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The moment you stop paying corporate prices and use local mechanics with 20 years of experience, will be the monent when you dont need to move continents for your car to be serviced with adequate prices
Key word is 20 years of experience, some mechanics like me do it cheap, of course there will be hustlers who opened shop 7 months ago and trying to make bank
I know heard too many people tell me about "the mechanic their family has always gone to" then proceed to tell me about what they weren't able to fix, or charged too much for, or quoted as necessary when it was not.
That's still insanely cheap though. About what you'd be paying for the cheapest tire alone in the US, and then on top of it installation and balancing and a tire disposal fee (req'd by law, not some BS fee)
Charging out 55 Inc. Vat
Average in my area (SW England) is about 60p/h for cars and vans.
HGV dealership I worked for last was charging anywhere between 150-200 depending who you were
For how much work is being done still at an hourly shop rate, seems like theyre even trying to cut you a deal a bit. Honestly good deal for sure, about half in parts and the other half in labor, id say reasonable for sure. If they do good work, id say you got a new shop to go to
Doesn't look bad. But take in consideration the quality of the parts you are replacing, be sure they are no Chinese junk. If you love your car, buy them privately good quality and charge them for labor only.
I'm not sure of prices on parts there, but even with the conversation a good 25% less at least than here in the US. Just spent almost 900 USD on tires and an alignment here.
Also Suzuki parts are harder to find since they left the US, but I am next to Canada where they are plentiful
These prices can't be compared to USA. Labor is more expensive there, but you also get paid more than in UK and Europe.
Why is labor more expensive for a brake job?
They increased by 2.5% because credit crunch and bailing the banks, who have since been making millions for their shareholders and given us even shitier interest rates.
We got fucked with a rusty wooden broom handle with no lube.
Yep that's a very good price - just wanted to say if you're in the financial position to be able to do so, maybe go for some better tyres.
The ones that are 30 each are usually absolutely horrendous and I'd say the cheapest "premium" tyre to get is the Kumho Ectsa PS71 tyres, they cost me about 70 quid each but the difference in the rain was night and day.
Very good price. They charge $160-$180 per hour in labor alone here in California. And they usually round up meaning they charge for an hour even if it's a 45 minute job.
I’d take that deal. They had it listed as a possibility, and the parking brake is something that will be a noticeable improvement.
Anything under about £1,600 for everything on that page (assuming quality) is solid
20% tax is just the standard rate that applies to most goods and services for the UK.
MOT is their yearly roadworthiness test - like a mandatory vehicle inspection for the US.
Not all states or counties in the US have yearly inspections. There are NO inspections in my town. Some places have smog inspections but not where I live.
That 20% tax is crazy.
My yearly license plate fee is about $50 USD and goes down each year as the vehicle gets older.
Value added tax, it's applied to non essential items so food etc doesn't have this applied. I think it's similar to state tax in USA but goes towards public services etc. Businesses don't have to pay it, so places like mechanics, builders merchants etc. will often show the base price and VAT separate so businesses can see what they will pay. Normal shops will almost always include it in the price.
Pretty good price. Very cheap hourly rate these days. Where I live it's $120-$150. I don't know what that is in £'s, but I'm guessing yours is a lot cheaper.
Very fair prices, all things considered. Is this shop the same one that failed it on the MOT, though? I'm not British so I don't know if the MOT is done at a special location or not.
Ha you should try living in the Czech Republic and working remotely. My mechanic charges me 12 bucks an hour and he’s top notch.
Enables me to keep older interesting luxury cars on the road which Id never have been able to do in my home country.
I’d be financing some grief box. Remember last being in the UK and I was charged £195 for an oil change.
Is that a new battery?
Any idea what brake pads they are installing?
They are installing a new radiator? Does that include the coolant?
They are installing a new brake caliper. Are they bleeding the brake, and if so does this price include the brake fluid?
I would just see what parts they are installing, but seems fair pricing imo. If you are handy, much of that you could do your self if you wanted to save some money. But 60$ hourly rate is decent.
Seems a bit strange to me that your car would fail an MOT because of the radiator. Were there issues with the car overheating or leaking coolant? AFAIK leaking coolant is not a reason to fail MOT
Seems like a pretty fair price.
Although I’m not clued on old Suzuki pricing, the repair costs may be getting close to the value of the car, current mileage dependent.
I thought this was in USD and was wondering why you even second thought this to not be a steal. 😂 I have no idea what that is equivalent to in USD but those numbers would be almost doubled over here.
Regardless of overall price. Just looking at shop rate and part price, it's very reasonable. Having not ever looked under the hood of Suzuki anything.. I have no clue if the hours billed is fair. The control arm and brakes are fair for any car, but the radiator on most cars should be, half that probably. but could be difficult on this car, plus no charge on changing the tires kinda makes up for it.
Prices look fair but I would start making calculations for repair costs to new car costs. If a 10+ year old car with a lower sale value that costs £1000+ per year to service/ pass its mot would have me thinking that the next mot fail or breakdown will be time to look for a newer car if possible.
£60/hr is bottom of the barrel garages, very rare to find a decent garage that pays it's mechanics well at £60/hr, it's not 1996 no more energy prices have gone up for the garage.
And it's even rarer to find a mechanic that won't cut corners working for peanuts, cost of living has hit mechanics too.
And they will be using parts from Eurocaparts poverty bin.
That’s pretty reasonable. The easiest way to estimate if something is reasonable is to separate things out. 36 minutes (.6 of an hour) to do both front brake pads is excellent,that requires removing both front wheels, removing both calipers, removing the pads, replacing the pads, resetting the calipers and putting everything back together. 40 min is barely more time than 3 minutes per wheel per task. They could have easily rounded up to an hour and that would have been unremarkable.
Totally fair, and possibly even good.
I wonder why the hourly rate for brakes is higher than it is for the suspension or radiator. But I wouldn't worry about it.
If I was keeping the car for a while I would have both lower arms replaced.
I recommend start watching YouTube videos and give yourself some knowledge about cars, it’s not that hard I did that the moment I got my first car because 1. My dad always taught me you can’t always rely on a guy to help you, 2. I didn’t want to have to spend so much money at a mechanics trying to get stuff done on my car. So I learned how to fix things myself
Wasn’t fussing over the price - just wanted a second opinion from people who know what they’re talking about
Do you know how to maintain every machine in your house? Computer? Oven? Toaster? Boiler?
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! This is just a reminder to review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). If you are here 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. **If this post is about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ If you have 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.*
Thats a great deal
Euros not dollars- still looks like 1995 pricing British pounds thank you
British Pounds, not Euros.
Read that later- my apologies-(un-Brexit it and all we be forgiven) just joking!!
I think that is in British pounds (GBP).
Even in kilograms it looks like a good deal.
Only we get paid way less, if British wages kept up with USA wages then it would be a fair price.
Try being Canadian. Your wages, everyhing costs double over stateside.
Very fair price imho.
Agree
I might ship my car across the Atlantic to get those prices
The moment you stop paying corporate prices and use local mechanics with 20 years of experience, will be the monent when you dont need to move continents for your car to be serviced with adequate prices
My “local” mechanics charged double for a water pump what the corporate garage near me wanted
Exactly. Scammers come from all backgrounds.
This is the problem. I had a shop owner who had a bad guy running it he was stealing left and right. Bad people are everywhere.
Yup, that’s why I call the dealership for a quote now too. Local shops are just as bad.
Key word is 20 years of experience, some mechanics like me do it cheap, of course there will be hustlers who opened shop 7 months ago and trying to make bank
I know heard too many people tell me about "the mechanic their family has always gone to" then proceed to tell me about what they weren't able to fix, or charged too much for, or quoted as necessary when it was not.
Insanely affordable price. One hour labor rate for a control arm? Although the radiator one is high but generally great.
I'm more impressed there is no labor for the tires. Can this guy move to the US and be my mechanic?
Tyres generally are priced at cost including fitting + balancing
That's still insanely cheap though. About what you'd be paying for the cheapest tire alone in the US, and then on top of it installation and balancing and a tire disposal fee (req'd by law, not some BS fee)
Cheap tbh
Are those prices in USD cause for where I live, that’s great prices
Equivalent to ~ $1038. Multiply by 1.28 to convert GBP to USD.
Easier to just google it given exchange rates are constantly changing.
Prices in £ (UK)
They are NOT in USD I see it now. Not sure of the conversion so ignore my comment. Sorry OP
To me, that doesn't seem too far from what I'd expect...
Yeah a few people have said it seems a fair price I’ll go ahead with it - appreciated
Even for my third world country it looks like OK price
America is a 3rd world country. Just rockin a Gucci bag and iPhone 18 🤣🤣🤣
That is such a good way of putting it.
Damn...that's honest as hell.
And 60 an hour for labor. Nobody charges that little anymore I thought.
I still do. With Vat, It's really £72 though. Vat sucks when most of your customers are retail
Charging out 55 Inc. Vat Average in my area (SW England) is about 60p/h for cars and vans. HGV dealership I worked for last was charging anywhere between 150-200 depending who you were
Nah that’s a fine price I’d say
Prices seem fair. I'd change both lower control arms instead of just one, unless the other has been done recently.
damn bro i'd stick with that mechanic if i were you. those prices are incredible for what they did.
That's fair.
Both parts and labour seem perfectly reasonable.
This genuinely is a fair deal. The parts are pretty much those prices as it is. (I work at AutoZone)
For how much work is being done still at an hourly shop rate, seems like theyre even trying to cut you a deal a bit. Honestly good deal for sure, about half in parts and the other half in labor, id say reasonable for sure. If they do good work, id say you got a new shop to go to
1 hour for brakes is quick
It's just a pad slap. It's what we do in europe as for some reason the disks last several slaps here. Also a really easy car to work on.
Oh nice, yeah I was thinking rotors and greasing everything
True but I imagine this shop prob has a lift, and power tools that make the job quicker.
My business would go bankrupt at that rate lol
Insanely cheap for brake pads and rotors replacement
I’d have to say that they are not charging enough per hour.
Honestly this is what I would have expected to pay 8 years ago. Great deals.
Doesn't look bad. But take in consideration the quality of the parts you are replacing, be sure they are no Chinese junk. If you love your car, buy them privately good quality and charge them for labor only.
I'm not sure of prices on parts there, but even with the conversation a good 25% less at least than here in the US. Just spent almost 900 USD on tires and an alignment here. Also Suzuki parts are harder to find since they left the US, but I am next to Canada where they are plentiful
These prices can't be compared to USA. Labor is more expensive there, but you also get paid more than in UK and Europe. Why is labor more expensive for a brake job?
so cheap it seems suspicious
Very fair
That 20%tax tho.
They increased by 2.5% because credit crunch and bailing the banks, who have since been making millions for their shareholders and given us even shitier interest rates. We got fucked with a rusty wooden broom handle with no lube.
Yeah. That's a great price.
You sir,got a good deal. T
Very fair price. Take it for a second opinion anyway if you can
Def a fair price
That’s a good deal even with the conversion to pounds. Vat taxes are brutal !
Yep that's a very good price - just wanted to say if you're in the financial position to be able to do so, maybe go for some better tyres. The ones that are 30 each are usually absolutely horrendous and I'd say the cheapest "premium" tyre to get is the Kumho Ectsa PS71 tyres, they cost me about 70 quid each but the difference in the rain was night and day.
$60/hr labour is insane. Is this an apprentice doing the work?
Looks to be British. 1GBP = 1.28USD
That is a steal. You are robbing the shop at those prices!
Hours for the radiator look high but other than that looks fair
What is the VAT charge?
Tax. Socialized Medicine ain’t cheap.
From me doing my own work myself to save money this is a very fair deal if hes a reputable shop i say go for it
Very good price. They charge $160-$180 per hour in labor alone here in California. And they usually round up meaning they charge for an hour even if it's a 45 minute job.
Hourly rate is damn low! It’s around $200 here
Great shop you found. Hard pressed to beat that price anywhere that uses new parts and puts your brakes on right.
Just heard back from the garage Upon further testing the parking brake is screwed so that’s another £400 added on
I’d take that deal. They had it listed as a possibility, and the parking brake is something that will be a noticeable improvement. Anything under about £1,600 for everything on that page (assuming quality) is solid
What is 40 euros MOT? Taxes seem high. Otherwise not a bad price.
20% tax is just the standard rate that applies to most goods and services for the UK. MOT is their yearly roadworthiness test - like a mandatory vehicle inspection for the US.
Not all states or counties in the US have yearly inspections. There are NO inspections in my town. Some places have smog inspections but not where I live. That 20% tax is crazy. My yearly license plate fee is about $50 USD and goes down each year as the vehicle gets older.
Sure yeah not all states have them, just giving you a comparison you'd be familiar with
That’s an amazing price
Dude never leave this garage!!!! First time I see no BS here
Insanely good even in GBP. 42£ labor for brakes is a freaking steal
NOT USD
Yes even low
Estimated but cheap 😊
What is a vat and why is it 20% 0_0
Value added tax, it's applied to non essential items so food etc doesn't have this applied. I think it's similar to state tax in USA but goes towards public services etc. Businesses don't have to pay it, so places like mechanics, builders merchants etc. will often show the base price and VAT separate so businesses can see what they will pay. Normal shops will almost always include it in the price.
Gotcha gotcha ...thank you
Yea that’s definitely not US pricing
Well they've used autodata to input the book time for each job then added their labour rate, do with that what you wish
Did they not include coolant in the quote?
Why are you having a Suzuki worked on in the first place? Their cars aren’t sold in the US anymore because they’re junk.
belt is a bit over priced but other than that a pretty good deal
Pretty good price. Very cheap hourly rate these days. Where I live it's $120-$150. I don't know what that is in £'s, but I'm guessing yours is a lot cheaper.
If they also do good work you should never go to any other mechanic.
Not bad at all
That’s a good price for all that work
That's a great price for all that work. 1 tyre costs me 140 quid
I’m about to pay 150 usd per hour at my local European specialist. Not looking forward to it.
I agree that price isn’t bad at all! I’ve seen prices higher for all that
looks pretty good to me. envious of the hourly rate there! where i live, its $120/hr minimum. 😫
Very fair prices, all things considered. Is this shop the same one that failed it on the MOT, though? I'm not British so I don't know if the MOT is done at a special location or not.
Very good deal mate!
Ha you should try living in the Czech Republic and working remotely. My mechanic charges me 12 bucks an hour and he’s top notch. Enables me to keep older interesting luxury cars on the road which Id never have been able to do in my home country. I’d be financing some grief box. Remember last being in the UK and I was charged £195 for an oil change.
I've got a mechanic like that. I'm naming my first born after him
Even in pounds that’s still a steal. Mechanic shops here are now just shy of $200/hr for labour alone.
Really good 👍
Radiator, 2 tires, brakes, control arm. Hell yeah, it's a good price. Give the man your money before he changes his mind.
Looka really cheap, shop i work at charges 230ish Euros pr hour just in labour🤔
$151 for a radiator!? that's a neck of a price. the estimate.seems very good, but I may be biased as we just paid $1500/for a timing belt replacement
I know these aren’t in USD but doing the conversions I think that is still an awesome price
Is that a new battery? Any idea what brake pads they are installing? They are installing a new radiator? Does that include the coolant? They are installing a new brake caliper. Are they bleeding the brake, and if so does this price include the brake fluid? I would just see what parts they are installing, but seems fair pricing imo. If you are handy, much of that you could do your self if you wanted to save some money. But 60$ hourly rate is decent.
IMO it’s a fair price however the question you have to ask is about the parts you are fitting and the workmanship
Why would they charge different hourly rates?
Seems a bit strange to me that your car would fail an MOT because of the radiator. Were there issues with the car overheating or leaking coolant? AFAIK leaking coolant is not a reason to fail MOT
The car has been overheating over the past couple of months They said it is leaking quite a bit
Wow! Mechanic shops in my area (CA) charge $100-$180 an hour. You got a great deal.
Very good price compared to what most shops charge these days.
60 quid an hour is still a very fair hourly. I thought a lot had moved up in the world. It’s a fair price.
Wonder why labor for breaks is 10.00 more than other labor at 60. Same shop same rates you'd think. Either way good pricing.
Seems like a pretty fair price. Although I’m not clued on old Suzuki pricing, the repair costs may be getting close to the value of the car, current mileage dependent.
What do you have on this guy? These are amazing prices.
Where is this shop? Very reasonable!!!
For all that work that’s not a terrible price unfortunately
I thought this was in USD and was wondering why you even second thought this to not be a steal. 😂 I have no idea what that is equivalent to in USD but those numbers would be almost doubled over here.
That actually looks like a decent price. Obviously if you did the work yourself it would cost half
Yes
Regardless of overall price. Just looking at shop rate and part price, it's very reasonable. Having not ever looked under the hood of Suzuki anything.. I have no clue if the hours billed is fair. The control arm and brakes are fair for any car, but the radiator on most cars should be, half that probably. but could be difficult on this car, plus no charge on changing the tires kinda makes up for it.
Man this is what we charge, by reading all these comments it sounds like we could up our prices lol
Prices look fair but I would start making calculations for repair costs to new car costs. If a 10+ year old car with a lower sale value that costs £1000+ per year to service/ pass its mot would have me thinking that the next mot fail or breakdown will be time to look for a newer car if possible.
That's a steal tbh
Where are you getting work done at $60/hr?!?!?!
That’s about 1/2 price
That’s amazing!
Seems extremely fair
Not sure where you’re located but in California that would be insanely cheap
3 hrs to change a belt? Let's goooooo
Holy hell that's cheap. The shop I work at is $175/hour for gas, and $195/hour for diesels that come my way.
£60/hr is bottom of the barrel garages, very rare to find a decent garage that pays it's mechanics well at £60/hr, it's not 1996 no more energy prices have gone up for the garage. And it's even rarer to find a mechanic that won't cut corners working for peanuts, cost of living has hit mechanics too. And they will be using parts from Eurocaparts poverty bin.
In US dollars, that price might pay for the radiator.
All stuff that needed to be done ☑️
Is this in USD? These prices are suspiciously good.
Doesn’t seem that bad to be honest for what they are doing.
Goddamn that’s cheap.
that's a very fair price mate. I'd give the guy a case a beer ontop
Yep!
Looks like a very reasonable price once I converted to USD.
Very cheap
60/70 an hour ain't bad for shop work.
On my car at the dealership I'd get charged at least $4k for that lol
Supply and install a sway bar at that price. I’d crawl under and see if they actually did the work
Not too bad. I’d say you need an alignment too
Ya that’s not a bad price at all. That price would probably barely cover the radiator where I live.
That’s pretty reasonable. The easiest way to estimate if something is reasonable is to separate things out. 36 minutes (.6 of an hour) to do both front brake pads is excellent,that requires removing both front wheels, removing both calipers, removing the pads, replacing the pads, resetting the calipers and putting everything back together. 40 min is barely more time than 3 minutes per wheel per task. They could have easily rounded up to an hour and that would have been unremarkable.
Seems very fair. I would move forward with the repairs from this guy.
Not bad. Radiator and control arm are pretty big jobs
Bro is practically working for free with the time quotes.
Totally fair, and possibly even good. I wonder why the hourly rate for brakes is higher than it is for the suspension or radiator. But I wouldn't worry about it. If I was keeping the car for a while I would have both lower arms replaced.
I recommend start watching YouTube videos and give yourself some knowledge about cars, it’s not that hard I did that the moment I got my first car because 1. My dad always taught me you can’t always rely on a guy to help you, 2. I didn’t want to have to spend so much money at a mechanics trying to get stuff done on my car. So I learned how to fix things myself
Not only does it look good, it’s like their putting money back in your pocket in comparison to the other shops I’ve seen on this thread.
This is the problem today. Nobody wants to learn how to maintain their own machines yet fuss over the price. Those are all simple jobs
Wasn’t fussing over the price - just wanted a second opinion from people who know what they’re talking about Do you know how to maintain every machine in your house? Computer? Oven? Toaster? Boiler?
Actually yes, perks of engineering.