Labour - how much is too much?

[UnluckyTimmeh]

Hi guys,

Just wondered what your thoughts were on labour costs for bike dealers?

Obviously dealers will naturally carry a higher labour cost than indys, due to overheads etc but I was curious as to how much you guys expect to pay per hour?

I'll be completely honest, I work at a BMW dealership (as some of you know), which I guess has one of the higher labour rates of all the brands of just under £100 per hour. But then we have other BMW dealers not too far away charging in excess of £120 per hour.

But then we have Honda, Triumph, Yamaha and Ducati dealers to name a few charging anything between £40 - £95 per hour.

I always though the going rate was around £60 per hour but was surprised at how many people pay over that.

Just curious as to what you thought and (if you're willing to say) what you pay an hour.

Cheers,

UT.

P.s. Happy new year to you all and all that jazz

[UnluckyTimmeh]

theshrew said:

Labour rates in car main dealers change a lot depending on where they are.

Id guess the average for the country would be around £80, Id imagine bike rates would be similar.

I guess city centre I.e. London and Manchester etc would be higher.

I just wonder how they're decided, approximate income/wealth of their catchment area....

[UnluckyTimmeh]

crofty1984 said:

35-45 of consider acceptable for normal work. Servicing, basic repairs etc.

Interesting. Is that from a main dealer or an independent?

[UnluckyTimmeh]

podman said:

Im more interested in the overall cost of the job and the quality of the workmanship than the labour charge, no use paying £50 an hour for 5 hours poor work if the chap down the road who charges £100 an hour can do the same job in an hour.

Reputation/knowledge first and foremost IMHO.

You sir, are the ideal customer.

I always take my Suzuki 750 to the local dealer because I'm paying for their expertise and up to date training and special tools etc. I'd rather pay £60 per hour for a proper job than £30 per hour for a that'll do.....

It's interesting to me how many customer we have who accept an estimate via email or on the phone, who when then come in and see it written down and see a large proportion is labour cost, then complain.

I suppose it's a value for money question.

I also wonder if there is a premium brand & experience = premium rate expectation. So for Harley Davidson, Ducati, MV Augusta and to some extent BMW for example....

[Rene Souffle]

Local Ducati and Kawasaki dealer: £84 per hour. BMW £117.60 and Triumph £135.