What's a brake job actually pay the tech??

[Whiner]

Right up front - I am a parts dude - not service guy.

I get hammered on my GM parts prices all the time. Although I believe we price our ceramic durastop brake pads correctly.

The other day I had a customer show me his repair order that we did brakes on. I rarely ever see repair orders - separate office in a different part of the building.

I was surprised at the amount of labor time charged. Two hours times full shop rate. I was told this was normal charge and it was none of the parts dude's business.

Keep in mind this was a front drive GM car - front brake job. Work consisted of replacing pads and resurfacing both rotors. No other work done, no problems with the job requiring extra time.

Is this the standard rate in your shop?

Do you charge your full shop rate for brake work or is there a lower maintenance rate?

Seems I am giving the parts away at a low mark-up only to see the labor make up the parts discount. Before you ask - yes - we are more expensive than the competition.

[This message has been edited by Whiner (edited 12-19-2007).]

[Old Irish]

In most cases we try to keep our brake jobs at $179.95.

As a general rule we charge pads at $59.95 and $120.00 labor. The tech flags 2.0 hours. So, we are charging $60.00/hour for the job...no where near our "repair" rate. No complaints from parts department.

Anyhow, if we get a car with really expensive pads we'll work something out with parts. Or, more and more lately, just increase our overall selling price. Some pads have a dealer COST of $70-80 these days.

[svrmrg]

We do the same thing as Irish, and even at that if you look up the time in the warranty guide the factory pays better.

H0042 .8
Add for refinish 1.5

I should add that this time is for a 2006 buick H body

[This message has been edited by svrmrg (edited 12-20-2007).]

[GMFXDOPSMGR]

Same here, 2.0 hrs for pads and resurface rotors. Our labor rate is competetive with the "Brake shops" in town, but the parts generally are higher.

[WOODY]

AT MY SHOP
PADS 64.95
HANG PADS 45.00 =1 HOUR
CUT ROTORS 49.95 .7
CALIPER SERVICE 26.95 .4

PARTS PAYS ON MOST DURASTOPS 34.95 TO 37.95

IF YOU SOLD THEM TO A GOOD WHOLESALE ACCOUNT PARTS WOULD CHARGE THEM 51.80

[sermgreby]

WE PAY THE TECHS 2.0 HOURS, REPLACE PADS AND MACHINE ROTORS. CHARGED AT $48.00 PER HOUR.
OUR REPAIR RATE IS GRID STARTING AT $98.50, SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNT AS BRAKES IS A AREA THAT IS SHOPPED BY CUSTOMERS AND WE DO NOT HAVE A LOT OF LATITUDE ON THE PARTS PRICE.

[Whiner]

Thanks for the information - I guess we are in line. That's what makes reading this forum worthwhile. Learning...

[FixedOpsJunkie]

I have a Question with everybody saying they pay 2.0 hours for the job is everybody paying at the Technician Flat Rate or an adjusted rate. It anybody using a varable pay rate because it's a maintenance repair instead of a engine overall? What is the average techncian pay rate on a brake job? Are they making more on the brake job than you?

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A Fixed Ops Junkie 49

[tcollins]

Just the fact that you were told that it's none of the parts dudes business indicates a problem. On maintenance repairs parts, service and the technician sacrifice equally determined by both parts manager and service manager. The market for maintenance in our area is very competitive. To answer fixedops question, no the technician doesn't make more than the dealership, he makes a percentage of the repair regardless of his rate based on what the market will bear.

[Old Irish]

"It anybody using a varable pay rate because it's a maintenance repair instead of a engine overall?"

Some shop do have variable tech pay rates. I've thought about going to this myself but have always chickened out. We already have enough problems with getting repair orders correctly costed *without* introducing variable pay rates for individual techs

If you don't have variable tech rates then, naturally, it would be preferrable for your lower paid techs to do the heavily discounted jobs---such at brakes. We aim for that our shop but it isn't always possible for a variety of reasons.

Cheers
DD