How do repair shops price the parts they put in your car

I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this
question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm
wondering how much they typically mark up the parts they order. I
just went to an NTB/Merchants place for new front upper ball joints on
my dodge truck. Total cost was about $625. Each ball joint costs
about $140 on my estimate (and receipt). But i know now that if i
had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is
it typical for a 100% markup at these shops?
The rest of the $625 was for labor (and shop fees and taxes)....and
there was considerable labor
because the old ball joints had to (sort of) cut out of the upper
control arm. (side note: The ball joints normally come as part of
the upper control arm, and they could have just replaced the whole
upper control arm (they told me that was an option), but they said it
would cost more and not even be necessary or better, though i'm
realizing now that it probably would've been better to replace the
whole UCA since i'd get a new one at slightly higher cost)....ANYWAY,
my main question has to do with these markups of parts. Could i have
just bought the parts myself and have them install? (i'm
unmechanical) thanks.

I have always thought the repair shops get parts at a discount.
cuhulin

In article
. com>,
wrote:

> I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this
> question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm
> wondering how much they typically mark up the parts they order.

Typically? Whatever the market will bear.

> I just went to an NTB/Merchants place for new front upper ball joints on
> my dodge truck. Total cost was about $625. Each ball joint costs
> about $140 on my estimate (and receipt). But i know now that if i
> had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is
> it typical for a 100% markup at these shops?

How do you know that the parts you priced are of the same quality
as the ones quoted by NTB?

> The rest of the $625 was for labor (and shop fees and taxes)....and
> there was considerable labor
> because the old ball joints had to (sort of) cut out of the upper
> control arm. (side note: The ball joints normally come as part of
> the upper control arm, and they could have just replaced the whole
> upper control arm (they told me that was an option), but they said it
> would cost more and not even be necessary or better, though i'm
> realizing now that it probably would've been better to replace the
> whole UCA since i'd get a new one at slightly higher cost)....ANYWAY,
> my main question has to do with these markups of parts. Could i have
> just bought the parts myself and have them install? (i'm
> unmechanical) thanks.

It wouldn't be unusual for the shop to refuse installing customer
supplied parts.

In article >,
wrote:

> I have always thought the repair shops get parts at a discount.
> cuhulin

Depends on the parts store.
Many are so desperate for a buck, they'll whore out parts to
walk-ins at or near jobber.

I meant to say that the NTB/MERCHANTS auto repalir place doesn't keep
those parts in stock....They arrive
about 40 minutes after they call someone to order; i assumed they just
order them from the closest autoparts store.

> wrote:
>I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this
>question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm
>wondering how much they typically mark up the parts they order. I
>just went to an NTB/Merchants place for new front upper ball joints on
>my dodge truck. Total cost was about $625. Each ball joint costs
>about $140 on my estimate (and receipt). But i know now that if i
>had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is
>it typical for a 100% markup at these shops?

A lot of the chain places will mark the parts up a lot in order to
compensate for the insanely low labour rates they charge.

But you also should realize parts costs are all over the place, in
part because quality is all over the place. The price for a part from
a dealer may well be twice the price of a cheaply made non-OEM one.

>The rest of the $625 was for labor (and shop fees and taxes)....and
>there was considerable labor
>because the old ball joints had to (sort of) cut out of the upper
>control arm. (side note: The ball joints normally come as part of
>the upper control arm, and they could have just replaced the whole
>upper control arm (they told me that was an option), but they said it
>would cost more and not even be necessary or better, though i'm
>realizing now that it probably would've been better to replace the
>whole UCA since i'd get a new one at slightly higher cost)....ANYWAY,
>my main question has to do with these markups of parts. Could i have
>just bought the parts myself and have them install? (i'm
>unmechanical) thanks.

You could have, but they might have charged you a higher labour rate if
you chose to do that, and you might have wound up with poorer quality
parts. Then again, you might have wound up with better ones too.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

> wrote in message
...
>I have always thought the repair shops get parts at a discount.
> cuhulin

Shops definitely get parts at a discount (wholesale) and they charge you the
retail price (or more). All stores mark up things they sell. Why would you
think a repair shop just charges you wholesale? Many large dealerships also
run wholesale parts operations to sell OEM parts to shops, but the shop is
still going to mark the parts up when they sell them to you - even if they
are installed on your car.

Ed

"Steve B." > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:55:48 -0800, wrote:
>
>>I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this
>>question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm
>>wondering how much they typically mark up the parts they order. I
>>just went to an NTB/Merchants place for new front upper ball joints on
>>my dodge truck. Total cost was about $625. Each ball joint costs
>>about $140 on my estimate (and receipt). But i know now that if i
>>had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is
>>it typical for a 100% markup at these shops?
>
>
> About double is pretty normal. Also consider they don't typically use
> parts from the cheap places... typically they buy from a Napa or
> similar supplier. Some mechanics will let you supply the parts, but
> then you have no warranty so it isn't really worth the risk to me.
>
> Steve B.

Good point - good shops use high quality parts. They cannot afford to
install crap parts and then have to replace them again (at their cost)
becasue the parts were junk. As a mechanic friends says - "Come backs are a
bitch."

Ed

On Nov 14, 10:55 am, "C. E. White" > wrote:
> > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> >I have always thought the repair shops get parts at a discount.
> > cuhulin
>
> Shops definitely get parts at a discount (wholesale) and they charge you the
> retail price (or more). All stores mark up things they sell. Why would you
> think a repair shop just charges you wholesale?

What I wrote in my op is that they're charging around double the
RETAIL price.

> Many large dealerships also
> run wholesale parts operations to sell OEM parts to shops, but the shop is
> still going to mark the parts up when they sell them to you - even if they
> are installed on your car.
>
> Ed

In article >,
C. E. White > wrote:
>
>"Steve B." > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:55:48 -0800, wrote:
>>
>>>I'm used to using the dodge dealer where i bought my truck so this
>>>question never came up. Now that I'm starting to use other shops, i'm
>>>wondering how much they typically mark up the parts they order. I
>>>just went to an NTB/Merchants place for new front upper ball joints on
>>>my dodge truck. Total cost was about $625. Each ball joint costs
>>>about $140 on my estimate (and receipt). But i know now that if i
>>>had gone to an autoparts store, they'd cost about half that. So is
>>>it typical for a 100% markup at these shops?
>>
>> About double is pretty normal. Also consider they don't typically use
>> parts from the cheap places... typically they buy from a Napa or
>> similar supplier. Some mechanics will let you supply the parts, but
>> then you have no warranty so it isn't really worth the risk to me.
>
>Good point - good shops use high quality parts. They cannot afford to
>install crap parts and then have to replace them again (at their cost)
>becasue the parts were junk. As a mechanic friends says - "Come backs are a
>bitch."

We aren't talking about a good shop, we're talking about a tire chain,
the kind of place that considers comebacks as an opportunity to sell
the customer more stuff he doesn't need.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."