Yeah probably trouble for dishonest mechanics. But maybe an asset for legit ones? I think some customers feel they are being ripped off, even when they aren't. So this could be used positively by both sides.

I think it is an asset for legit ones. Just this morning my battery light came on, and when I went to the repair shop I was told I needed a new alternator, and it would cost $400. I thought that was high, but didn't have any data to back it up (and was stuck at the shop without a working car), so I went ahead with the repair. I initially felt like I was taken, but this site says a new alternator for my car should cost $400 - $600, so now I actually feel good about the purchase (and the garage).

The mechanic will tell you, "Fine. Go to the average costing mechanic then." At that point it will be up to you to find him.

A busy mechanic will give higher quotes because he doesn't need your business. His worker utilization is high, and that is what drives his profits. Markup on parts is small, if not zero. Taking on the extra work means he has to bring a guy in on Saturday, usually his best and highest paid one, and pay overtime.

Now the idle mechanic knows the market rate and will quote that or lower, based on how much he needs the work. But there is a reason that he is idle.

I was parts manager at a six-bay auto shop for over a year and our parts markup was 30%. (Springfield, Missouri.)

The first and third paragraphs are right on, btw.

Internet research is grand and all, but if you don't want to get ripped by your mechanic try going to the same one for a few years and getting to know the guy. Go to a local shop and chat the guy up, do not go to a Jiffy Lube where s stoner fills out a questionnaire on a computer and reads back to what it says.

Very interesting. I am in Massachusetts. I worked in an auto body shop for several years growing up. Parts markup for auto body work is 0% in Massachusetts. The insurance companies have books that list cost of parts, and labor times to repair/replace. You don't get any more, and you might get less because of overlap. The labor rate paid by insurance companies is fixed here, too.

For mechanics or other non-insurance work, they can charge what they want, but their prices always end up below retail. If there is markup, it isn't much. It costs me less money to pay someone to change my oil than it would if I bought the oil and filter myself.

That's the thing, though. If he's within a reasonable range, then ok. If he's way outside that range you should take a pause and consult someone else. It's just a sanity check on the mechanic, like calling a friend or another shop.

I had a great mechanic for a while who I could trust, but at some point he retired and sold his shop to someone new. I ended up with a problem that seemed to be getting into the thousands of dollars range. Is he right? Is he lying/taking me for a ride? Is he being lazy? I'm a pretty technical guy, but I don't know everything about the ins and outs of auto mechanics.

I told him to wait, and after a few calls to car-friends and a dealership I could call him back and have him take me through the problem again. My goal wasn't to 'trap' him, but now that I knew enough I could see what he looked at, what he thought the problem/options were, etc.

I ended up taking the car to a different mechanic, not because the first was lying to me, but because it was clear that he didn't have enough knowledge about my type of car. It ended up being a cheap part and a quirk with the car's computer.

I later told the other mechanic (in a friendly manner) and he was genuinely surprised, and offered me a discount in the future if I ever needed anything else.

A customer waiving their iPhone around is probably a pretty good way to show that they don't know anything about car repair and are bad at negotiating. That's probably not going to work out so well for them...