Charging Diagnostic Fees

[KLINK]

Do you charge a checkout fee? and if you do how much? do you tell customers about it on the phone when they are scheduling an appoinment? Do you loose alot of customers at this point when you tell them you are going to charge them to diag their vehicle? If you do not charge a diagnostic fee do you roll it into the cost of the repair? do you still pay the tech for diagnosing the vehicle if the repair is declined? Do you pay them a flat fee or actual clock time for the diag.?
I am looking at this as a major roadblock to competeing with the aftermarket shops in my area.

[TheOne]

Use an authorized amount up front. I don't know what is wrong with your car but I have your concern fully documented. I'm going to put you down for a $150.00 authorized amount. If The repair is going to be anymore than that I will call you right away.

Document everything the tech does and break it into many lines.
Example:
No start, no crank.
.2 charged battery.
.2 load tested battery (passed)
.2 Alternator output test (passed)
.2 starter draw test (failed)
1.1 Replaced starter
0.0 Quality checked repair
0.0 Thank you for choosing ABC Dealership for your service facility.

This practice leaves a lasting positive impact on CSI as well.

[FJFIXEDOPS]

We charge a "diagnostic" fee for driveability concerns. It is $108.95 and we pay the tech 1.0 flat rate. We disclose this up-front at the time of reservation and at write-up. We seldom lose a customer, especially when we make them aware that if they have repairs completed at our facility, we will absorb the fee.
I am looking hard at reducing the fee and the charge to the customer, though. In most cases, the tech can verify the concern and run a scan diagnostics in 5-15 minutes and it is not fair to the customer to charge them an hour's labor. The post from TheOne has me second-guessing myself on that one. I like the example given and will institute the process right away. We'll see how it works.

[texaslp]

I'm in the process of buying a new home and I've paid inspection fees for a general inspection, roof inspection, a/c unit inspection and pool inspection. They all told me up front about the fee. It's perfectly understandable that they can't do this for nothing.

We usually charge a minimum 1hr, but I totally agree, if it only takes 15 minutes-give the customer a break.

[KLINK]

Texaslp

If the inspector down the road, the one you had to pass by on the way to the one you picked, would have inspected your house for free and only charged you if he found a problem and you wanted him to fix it, would you have chosen the same inspector or used the free one?

[Gene]

In this day in age we are Doctors, with all the money invested in tools and training we cant afford to diagnose cars for free. We tell customers we are Doctors and run our business much like that. When the customer calls we dont tell them the fee but tell them what we will do to diagnose it, when they ask we tell them our diagnose fee. $105.00 minimum, we build value in the call just like the repair. The only places that diagnose cars for free to my knowledge are places with generic scanners that only pull codes. Than they come to our shops and say Autozone said.....

[This message has been edited by Gene (edited 10-28-2008).]

[texaslp]

I'm a pretty firm believer in "you get what you pay for" so personally, I'm usually a little sceptical about how much "free" is really worth. But that's me. I know there are other schools of thought out there.

[Richard]

Yeah Gene, and at least 50% of the time the 'codes' that AZ or those other places pull don't even exist!

[TheOne]

Gene is right we are "doctors", but in a much more competitive environment with the exception of those that come in on the hook. But that doesn't mean it has to be free. There doesn't have to be an entrance charge (flat fee), charge for what you do, and test as I have described above.....

[GMFXDOPSMGR]

I have the diag fee on our write-up sheets along with a signature place. This is in addition to the signature for the repairs.
I too do not think that all diagnosis is worth 1.0 hrs labor from the tech. Generally if they have to dye test oil or coolant leaks, then 0.5. If it is driveability, transmission, ABS, most electrical (body) issues, then the minimum is 1.0. I discourage the 1.0 ITIS syndrome that a lot of techs get into. I ask them to be reasonable, the cost of labor is so high it is too easy to loose someone. Most customers will pay for diagnosis when presented properly. We do not "waive" the fee, but will include it in the repair cost and will adjust the amount to get the job.