The service writer will not care.
You did the shops job at a minimum of 125 an hour. So add 125 to the 120 you spent. and its already 245. If the book gives 3 hours...
I would bet the shop rate is over 125. That seems to be the low end these days.
Oh I know he won't, but I'll still do it. If the rate was 125 and plugs were 70 that's only $195. I could easily do this job in an hour. Like I said I spent half the time bullshitting and had to run to the store for a tool. Without that, it would have been an hour tops, and I haven't done this for years. A person who does this for a living should be able to do this in under an hour.
How many hours does the book give for the task?
That is the question.
90% of shops have a parts markup, usually in the neighborhood of 20-25%.
If it gives only 1 or 1.5, maybe 2, they were overcharging you.
If it gives 2.5 or 3, they were charging you as they would have charged everyone with that model car.
I dont like to pay that going price, which is why i do all my own maintenance. My time is worth shop rate to me, to do something I usually end up enjoying.
I do mean to ask him how many hours they book for it. He did say it would be less depending on how long it took.
I dont like to pay that going price, which is why i do all my own maintenance.
It depends for me. I'm not going to pay for most easy fixes. I do like having them change the oil as it isn't much more expensive and they can get it up on the lift and check all the suspension parts. Most of the time I let them do all that work when needed. I don't really enjoy doing anything you have to get under the car for.
I'll be letting them do a coolant flush next oil change for instance. It isn't hard to do, but it's still kind of a pain and their price isn't much more than materials for this job (similar to the oil change).