Fordtechnician Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 What do the rest of you charge per hour over the normal shop rate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torqued_Up Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Wow! In looking at the poll results it looks like a lot of dealers are screwing themselves. I hope that the diesel techs aren't getting screwed too! If you do diesel work and are certified and good at it you are worth more. This goes for truck techs in general too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordtechnician Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 My shop......I make the same per hr working on a gas engine or diesel. The customer pays the same if they have a Yugo or a F550. This is a HUGE benefit to the customer. Just think.......You go to the indy shop, they might charge $10.00 an hour less. Do they have the diesel tools? NO Are they trained to work on them? NO I recently worked on an older 7.3 that had a missfire. The after market shop threw 8 yes EIGHT injectors at it! It still missed!!! His bill was $3100.00! Now he brought it to the dealer. My bill was about $100.00. I installed an under valve cover harness reinforcement clip. Poor owner NEVER needed injectors ! And dealers are still rippoffs???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Most truck and diesel work is performed at higher rates here on the East coast and I am sure that carries through the rest of the country. You are not ripping the customer off. My dealer uses a variable labor rate. This keeps things like tires, oil changes and general servicing competitive because we charge a lower labor rate for those items. Engine diagnostics and repairs that require additional training by the technicians and expensive equipment like our special service tools, IDS and WDS are worth a higher rate. I am a full out diesel and truck technician. I EXPECT a higher labor rate than a Yugo technician would get. I demand it. Customers should expect to pay a little more to have their diesels properly repaired. Someone who can afford a $45,000 truck can usually afford to pay the right people a little more for their training, knowledge and experience. Business owners cant afford not to as down time will cost them much more. Your story about the injectors and the clip supports what I am saying. After that customer's experience I'll be willing to bet he would gladly pay you and your dealer a little more to begin with. In the long run it definitely would have saved him a lot of money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOOBADQ Posted April 23, 2006 Share Posted April 23, 2006 My shop has a door rate of $73 for most work $79 for diesel. I have a backlog of work all the time and turn 30 to 35 hours every week. This year I have had only one 40 hour pay check. Last year I had only 7. We just picked up the bigger trucks. Got CAT school soon. I am pushing for hourly pay. If they don't go hourly I go away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 Fordtechnician did you get the answer you wanted about truck/diesel labor rates? Many of us are paid more than car technicians so it stands to reason that dealers should be charging more for your skills and talents. TOOBADQ Have you considered negotiating a 40 hour guarantee? If you are valuable to your company that number is not hard to swallow. You could remain on flat rate and suggest a productivity bonus as an incentive for you to push to be productive or at least not slack off. My shop as well as others offer $0.50 or $1.00 per hour bumps for every five hours over 40 produced. I know that what we do can be difficult and productivity is not an option some weeks but a nice little bump in pay is worth finishing that job before going home... or staying to perform a few PDI's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordtechnician Posted May 6, 2006 Author Share Posted May 6, 2006 I got information, but not what I was expecting to see. I see so far most shops charge the same labor rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 I gotta admit that your poll results are not what I expected to see either. I really believe that dealers should be charging more for AT LEAST diesel engine work and vehicles over a F450 Super Duty - especially the medium duty trucks like the F650-750 and the LCF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 Most of what we sell and service at our store are PSDs... the question we could ask, in our situation, is "should we be charging less for F150 and cars?". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Bedford Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 According to the list of priorities of the 2006 PSMAC, one item is raising the diesel warranty rate Ford pays. I doubt it will happen with Ford's finances as they are and its past history of warranty costs. http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0510/23/A01-358226.htm If the dealers do get the increase, the question is, do you think any will trickle down to the technicians? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.