how do they keep selling cars today

[hpe600rt]

hear to you could get them for less then 1dollor not that long ago and sometimes even 2 for a buck on sale now it is like 2 dollors or so and i like the mac and chesse .the way things are going we will all be eating the ramen noodles every night

[cudabeforeIdie]

hear to you could get them for less then 1dollor not that long ago and sometimes even 2 for a buck on sale now it is like 2 dollors or so and i like the mac and chesse .the way things are going we will all be eating the ramen noodles every night

Last time I got Kraft mac'n cheese it was 2 for a buck at Market Basket, last month? Do you cook up a hotdog, slice it thin, and mix it up with the mac 'n cheese before served? yummy!    Though I prefer Paula Dean's receipe for southern mac 'n cheese, just don't often have all day to make it.

[hpe600rt]

never tried it i do have it with hot dogs most of the time lol

[gkring]

yea and i bet at 130 per houre it takes them 2 hours to fix and they charge 5 hours cause the book says it takes that lone.total bs i dont work for 4 hours and charge my boss for 8 i would be fired and put in jail for fraud thats stealing cash

Suprised to hear that from you. So if the book says 5 hours and I have trouble and it takes me 6, what do I get paid? Guess it depends which side of the wrench you are on. You really have to look at it as a price for the job. They can also charge you the 2 hours it might actually take that seasoned experienced guy to do it, but at $180 an hour. Either way you have to trust whoever you are dealing with. In these times we find people are really looking for value. You always have price concious shoppers, but in order for both the seller and the buyer to survive there has to be a fair price in both directions.

[AARuFAST]

Price of Gas

www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=qKdScVerrBU&vg=medium

[GranCuda1970]

Yep BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! BAD!

   OBAMA>>>> GOOOOOOOOOOD!! 

[GranCuda1970]

Yep they seem to shart out both side of thier mouths often!!  LOOnY LoOnY LOOOOOOOOOONY!!

[cudabeforeIdie]

Suprised to hear that from you. So if the book says 5 hours and I have trouble and it takes me 6, what do I get paid? Guess it depends which side of the wrench you are on. You really have to look at it as a price for the job. They can also charge you the 2 hours it might actually take that seasoned experienced guy to do it, but at $180 an hour. Either way you have to trust whoever you are dealing with. In these times we find people are really looking for value. You always have price concious shoppers, but in order for both the seller and the buyer to survive there has to be a fair price in both directions.

If I may, when you go to to a dealer to have 'x' fixed, their job book will say how many hours to charge for, that's what you'll be charged. Remember the mechs are getting less than half of the published rate; so if you're being charged $130 an hour, the mech is actually getting around $50. The mechs "make money" by completing a job in less than the established time ie if a job states its 4 hours, and they complete it in 2, they've "made" $100 an hour - then they get another car on their lift and complete IT in less than the stated time but during the last 4 hour period, they're making $200 an hour, etc. Where the mechs get screwed is if they run into trouble and go "over time", they're not getting paid for the actual amount of time they worked on the car. Independants use the same book for the hourly charge, the only thing that may change is the amount charged hourly.

[Cooter]

yea and i bet at 130 per houre it takes them 2 hours to fix and they charge 5 hours cause the book says it takes that lone.total bs i dont work for 4 hours and charge my boss for 8 i would be fired and put in jail for fraud thats stealing cash

You really should understand what you are trying to b*tch about BEFORE you post .....

[hpe600rt]

oh i do 2 of my friends run and own 2 big car repair places and will screw you every chance they get.for instance the part cost 10 bucks they charge you 20 for it,or dont warnty it.if you use your owen from the same place for 10 bucks.and if they go over they charge you moure they call you up and say this and that and it will be moure cash..and at moust places they are working one 3 cars at the same time.i have sat their all day watching this many times.we go out to dinner at least once a week and he tells me this the owner.with i have known for the last 20 years and they are bolth very big outfits they have one car lot that spends over 300k a year and that is just one place.so dont give me this crap about the poor mec who cant do the job in the book time with power tools,the book time can be dun buy any one in way les time without power tools.the book time isnt what you chage for a job its what you can charge up 2 for a job.if it takes you 2 hours you should charge that.not 5 because some book says so.i once seen them do an alt in 15 min and chargerd 3 hours well for the other 245 they where doing it again on someone else car.so if you dont like what im saying i dont care that is how it is and they are rich as hell from doing it.to me that is steeling and i know just what im talking about as iv seen way moure then just some custmer ever would .i can just drive in to any of the shops and put my car on the host by myself and no one will say anything besides whats up will or go right to the back office and chill all day with the boss if i want to.i can and we talk about this stuff all the time so yea i know what im talking about.i understand people need to make money but that is just crazzy when a car shop makes as much as a head doc,or lawer.

[ViperMan]

If I may, when you go to to a dealer to have 'x' fixed, their job book will say how many hours to charge for, that's what you'll be charged. Remember the mechs are getting less than half of the published rate; so if you're being charged $130 an hour, the mech is actually getting around $50. The mechs "make money" by completing a job in less than the established time ie if a job states its 4 hours, and they complete it in 2, they've "made" $100 an hour - then they get another car on their lift and complete IT in less than the stated time but during the last 4 hour period, they're making $200 an hour, etc. Where the mechs get screwed is if they run into trouble and go "over time", they're not getting paid for the actual amount of time they worked on the car. Independants use the same book for the hourly charge, the only thing that may change is the amount charged hourly.

We...  I mean - they... ...also get screwed on warranty work which often pays far fewer hours than standard "book" time.  I used to be a repair technician, so I've been there.

The problem is everyone wants a "deal" when they're going to get their car fixed, but those techs are just trying to get by like the rest of us.

And I am SO TIRED of people blaming OBAMA for higher gas prices.  The government doesn't have a DAMNED THING to do with the price of oil.  It's US, people - US.  It's the commodities market and speculation.  WE ARE DRIVING OUR OWN GAS PRICES.  And since we're all so adamant about the Government staying OUT of our daily lives, there's really nothing they CAN do about it, unless they literally shut down Wallstreet.

EDUCATE yourselves, instead of just watching CNN and thinking you've heard all the answers.

http://davefactor.blogspot.com/2011/03/so-why-is-gas-really-so-expensive.html

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/03/why-is-gas-so-expensive.html

http://consumerist.com/2007/05/why-is-gas-so-freakin-expensive.html

/rant

[hpe600rt]

what is theire that we can do as people.i am a very hounset guy who works his butt off and i dont steel or cheat others.but with all this i feel like im just getting beaten up every time i spend my cash,now im not cheep by any meens but when you see everything going up at once its very overwellming does any one else feel this way

[ViperMan]

I guess honestly HPE, I really don't see everything going up.  In fact on the flip-side, I think that competition - which has been further enabled thanks to the internet - has forced a lot of companies to LOWER their prices.

Take for example my 2001 Dodge Stratus Coupe.  A few years ago I bought an Oxygen Sensor for this car - cost me about $120 dollars.  Just a few weeks ago I bought another Oxygen Sensor off the internet, and paid only $65 dollars.

Also, on my Viper - I received a quote four years ago for having a reflash of my PCM component, and just last week paid the SAME amount quoted four years ago.

Lastly, my wife and I have pretty much operated within the same grocery budget for at least 2 years now.  We've done so by buying somewhat more in bulk, eating healthier foods (and cutting out junk foods) and also, I protest the use of "coupons", which really only convince you to buy sh!t (or more sh!t) that you don't actually need.

Now, yes, gas is on the up-and-up lately, and that's a big hearty thanks to the rich cats (getting richer) on Walstreet.  I will admit being lucky in the fact that I only drive 5 miles a day (10 if I go home for lunch!) and can go an entire month on a tank of gas.

There is advice all OVER the place on how to save money and make the most of your expenditures.  (Hell Geico has an entire marketing strategy based on the concept...)  Also, a lot of banks offer financial advice for next-to-nothing (my bank does it for free to some extent) to help people manage their money better.

[ViperMan]

And by the way, the "charge book time regardless of how long it takes" is a strategy used by nearly every major business on the planet EARTH.

My business installs conveyor systems and builds coal processing plants.  When a customer approaches us for a bid, we use productivity rates, factor in a profit margin, and build our estimate.  If we do the job at cheaper than we had estimated, we certainly don't charge less.  However, if the job costs us MORE than we had estimated, we also have no ability to charge MORE, since the contract values are agreed upon before work starts.

You're given this same benefit at the shop.  If the work takes longer, you pay the price you agreed upon, unless the difference is substantial, at which the shop will have to call you beforehand to authorize the additional cost.  There are LAWS that protect you - the consumer - from being charged substantially more than you agreed to before work was started.

Having been a technician in the past, I can tell you without any doubt or deceipt that MANY repair jobs take longer than what the book allows.  In addition, shops employ technicians at a wide-range of skill sets.  While one technician might be doing a job at less-than-book rate, another technician might be a bit newer - thus slower - and take longer than "the book" allows.  On those types of jobs, the shop loses a considerable amount of money, because if a tech takes twice as long as "the book" pays, he is essentially earning double the pay on that book rate.  In other words, the shop has to pay him twice as much as what they were expecting to pay him for that job.  Lastly, those senior technicians have spent a LOT of time and the shop has invested a LOT of money into them to BE as skillful as they are.  It may take YEARS of investing into a technician to get them to the point that they can make you extra money by beating "book" time.

And, as a closing question, if you're in such disgust of the strategy, then why are you socializing with these guys and going out to dinner with them all the time?!   

I mean, I'm just wondering! 

[Gumby]

What are you going to do when all the coal companies switch over to natural gas? They don't make natural gas conveyor systems?! (it directly affects my job as well) Inflation is here, and it is only going to get worse. Brace yourself. This is the tip of the iceberg.