I'm not a small shop owner, but rather the service manager for a good sized
(18 technicians) foreign car dealership in Southern California. The costs
of doing business on this scale are staggering.
Some of the expenses that have crossed my desk in recent days:
Car maker just changed the link tool that allows the technician's PC to talk
to and reprogram the cars. The new ones are $1600 each. I just bought two,
I need about 8 more. My diagnostic subscription (shop manuals, electronic
diagnostics, wiring diagrams, parts listing etc) is $7200/ year. I need to
replace about 8 or 9 computers in the shop, on order haven't seen the bill
on that one yet.
I just invested in a "green" system for brake cleaner and parts washing
spray. Refillable aerosol cans instead of disposable cans. That was about
$1800.
Certifying my hoists just cost me about $7200, and I need to replace three
of them next year at about $2600 each. Updated program for the alignment
machine was $530.
All of the above are just the out of the ordinary expenses. Rent, electric
and the rest I won't go into, but the numbers are rather large. I don't
even want to think what my workmans comp premiums are.
Get the picture?
My labor rate is $125 and it is a struggle every month to get into the
black. I don't want to, but I may have to bump my driveway rate next year.
It is a tough business out there and it is not getting any easier.
Depending on the area, $140 is not out of line, and the shop owner is
probably not driving a Rolls Royce home at the end of the day.
Rick
On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 9:26 PM, <Editorgary@aol.com> wrote:
>
> Ask a small shop owner how much he/she is paying for liability insurance,
> shop insurance, and health insurance especially, compared to what was being
> charged only five years ago. Health insurance for employees has, in
> particular, gone through the roof, and any kind of liability isn't far
> behind. And
> folks wonder why we need health reform and tort reform.
> Gary
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