Mechanic labor rates - flat-rate vs. hourly

[bfreed]

I've read several threads re: dealer maintenance on scooters, most of which at some point come around to either "I can't believe routine work costs so much," and/or "I can't believe major work costs so little."

This post isn't to bash either car repair shops or scooter shops, or to say one pay model is better than the other, but I thought I'd throw out a little information on how a lot (not all!) auto mechanics get paid.

As I understand it, most scooter shops are using an hourly model. This is how most of us non-mechanics get paid - you work on something, you write down how long it took, and you get paid for those hours. If I'm at the office for 40 hours, I get paid for 40 hours. When I say "I get paid $XX per hour," I mean "per hour I am physically on the job."

In mechanic-land, there's another model with a few names/variations - I'll call it fixed-rate.
Under fixed-rate, each type of "work" is assigned a number of hours. If an oil change takes an hour on average, then "oil change" is assigned a value of 1. Major mechanical work might be assigned 10, or 20, etc.
I don't have specific numbers - let's say a wheel bearing = 10 and transmission work = 20.

If a mechanic is assigned an oil change, a wheel bearing repair, and a transmission repair, then he gets paid 1+10+20 = 31 hours.
What if he's fast and gets it done in 20? He still gets paid for 31! (this, by the way, is the sales pitch to the prospective hire).
But what happens if nuts are rusted shut, and one snaps off, and when it's all said and done, it took 40 hours for the 3 jobs? He still gets paid for 31 hours.

But, you might ask, who gets to decide how long jobs should take? Ah. Just like going to Vegas, the dealer makes the rules, and the dealer usually wins.

At one dealership I know, things get even more complicated when you throw in Warranty Work. If Joe Schmoe walks in off the street and needs some transmission work, and he'll be paying the bill, then the mechanic might get 24 hours to do the job. But if a car, of the brand carried by the dealer, comes in and the Service Manager decides the work should be "Warrantied", then the mechanic might get 18 hours to complete the same job. Please note that cars under warranty are not inherently 33% faster to work on...

I'll leave out names and change the details, but let's say a 9-yr old BMW with 120,000 miles on it comes in and needs a new transmission. The owner is PISSED that the transmission blew, because he's under the impression that BMW drive trains last forever. Clearly the car is no longer under warranty. Clearly the mechanic could logically expect to be paid for 24 hours of labor. But, let's say the dealer shrewdly decides to "Warranty" the work anyway. The dealership loses the cost of the part plus 18 hours. The mechanic personally (and unwillingly) loses 6 hours. The dealership gains the undying loyalty of the guy with the 9-yr old car who's sure to be looking for a trade-in before too long...
And when that trade-in happens, 33% of the profit does NOT filter down to the mechanic...

It's not that there's anything inherently WRONG with flat-rate billing. Who's to say what a fair number is? Maybe the "Warranty" time allotted is a fair estimate and the "owner-paid" number is inflated for incentive to the mechanics. That's not my observation, but that's not my point here.

My point is that comparing scooter repair rates (which appear to be mostly hourly) to auto repair rates is an apples-oranges comparison.

The HUGE time losers for the mechanics at the dealership are oil changes, inspections, problem "investigation" time (no pay at all if a problem isn't found). Doing an oil change takes anywhere from 1.5x to 2x the hourly amount designated.

These are exactly the services that seem comparatively expensive on a Buddy (which are billed for how long they actually take).

The big time gainers for the dealership mechanics are the major, non-warrantied problems. If you can get good at swapping an engine out, you can get paid double what you actually worked. (The problem is that, like the Maytag man, very few blown engines show up at this particular brand's dealerships).

These are the types of services that seem comparatively inexpensive on a Buddy.

Sorry for the long post/novel, but hopefully it'll shed a little light for those who haven't had a bill-rate discussion with their mechanic.