machinery dealers workshop rates

[5610]

Heard recently that a dealers workshop rates vary with the product even if its same fitter.ie if guy came out to mf £50 ph, cat £70 ph , fendt £90ph . Anyone heard of this? taking the p*#*.

 

[grumpy]

any one who thinks dealers over charge should open up a dealership them selves and become over night millionaires

 

[Cowabunga]

Not really. Sometimes, yes, but often it reflects the costs involved with that particular franchise. Those costs are not obvious to the layman but are very real nonetheless. Would it be preferable to average it across the franchises at, say £75/hour? The MF owner, who is probably in the majority, would probably disagree.

 

[B R C]

I sincerely hope its not true, I can see a big thread coming...

 

[Chips]

I enquired t Landrover dealer what their rate/hr was, first question back was what vehicle I had, I told them a disco and £115/hr was the answer , needless to say I took it to an Indy , but I wonder what their rate would have been if I had said a defender ?

 

[Cowabunga]

I enquired t Landrover dealer what their rate/hr was, first question back was what vehicle I had, I told them a disco and £115/hr was the answer , needless to say I took it to an Indy , but I wonder what their rate would have been if I had said a defender ?

Probably around £75/hour.

But it really does put the service and value you get from your agricultural machinery dealer into stark perspective.

 

[B R C]

Not really. Sometimes, yes, but often it reflects the costs involved with that particular franchise. Those costs are not obvious to the layman but are very real nonetheless. Would it be preferable to average it across the franchises at, say £75/hour? The Massey Ferguson owner, who is probably in the majority, would probably disagree.

Ifs that's the case then say the fitter costs dealer £20-25 hr, overheads maybe £10-15 leaving £10 profit on labour for the £50 quoted then there is £50 extra on the £90 quoted, does a 'premium' brand have that much more cost associated with it?

 

[B R C]

Probably around £75/hour.

But it really does put the service and value you get from your agricultural machinery dealer into stark perspective.

I agree, I don't mind paying for a job that is specialist, for other jobs that for example an auto electrician or air con specialist can do then go to them.

 

[spanners]

Some things are easier to fix than others. A fendt would cost more as you need a laptop and other stuff which costs the dealer money to own and use, A zetor just needs a hammer.
It makes perfect sense to me

 

[Bluetooth]

iirc we were charged £10/hr less to do some wiring on a ford7840 about 5 years ago as it didn't require a laptop like newer models would so any of the mechanics could do it rather than a better trained one. I think anyway.

 

[Mouser]

Difference here between Massey and fendt might be 10 or 15 quid, not nearly as big as op implies but a difference nonetheless. Seemed like common sense to me but now Massey are just as complicated to work on will it even out?

 

[Lincsman]

As in the car industry, if you claim to be premium brand charging premium price, that has to continue through all labour, parts, and servicing, or you loose credibility and you are suspected of not really being "premium".

 

[Cowabunga]

I have yet to find a car main dealer that I would trust to repair a wheelbarrow, and I've experience with more than a few. They range from the incompetent to being crooks, with my last Audi dealer experience showing that some can combine both traits tp new glorious heights of achievement. They tried to uplift every job invoice by hundreds and tried to sell me a new electric seat due to "two electric motors burnt out and not serviceable". That would have cost me £1200 to £1300 had I been soft in the head. My local mechanic sorted it in a couple of hours and with a bit of insulating tape. So which test did they do to diagnose two perfectly good motors as being burnt out? CROOKS! Even tried their very very best to sell me a winter check at £150 when it was in for free recall work and had only recently had a full scheduled service. The secretary tried on the phone and the service receptionist tried three times before admitting that orders were from above to uplift invoices and income at every opportunity and that they had targets for this for every service receptionist.
And you are talking well over £100/hour here.

I can sympathise with the plight of such dealers, forced by the franchise to have very high costs and overheads yet having reasonably reliable vehicles with three year warranties and only requiring a fixed price service every 18000 miles or so. How do they survive? Many just don't survive of course, and I've lost count of the main dealers, big and small, that I've seen either giving up or going bust over the years.
But pushy crooks, up with which I shall NOT put.