idrivetoys

Before anyone decides to even try and flame this thread please take the time to understand that this is the location on Courthouse Rd in Fredericksburg, NOT THE COLONIAL BEACH LOCATION, and considering the circumstances i was not able to do the work myself as i didnt have the tools necasary available.


I have a DA and as most people know when replacing the rear struts on a DA the 14mm bolt that goes through the control arm siezes up and breaks, well as mine did i took it the Brauning to have this bolt removed. After dropping the car off and leaving to go get some lunch and a new bolt from Acura/Honda i returned to the car and the bolt had been removed and was waiting on the new bolt. Quick slip in and a torque down the car was done. At this time an owner had arrived and found out that the car was in the bay for approximately 2 hours, despite needing a fraction of that in actual work. So he told the ticket writer that the duties performed was 2 hours of labor. Bringing my total to $202.xx to remove a bolt that didnt even need drilled out, but a weld nut removed and bolt banged out. I suppose this could all be my fault for not requesting a quote and i get that, however $200 to remove one bolt is more than excessive and i wont be pointing anyone in that direction.


Ryan Fife
USMC

frk_concepts

honestly bro,
im sure there is no set price of removing a broken/seized bolt, so even asking for a quote would have left you in the exact same place...

charged by the hour to get the job done...

most shops charge $85-100 for a hourly mechanical rate..
so to you that may seem a bit steep, but you also took up 2 hours of the day on their lift..
someone elses car could been on it, getting work done..

not to sound like a dick, but think about it from their perspective...

they run a business, if they charged everyone $30 to be one their lift(2hrs a day) and use their mechanics to fix the car...would they still be in business??

idrivetoys

I completely understand that perspective. Having said that, labor is labor, not lift time. Otherwise when you have a timing belt changed and its delivered from car quest you arent charged the couple hours it takes to get the part. I do know this from previous work at a shop, however im not here to try and argue with anyone in any manner just to express my discontent with the billing associated with the services rendered.

sidewaysil80

damn fife...your one well spoken dude (for a marine :P ) you in fburg this weekend?

NeverEnough

Mark Brauning has got to keep that Race Car on the track somehow I suppose...

idrivetoys

That would be the Brauning in Colonial Beach.


Ha, yeah well i have been around a little while. Ill be in Fburg for another week to 3 weeks, PTAD RA down here on rt. 3. Im submitting for an extension on monday for another 2 weeks.


Fife

sohc_mshue

Thats how mechanic work is. If you go to a dealership they might charge you for a certain amount of hours, but no mechanic i know takes as long as the rated amount of time.

IPUNCHBABIES

Paul is a JEW

HighPSI TSi Guy

Careful, you might offend some Jews with that one.

Fife is correct. Anyone with experience working in a shop knows, if you are not working on a car, you're not billing them for that time. If you leave it on the lift while waiting for a part, then that is the shop and mechanic's fault for not finding something else to do with their time while waiting. If they had nothing else to do while waiting, then their time obviously wasn't really worth anything because there was no other work to get done. $200 to remove a bolt is ridiculous.

That aside, I've fixed multiple fuckups from the Brauning automotive (not motorsports) company as well. Including one fuckup that cost the customer $1500 (incorrectly installed timing belt failed immediately after install due to installer error and it was denied and blamed on the car owner)

IPUNCHBABIES

That's the thing, The mechanic nor service writer was at fault. I Personally know the mechanic and heard about the story before this thread was made. When the owner walked in he asked how long the car was in the shop, even though it was in the shop for two hours for a bolt removal that took 10-15 minutes it should of been at the most at 30 minute labor charge. Both the Mechanic and service writer knew this, But the boss is the one who did the invoice... both the mechanic and service writer totally disagree with the way this went down.