Garage hourly rate

Author
Discussion

crossie

Original Poster:

208 posts

236 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
Just had the girlfriend car in a local garage near her work and the hourly rate was £48

Is this about normal ??

Malton North Yorkshire

Edited by crossie on Thursday 18th April 09:51

Turbotechnic

675 posts

75 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
Depends where you live.

Ed/L152

480 posts

236 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
I don't think you'd find much lower than that

Mattygooner

5,301 posts

203 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
I would love for my indie to be close to 48 per hour....

SonicShadow

2,452 posts

153 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
£48 inc VAT? Very reasonable.

Rayy

126 posts

140 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
That’s way cheap. I pay £55ph to a garage in n Leeds.

Plate spinner

17,649 posts

199 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
seems reasonable.

Djtemeka

1,802 posts

191 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
Ford wanted £90/hr 10 years ago from me. Fixed it myself biggrin

eybic

9,212 posts

173 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
yep, that's a good hourly rate.

Car-Matt

1,923 posts

137 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
Dirt Cheap IMO

grumpy52

5,565 posts

165 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
South east kent and my mate charges £55 ph on normal day rate and £ 40 ph on long term restoration work .
Local independents charge £60-70 ph , main dealers are £100-140ph .

caelite

4,273 posts

111 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
£48 is good with VAT. I find if your a good customer & it's a backstreet garage most places will waive the VAT as a 'cash discount'. Never ask for a discount, but always offer to pay in cash, the lads I use round to a nice even £40, cash in hand.

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
I was paying something like £150 at AM ...

Sounds good to me, even a local garage in N.Wales is £70 odd!

Old Merc

3,486 posts

166 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
As said already it all depends where you live. I`m in Reading,and the Thames Valley is getting near London rates because rent,rates and property prices are so high. Most established independents are charging around £60 + VAT per hour. A friend of mine took her Polo to the local VW main dealer and was charged £120 + VAT per hour !!!

CinnamonFan

980 posts

195 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
grumpy52 said:
South east kent and my mate charges £55 ph on normal day rate and £ 40 ph on long term restoration work .
Local independents charge £60-70 ph , main dealers are £100-140ph .
Can you email me the details of this garage?

Used to use Mr Clutch at £39/hour. New management have upped it to £78/hour!



thatdude

2,654 posts

126 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
Sounds about right, not a bad deal I'd say.

SkodaIan

705 posts

84 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
£52 per hour at my usual independent VAG specialist at the last service (also in North Yorkshire). Last time I used a main dealer in the same area back in 2013 it was about £80 per hour - I suspect they would be over £100 per hour now.

A lot of the difference in cost will be down to the cost of renting the workshop and other overheads/extras. The indy operates out of fairly ropey industrial unit with a bunch of mechanics and admin/receptionist in a small office. The car is properly serviced with genuine parts, correct oil etc, but there are no extras. The main dealer has a huge glass palace, "free" coffee, "free" pickup/drop-off, "free" wash and hoover, a reception desk and a service manager in a jacket and tie who I presume doesn't normally work on the cars himself.

As I'm perfectly capable of cleaning my own car, getting it to the garage myself and buying a coffee from Costa for £2.50 if I want one, I'd rather pay the lower hourly rate, particularly for any labour intensive job beyond a basic service. Maintaining a warranty isn't a concern for me as the car is 8 years old.

Hitch

6,100 posts

193 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
CinnamonFan said:
grumpy52 said:
South east kent and my mate charges £55 ph on normal day rate and £ 40 ph on long term restoration work .
Local independents charge £60-70 ph , main dealers are £100-140ph .
Can you email me the details of this garage?

Used to use Mr Clutch at £39/hour. New management have upped it to £78/hour!
That is literally to pay for all of the coke and hookers...

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/accountant-w...

WJNB

2,637 posts

160 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
Cheap as chips.
Not a direct comparison but indicative of the cost of living in the rich smug south I was expected to pay £168 +VAT per hr by my nearest main Mercedes dealer in order to re-furbish the a/c of a 2012 car & thus only too delighted when just down the road an independent Mercedes specialist of international renown would only charge me £90 per hr + VAT for the same work using genuine Mercedes parts ordered direct from the factory.
At the latter I still can lounge in luxurious leather chairs sipping good coffee & nibbling on biscuits while I wait.

Jamescrs

4,445 posts

64 months

Thursday 18th April 2019
quotequote all
Pretty good hourly rate that, I think my local independent charges around £55 off the top of my head, I'm in Leeds, West Yorkshire.