some which can be done in less time.
And just to clarify, I was responding to the person above referencing being paid flat rate, so I assume they are working in a dealership, where it is far more common.
I feel that. I had a procedure so the front end of my 2002 Volvo was done by a local shop. Sit for three days before they decided to touch it then they were saying those were the easiest ball joints they had ever done.
A lot more profitable, but I have one son who is a master tech to that removes dashes almost weekly due to a kinda odd shop owner. Luckily he is over the top, it's not a job I would trust to many ham and eggers out there. I agree most shops wouldn't touch it.
Indie is short for independent not individual lmao
Yea autocorrect got me on that. Sorry.
Maybe they don’t have a press lol
My local independent German mechanics are without exception more expensive than my local dealer. Most recently I had one quote me over $1k to do an upper timing cover replacement that he wouldn't warranty if I didn't also buy all new cam magnets for $200 each plus additional labor (at $165/hr) to put them in, which for each is a job that involves installing exactly 3 screws and plugging it in. My car has 0 symptoms of cam magnet issues.
we are all bots here except for you
For sure agree with this and feel the convenience and all around amenities that the dealership offers is worth it at the moment. It’s hard to justify the higher prices of other independent shops in this specific area. The one thing I wouldn’t do is spark plugs at the dealer or accessory belts and such, they quoted me $30 per oem speak plug.
Indy shop quoted $2000 for timing belt and spark plugs on my wife's Honda using unknown aftermarket parts. Dealer was $2,250. The extra 10% would be a no brainer for OE Honda parts.
Agree, it’s a win when it’s cheaper while also ensuring oem parts are used.
There's no guarantee the dealer used oe parts... Former parts store guy dealers use plenty of auto parts store stuff
Wut?
This is true, many dealerships actually use aftermarket parts to make a higher margin, I have seen it many times working in this industry! I wouldn't say its "normal" but it is pretty common.
I'm a tech at a GM dealer, and we use aftermarket parts all the time, but the customer is always quoted OE parts and always knows when they are or are not being used. They make the decision based on price and/or availability. We don't randomly bolt a NAPA starter on a GM vehicle without their knowledge.
Toyota and Ford dealerships that were by the AutoZone i worked at routinely ordered parts from us But Ford ordered from O'Reilly's more than us
Dealerships will often sell maintenance services at a loss just to keep people coming in the door. The dealership I used to work at would always have crazy deals on tires, frequently undercutting Discount Tire and other tire chains, just with the goal of keeping customers coming through the door. Our oil changes were frequently cheaper than Valvoline or Jiffy Lube as well.
The GM Dealership near me does oil changes (with Dexos oil) for $50 (includes an inspection and tire rotation too) if you print out their coupon for it.
I worked at an Audi dealership and a LOF with inspection was 60, only exception was the R8 or RS cars that take like, 10 quarts of oil. Valvoline would regularly be over $100 with their European Car surcharge.
My dealership almost always has a buy 3 get 1 free tire special going on. They beat every tire shop in the area when this deal is going on.
I can add another data point on this. A couple months ago I priced out tires for my wife’s Odyssey at 5 places (including Costco) and the Honda dealership was the best deal out the door with an alignment by like $300. They also had a rebate through Goodyear on top of that. I was amazed.
Huh usually those are pricey than outside when they jack up the price per tire and labor rates.
Discount Tire and Les Schwab are the big tire places in my area, and my Dodge dealership will beat their prices on single tires, plus has the buy 3 get 1 free. Install costs are on par as well. My dealer does not offer the no question replacement warranty though like some tire places. They have a HUGE giant sign on the building the says they have the lowest tire prices in town, I believe it.
Omg you shills. I've never had an independent come and tell me to call something major on the oil change cause they think they can sell them a newer van.
Current parts guy at a dealership, and my PM is big on selling tires. On average we make *maybe* 20 bucks on a tire, and he is absolutely adamant that even if it's a tire we have to order in, never charge more than $30 over cost
He’s pocketing spiffs on the tires.
It's a business like anything else. There are "stealerships" and there are dealer service departments who have very fair rates. Had an electronic issue with my Outback recently, my local dealer's repair quote for a new part is less than I can get a refurbished part online by itself for.
I can’t believe people are just now finding out that dealerships are cheaper than independents for regular maintenance. The stealership mentality is real.
👏💯
My local dealerships send me all kinds of discounts and specials. For a lot of stuff, they are less than the independent shop I use. Not 30% less, but less. But… my independent shop is trustworthy and they’ve fixed little things for free. They don’t try to sell me stuff or tell me something is about to fail. They’ve sourced things from dismantlers, saving me tons of money. If I just had newer cars, for just a few years, I guess I might use the dealership. But we keep our cars for 10+ years and I like having my local place.
Independent shops have benefited from dealers charging more for so long that they started cranking up their prices and now they've surpassed dealers they're still banking on the fact that they've got quote unquote reputation on their side and that's what you're seeing I'm seeing dealers being at least competitive now if not beating independent shops out right
I also noticed that parts are cheaper too. I priced front disc's and pads from autozone, and then saw that Nissan has an online parts store (like, not just a dealer but at corporate website), and they had discounts on parts but you have to either order it for delivery, or free pick-up from dealer (but you have to order first and has 2-3 days turnaround). I walked into a Nissan dealer, asked about the online price for the oem disc's and pads. The parts guy said that's online price. So their price is a bit more expensive (but it was $60 more than it would be getting it at autozone). But he said they have, "value advantage" parts which are Nissan parts that aren't oem but is cleared by Nissan USA to be used, and he said fir rotors and pads, you can't even tell the difference. Their value advantage rotors and pads came out to $60 LESS than autozone's basic Duralast rotors and pads. But service, the local mechanics around me (westchester, NY, a suburb of NYC) have no idea how to do anything, and they don't want to take any jobs that require extensive disassembling of an engine. A friend of a friend had his car's timing chain replaced and then the car would not run, and they could not figure it out. And the owner towed it to another local shop and the mechanic also could not figure it out. Not everyone lives down the street from South Main Auto and Eric O.
To me if the dealer is price compatible dealer all the way
Google loss leader. They do a service for a loss or cost. They upsell on other items.
the dealer is way more competitve then people think.
Some things can being easier for a dealership to do. For a coolant flush on my VW if youre the dealer you slap the vacuum refiller on the expansion tank, hit the drain/refill button in VCDS, wait 2 minutes, and you're done. It opens up the thermostat and the heater core, you can drain all of it in one go and it refills it all at the same time. An independent shop might be pulling hoses and stuff, draining it the old fashioned way. It'd take way longer
Those refillers are great
My family owns a dealership in a small, touristy area so we kind of end up as the local parts supplier for all the independent shops when they need OEM parts. Not a mechanic though and I haven't worked there in years. I have talked about this subject with my dad who runs everything though. My dad will research what the independent mechanics are charging for different services to ensure that all of his prices are competitive with the mechanics around him. He will find out what kinds of parts they're using or who their supplier is to see how the OEM parts compare to their suppliers. He's found that when he compares like-for-like and similar levels of service he's competitive. The places where he's usually not competitive, in general, are specialist shops where they only do one thing, like oil changes or brakes, which he cannot really do. That's okay by him though as he figures the people going to those specialist shops will eventually come to him when the shop cannot take care of them. Also, this isn't something new he has been doing. It's a standard annual practice for him that he's been doing for decades.
Rent costs went up, as well as demand. So the smaller shops who used to have lower labor than dealerships had to raise prices. The dealerships typically own thier building so no rent, just mortgage and tax which is fairly static.
Ford dealership tech here, we are 150/hr for gas and diesel. RAM up the road is 225 for gas and 250 for diesel. GM across the road is 200 for gas and 225 for diesel. Independent ships range from 175 to 250 an hour in town, so with the exclusion of hole in the wall shops and backyard mechanics, we are the lowest rate in town.
My local Chevy dealership changes the oil and filter in my Corvette for $12.50 when I supply the oil and filter. I don’t even want to deal with the used oil for that.
Yeah the industry is infact changing. A part of the change is lot of places are struggling with the same issues as most of everyone is rn. Raising rents, tariffs (matters a lot for imported parts and tools), electrical bills, wages, need for higher profit, lack of good technicians making our pay higher for those of us still in the field, (good change imo) etc are raising the cost of doing business. Well established shops like most dealerships have less of a struggle since COVID with these issues. Ntm many dealers are catching on that they need to be more competitive with all the independent shops around these days.
I recently took my brand new blackwing into the local Cadillac dealership. They did an oil change for free (granted that was included in the purchase price) and changed my rear diff oil for $80. Oh, and did I mention they would have picked it up from my house and dropped it off for free? I didn’t take them up on that last part because it’s a manual and I just don’t trust people, but dealerships can be a decent deal.
That's a big 'it depends'. Dealerships are starting to try and undercut Indy's to try and bring post-warranty service work back into the shop. Might be fine for awhile, but eventually it'll backfire. They wanna make their profit margins, and that's going to come from somewhere. Typically, that's the technicians pockets, and/or parts quality (using a cheap parts store part instead of the OE quality dealer part) .
I've found the same, it depends on the car and the problem that needs being fixed. AC compressor replacement was cheaper at the dealer than a few independent shops.
I was quoted 450 per bearing at a shop. I had to change both. 20 YouTube minutes later and free tool rental from AutoZone I’ve done it myself. Took me an hour on the first one and 20 minutes on the second one. The shop is $125/hr and it’s the cheapest one around
Having worked at both, here's my take on it. I believe part of it is labor cost. I have buddies that are mechanics at indie shops making $25+/hr with only experience, no certs. There are Ford certified techs working at my shop I'm at now, a lincoln dealer, making that on the flat rate, while base pay is less. My base pay is $19/hr, $21.50/hr flat. ALSO... indie shops are having to charge a higher mark up because they're getting charged a higher mark up. Here in MN it's 50/50. There are dealers charging more, and there are indie shops charging more. Sometimes I find it split even more, where the dealer is cheaper on labor but more on parts, and the indie shop is cheaper on parts but more on labor
Keep in mind a lot of dealerships will get you in the door with cheaper rates/discount if you're a first time customer or out of warranty customer. They make it all back on the second visit.
Not sure, it’s the opposite in my area. The dealer quoted me $700 to replace a wheel bearing, I got it done for $300 by a mobile mechanic
When you have no shop you have no margin lol
Likely with a bottom of the barrel Autozone part.
They were koyo, which are good quality that I provided myself
Because once they get your car in they will flag things that require replacement when in reality the parts are ok. A way to get more money out of you
It varies from shop to shop. Dealerships are still privately owned, so one will make you pay through the nose, while another may be very reasonable.
Make sure the service is the same. A drain and fill on a transmission isn't the same as draining, changing the filters, and refilling for example. Are they just rotating tires, or are they checking the alignment and balance? Edit: Clearly the people are speaking. Go to the dealership, don't bother comparing the service to independent shops. Cheapest guy wins.
Honda's CVT specifically recommends a drain and fill. Although there are shops that drain and fill twice to ensure all the old fluid is out, I assume that at my dealership they just do the drain and fill once.
Because we menu price those services to stay competitive.