Thread: Hrly rate for repairs What a fair rate these days for a good landy mechanic.

Most sparkies aren't running workshops with the high overheads involved with that. Dunno how much the workers comp charges are in various States but I think NSW is pretty high.

Ron

Bloody hell you lot have just scared the spanners off me

I think fortunately no one like to work on landies in Darwin so I am forced to do it all my self - fortunately I have access to some very good mechanics to pick their brains and occasionally they take pity on me and help then abuse me for days after for getting sucked into helping me


Normal mechanics for the missus Prado (lots of toyota mechs up here) about 65 to 75 per hour

Originally Posted by p38arover

Most sparkies aren't running workshops with the high overheads involved with that. Dunno how much the workers comp charges are in various States but I think NSW is pretty high.

Ron

Some do, some don't, but you don't have to be licensed to perform mechanical work

I get charged $70 per hour plus gst at thornleigh near home, decided to get the major service done by british and swedish at warriewood on the northern beaches of sydney. This was so the work could be done whilst i was at work. When i booked the car in i asked what he charged per hour and he said $85 plus gst. I though that was fair as they had more gear than the thornleigh guy so higher overheads.
What really gave me the ****s was the mark up on the parts. I compared the price i was charged for the parts and rang karcraft to compare prices. The workshop was charging me 30% on top of karcrafts prices. If i had supplied my own parts and had them fit them i would have saved over $100 bucks. I do my own intermediate service at 5000 kms then the mechanic does the 10000 k service.

Aaron

Originally Posted by aaron.miller

What really gave me the ****s was the mark up on the parts. I compared the price i was charged for the parts and rang karcraft to compare prices. The workshop was charging me 30% on top of karcrafts prices.

It depends on whether they are paying Karcraft the same price as you for the parts. If so, then 30% isn't unfair, it's entirely reasonable, especially on low priiced items. For really exxy stuff, e.g. $8000 brake booster, then I'd expect a lower markup.

Ron

I don't know what motor mechanics are charging in & around Brisbane, but most local machine shops are charging around $90 per hour, usually with a minimum charge from $60 up. A friend, a partner in a reasonable sized fabrication works and machine shop, tells me they pay tradesmen $30 per hour, and with the regular overtime and allowances, the average gross weekly pay is around $1700. Most are taking home $1000 or more.

I have an old Qld. Motor Trader book from the late 50's which recommends the hourly labour rate be 210% of the hourly wage which they say should cover overheads and small consumables. Since then annual leave has increased from 2 to 4 weeks, leave loading & long service leave introduced, and the superannuation guarantee levy. An current hourly rate of 250-300% of hourly rate would seem reasonable by that rule of thumb.

Originally Posted by 6.5rangie

Some do, some don't, but you don't have to be licensed to perform mechanical work

I am a firm believer that not every Tom Dick or Harry should be allowed to work on cars, and mechanic's should have a liecence.

I have seen jobs advertised in Brisbane for Landie mechanics and the figures that have been bantered around are 50 to 55k. Much more than the award wage. (possibly half this).

I don't mind paying for service as long as it is good and I receive what I have paid for. eg takes an hour pay for that hour. Not three hours as that is what the book said.

I don't know if this still applies but NSW, in, I think, the seventies or eighties, introduced a licensing scheme for motor vehicle repairers. They allowed non-tradesmen "grandfather" licences if they could prove x-many years experience and no recorded history of consumer complaints. I came across a guy who had a licence as a motor mechanic who had been apprenticed at a marine dealer and freely admitted he only knew boats but his apprentice documents and trades certificate called him a motor mechanic. Seems like the system needed fine tuning.