someone mentioned they never heard of paying more for a job. I was a commissioned auto mechanic and we had set rates for every repair job or maintenance job on the car. For example a brake job back in the late 70's paid 4.2 hours to the mechanic. So I got 4.2 hours of pay at my hourly rate for that job. That included turning rotors, drums, and packing wheel bearings. On a good day, and if the machines were empty, I could do a complete brake job in about an hour. So if I had two brake jobs in the morning, I would physically work about 2-3 hours and get paid 8. Was it fair? hell yeah! because on the flip side, if the job took 8 hours to do and paid 4 hours, that's all we got!!
This is due to knowledge and experience. Plus we had to buy all our own tools. So we had an investment in our jobs. Now the HD dealers??? I haven't got a clue. I suspect they have an investment as well, but seems to be a change in attitude and what, or who, they think owe them.

 

I think it varies. From what I understand that was common at car dealerships but I don't believe it is at Harley Dealers.

 

There is a difference between Flat rate times for warranty work, and "customer Pay/cash /Service work. The Warranty work is paid for by the manufacturer, it is half the cash rate or less, that is why Flat rate labor guides have two Flat rate times, one is Cash, one is Warranty. I have to point out that it is no longer the late 70's the last I knew a flat rate brake job paid 2.6 hours and that was almost twenty years ago, that included turning rotors. From what I understand, turning rotors is a thing of the past, they get replaced these days. I have also worked places where a brake job paid .6 hours, guess what we were hanging pads, and selling rotors, no turning rotors for .6 one fella on here mentioned that a "good" mechanic cleans up on warranty work, that is BS, Most service departments define a "good mechanic" as someone who beats the flat rate times by cutting corners, or simply doesn't do the job, they will write a warranty claim for some job that they simply didn't do. Who is going to know? The Manufacturer pays the claim. Another form of "good mechanic" is the one who sells the customer parts and services that they simply do not need,fuel injection service, is it necessary, I don't think so, I know of 25 year old Fords still running that never had a fuel injection service. I have witnessed this bullshit firsthand. A good mechanic in a dealership is someone who runs the bill up on the customer and makes the house money, I will also add that when they are caught ripping someone off, the house doesn't have their back.

 

I need to call BS on that. A good mechanic identifies the problem, fixes the problem for fair and honest pay and puts it out the door with a road test and as clean as it was when it rolled in the door. anything else is a ripoff artist and in the business for the wrong reasons.

if it sounds like ya struck a nerve, it did. ive been a mechanic for 36 yrs now and take pride in my job. yes unfortunately not everyone does. I work with a guy who is a parts replacer, far from a mechanic and he knows it. but i would rather have him work on my car then the guy with twice the experience but hates his job, if need be because he cares about what he does and not just in it to make money.

if a dealer gets caught falsifying repairs they will get fined, have the claim debited and if bad enough, lose their franchise.

a good flat rate mechanic can usually beat the warranty time given enough repetitive repairs.. doing timing chains, transmission, axles etc.. you learn shortcuts everytime you do the same job over and over..

case in point.. 06-10 honda civics.. warranty extension on cracked blocks.. warranty time is 12.6 hrs to replace block including align(you have to take cradle out)... transfer all components attached to block.. cyl head, timing chain, timing cover etc. only get block and oil pan.. first one took me about 8 hrs.. still made money.. it didn't take long to get it down to 5 hrs.. i learned the short cuts, what i did have to do and what i didn't have to do..


as for keeping up with current technology. the manufacture whos cars i work on has a pretty decent training system. self online training is approx 260 tests. i currently am about 255 complete.. its constantly changing and whenever a new model comes out we have to the test before any warranty claims are paid with our "tech number" . I do their testing and wait for their crap to start breaking .. all cars break, if they didn't, they wouldn't make replacement parts for them.. don't let anyone tell ya any different.

 

You sure saved me a lot typing which I still hate. I have had to learn it better in recent times.

I have been on the line since 20 yrs old and still on the line at 62 years old now, with 24 years in a dealership.


Along with what else you said this is very true in the places I have worked

"a good flat rate mechanic can usually beat the warranty time given enough repetitive repairs.. doing timing chains, transmission, axles etc.. you learn shortcuts everytime you do the same job over and over.."

WP

 

No one cares more about my bike than me. I obsess over every little detail when I do work, and I'm not satisfied until it's 100% perfect. Do I expect a dealer tech to be the same way? Heck no. But there are times when a job is beyond my ability and/or equipment, and in those cases, I tremendously value someone who will do the work correctly & competently. And when I get back home, I'll double check every detail.

As a famous person once said, "Trust but verify."

 

I wonder if these auto repairman techniques are also used by the motorcycle technician?
This guy never got any respect!

 

Yeah but you are still doing it for half pay, sorry, I don't consider that making "Serious" money. That is doing Twice the work for the same money.

 

You can call BS all you want, That is my perspective and what I have seen. I personally don't care if you or anyone else here thinks I am a "good mechanic" as I walked away from the business about 8 years ago. It wasn't something I wanted to do past the age of 40. In short if any of you are still in it at 60, in my opinion, you are fools. Have a nice day.

 

[QUOTE=Super Glidester;16946122]You can call BS all you want, That is my perspective and what I have seen. I want to leave you with a little food for thought, if all of the "good mechanics" are out there beating the warranty time, that is exactly what they want you to do. That means that a "good mechanic" is proving to the manufacturer that "yes, it can be done in the time you allowed., I have done this repeatedly, and own the required tools,I don't need to read the FSM because I do this particular repair repeatedly, it doesn't matter that you are paying me a reduced time for this head gasket, because I can make your allotted warranty time. Well, good for you, this isn't a dick measuring contest of the "good mechanics" fact is, the manufacturer is paying you a "lesser" time to do the job. Unless something has changed in the last ten years, the Flat rate Labor guide will have an actual time, and a warranty time for any given operation on said vehicle. The fact that the so called "good mechanic" is beating warranty times, in effect means they are doing twice the work for their pay, basically "busting their ***" if you will. That , to me is foolish. In fact when I worked at a dealership, it wasn't uncommon for the manufacturer to "cut" the warranty times, because they can see how long it takes a tech to do the repair by the time punches on the work order.There are easier ways to make the $$$ that a Flat rate "good mechanic" makes and you don't have to pay child support payments to Snap-on every week either. So sit at the bar after you busted your *** like a chump, and tell all the beer swilling people there how "good a mechanic " you are. While you are at it, buy the place around with all the "serious" money you are making doing warranty work at the local dealership.

P.S. for those of you that are really interested, here is another take on what I am saying.
http://www.angrymechanics.com/page.html "beating" manufacturers warranty Flat Rate times isn't the point of a Flat Rate pay system..