kinda bored at the shop lately

[ViperMan]

Erm, not exactly...  Yeah I guess I should have considered that.  Still, if you're bored, what would you normally charge?

Jeff

[challenger71]

I normally charge $50 per hour, but in recent times, I have had to drop it to $35 -40.  A few associates of mine want to open a mechanic and restoration shop all-in-one, but then the overhead will be greater so the prices will have to go back up. Right now the big shops are getting $70+ per hour and I have seen their work and I am not completely impressed

[stinger]

I normally charge $50 per hour, but in recent times, I have had to drop it to $35 -40.  A few associates of mine want to open a mechanic and restoration shop all-in-one, but then the overhead will be greater so the prices will have to go back up. Right now the big shops are getting $70+ per hour and I have seen their work and I am not completely impressed

50 an hour? is this the going rate for collision repair in your area or just for resto work?in the Detroit area it's been around 35 and hour for the last ten years,I new I should of sold and moved on years ago.

[challenger71]

The going rate for collision here is about $65 per hour. The restoration rate is between $70-120 per hour.  I have a new friend that learned the hard way on restoration. He has a 67 Camaro Convert. and was into a shop for over $45,000.00 when he finally pulled the plug. The car did not run and drive at that time, nor did it have paint on it.  I got the car in black primer. I had to get it running and driving and realign all the body panels. The only thing the shop did was, strip the frame, powder coat it, and put all new bushings, etc on it. They did put new doors, fenders, trunk, etc on it but nothing lined up. They even welded on the rocker 1/4" too high. Matter of fact, they were going to try to hide the hole in the floorboard under the rear seat. yes, I had to install a new floorpanel and brackets for this car too. That $45,000 was over a 2 year time frame, but they only did about 2 months worth of work.

[elitecustombody]

I have hard time believing the $65/hr collision rates, even Cali is not that high, avrage nationwide rates are $40-45/hr ,maybe you're mistaking those rates for mechanical  or electrical rates

[Chryco Psycho]

well it is a little different here most dealer rates are $100-120 / hr , expect ot pay 30,000 + to paint a car here & some of the 30k work is junk

[stinger]

I think you guys are off on the rates,California is the highest @ 65.00 an hour.Detroit is the lowest @ 33.00 an hour and no one is spending money right now.Mechanics rates here are about 70.00 an hour and not ruled by the insurance companies.if rates were 100.00 an hour I'm loading up the truck and driveing down to where you are and I'll work for half of that!

[challenger71]

Would you like me to send you the bill that states the hourly rate for a resto shop here? You better get in your truck and head on out because their right on the money.

[ViperMan]

The resto shop I worked at in PA was $35 an hour, I seem to recall.  Of course, the dealership I worked at charged $75 an hour, they just bumped that to $79 an hour, but they don't do collission work.

Jeff

[Grancoupe]

I knew a few guys in NY that did resto work on the side. Driver quality. But still nice work. They charged a flat rate per project. Driver quarter = $1,500.00. Redo a floor board = $500.00. And so on. If they got it done fast that is their business. If they took longer their loss. But the customer went in knowing they were going to be paying this much and that was it. Of course there were the ones like what might be under the vinyl top or under all that bondo. That is where some negotiation comes into play. But how can someone charge 45 thousand to put on some body panels is beyond me. that is criminal! And the guy gets a half finished car.

[stinger]

Would you like me to send you the bill that states the hourly rate for a resto shop here? You better get in your truck and head on out because their right on the money.

sure would,and a job app to please.

[challenger71]

That is pretty much how I bill. I give a set price and then if I find something I wasn't planning on, the price gets negotiated. It works out to be around $35-40 per hour roughly. The big shops charge a hourly rate though.

[ntstlgl1970]

The labor rate in California is all over the place, depends where you live. City? $80-100 Suburbs? $68-80 Rural? $58-70 Boonies? $less. California is a huge state....

[the_engineers]

I need two estimates - since you're bored! - One for cobalt blue stripes, another for a full repaint in "Viper" Metallic Blue with White stripes...  I'm eventually going to do one or the other.

I hear ya on the "pinch" - winter season is always tough for car repair, service, collision, etc.  Until the first snowfall - then it gets CRAZY BUSY for a little while - everyone suddenly gets nervous or realizes what all isn't working, like heat, defrosters, TIRES...

Jeff

JEFF!  I thought you had decided against the re-paint.  If there can be such thing as a belly-button Viper, it'd be a blue one with white stripes.  My  (again)

[stinger]

That is pretty much how I bill. I give a set price and then if I find something I wasn't planning on, the price gets negotiated. It works out to be around $35-40 per hour roughly. The big shops charge a hourly rate though.

thats a far cry from the 100 bucks an hour you were boasting earlier,sounds more like the going rate.maybe you were adding materials?