TITLE: $3,500 a month coastal San Diego, CA autoshop rent vs. $500 San Diego near border ?


Clairemont is mid San Diego, CA and its coastal.

San Ysidro is South San Diego, CA

The 1st shop pays $3,500 a month in rent

The 2nd shop pays $500 a month in rent which is land shared in a hilly area in South San Diego, CA near the Mexican border.

The 1st shop charges $1,092 to repair a coolant leak near a timing chain cover of a 1993 Camaro and to re-seal the upper intake manifold.

The 2nd shop probably will charge $650

The 2nd shop is known to charge $550 to completely rebuild a 4 cylinder engine.

The 2nd shop has been entrusted with Nissan Z super cars and he is often busy.

The 2nd shop is owned by a nice man who charges so little in his auto shop repair costs because of his rent?

Yet English is his second language. He has worked on Camaros'

The 1st dude is American born and likes NASCAR and Dale, Jr.

I mean high prices are usually a good indicator of quality value

The question is...is autoshop rent such a big factor in providing more "reasonable costs" so that do it yourself jobs can be avoided? AND How can you put "faith" into a mechanic that as a member here "Gorn" mentioned does side jobs and can dance around on certain mechanical work around the big shops which charge a whole lot more.

Look at the below from the 1st shop, he has posted he charges $95 per hour in labor as he is probably required to by law.

So has he inflated his hours? In other words a 5 hour job he chalks up as 10 hours?

I mean $1,092 is a lot of money to spend on my 4th Gen's 2 part coolant leak problem, but can I really have confidence in the dude near the border who has roosters on his land, but has lots of customers with 100,000 dollar imports.

Any competent mechanic should easily be able to do the below for a lot less than $1,092; I mean $1,092 --for a Coolant Leak--and we're getting close to the law of depreciating returns and that it's just not worth it for a 4th Gen. Camaro.

Here it is the copy and paste of the written estimate which probably includes auto parts #'s: 1) Labor Service- reseal upper intake manifold $209.00
NEW MS93020 INTAKE MANFLD ST / Engine Intake Manifold Qty: 1, Price: $51.56
NEW 130-1750 WATER PUMP / Engine Water Pump Qty: 1, Price: $75.31

2) Labor Service – remove timing cover and reseal. Replace water pump as well if customer desires to pay (parts only for water pump) $712.50

NEW TCS45827 TIMING COVER ST / Engine Timing Cover Gasket Set Qty: 1, Price: $31.31
Parts: $151.18
Labor: $921.50
Subtotal: $1,079.68
Sales Tax: $12.65
Total: $1,092.33

*after the intake manifold is resealed:…..
When the intake manifold is resealed, the car should sit/not be started for 24 hours to allow seal to "set" or problem can be back again.

 

I mean American sports cars usually are known by American sports car enthusiasts. There are tons of hondas and toyotas on our american roads, so any mechanic regardless of national original or fluency in the english language can work on these imports. but every mechanic knows that the placement of parts on American cars makes them very difficult to work with and its lots of labor. I want to give the Mexican American guy near the border a chance since he is reputable and his rent is cheap so that's why he charges so low. but i also would be willing to pay more to have it done right and done right the 1st time w/o the headache of returning.

 

He owns a shop on the American border nearing Mexico. I'd have to give the job to him I'm leaning more towards. The more inexpensive guy probably does lots of volume and his rent is way lower than average for a repair shop. Since he's on the American side he is probably ASE certified, too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems I'm paying $1092 to repair a coolant leak because the guy who's next to everybody coastal and in mid San Diego has to pay really high rents each month? Anyone have an opinion?

 

word of mouth is the best sort of advertising for repair shops. I have one guy who has faith in him and who brings him cars including $100,000 luxury imports. But essentially, I guess what I want to know is that if all the aforesaid work on an "American" car, that's key, if all the afore written repairs that I wrote above have to be made, can any mechanic do it. Is it an easy fix? If so, I'd take it to more inexpensive mechanic near the border. Quality is important..

*If a lot can go wrong with this type of work, I am willing to pay through the nose to fix it. So, is this a job that any mechanic can do without a lot going wrong?

 

You are reading WAY too much into the whole rent thing. Rent is a relatively small factor in overhead. The cost of tools, equipment and employees are all much more a factor. Assume there is an average of 160 working hours in a month.

Over head due to rent.
1092/160= $6.83 Per hour overhead Cost.
500/160= $3.13 Pre hour overhead Cost

So even with a 25% margin the difference between the shops would only be $4.63 per hour. But that assumes only 1 mechanic in each shop. To put that into perspective if a one man shop has a girl at the counter that can add $30 per hour. Equipment lease/payment and constant computer updates could be another $10 per hour. This why it is tuff for a one man shop to be competitive. When you add a second mechanic overhead gets cut in half.

Either shop could be great or complete rip off. I would go to the better equipped and better trained shops. I have run into the self taught cheap overhead guys that are very good but they tend not to consult manuals and would not have all the correct tooling to do the job right. It has also been my experience the hard work self taught guy is less likely to knowingly rip you off but more likely to unknowingly do the job wrong.
You cannot go by he rebuilt a motor for $550, because no he did not. He may have repaired a damaged motor but a rebuild includes way too many out sourced costs. The valve job, the hot tanking and pressure testing of the block and heads for crack and install new freeze plugs and then buy the ring/bearing /timing chain/ gasket kit/oil pump alone will be over $550. I have been told by guys the top half of the motor was rebuilt for $1500 then when I look at the receipt you find out it had head gaskets replaced. People just assume if the motor is a part it is rebuilt. There is a joke among mechanics. It is the term “rebuild in a can”. That can is a can of paint. Someone pulls a motor replaces the gasket and paints the motor, Its rebuilt!

On some FWD 4 cylinder the head and oil pan come off easy. You pop the pistons out and you put in rings and bearings and call it rebuilt. This is why a FWD guy can install a turbo kit and upgrade his engine in a weekend and it takes us weeks.

 

Oops, $1,092 is what the 1st shop is going to charge for the repair. His rent is $3,500.
$3500/160 = $21.87 per hour just to cover rent. So yes, rent difference alone does play a big part in his overhead, $18.75 per hour more than the other guy.

 

But the biggest contributing factor is labor costs to the shop owner.
Here, the median base wage for an ASE mechanic is $48k. Add to that his benefits (social security, 401k, disability, healthcare, pension, and time off), the mechanic is making $70k, which comes to $33.65 per hour. That's average, a well established mechanic in a busy money making shop can easily be getting $100k. That's here, but cost of living in California is way more than IL, so shop 1 could be paying more than this.
Compare to shop 2. Is this a one man shop, or does he employ mechanics too? Being so close to the Mexican border, his staff might not even be U.S. citizens, and likely they aren't getting benefits either, nor nowhere near the hourly wage that shop 1 is paying.
So this explains why the big labor rate gap between the two.
You have to go to whichever place makes you more comfortable. It sounds like both places have good reputations. Do both offer a warranty in writing?

 

Sorry read that wrong. $3500 would be a crazy number for a one man shop. Comparing rent of two shops that have different amount of employees is useless calculation. A large dealership may have a 25k a month rent but if he has 50 mechanics then it $500 of overhead per mechanic. I did know one guy that used to rent out bays, kind of like a barber would rent a chair. He would split the money with the mechanic 50/50. I assume the low price guy is a real licensed business?

I have 3 friends that own shops. One is a one man shop. He does not like to take on large jobs for 2 reasons. One he is putting all his eggs in one basket and if the customer does not pick up the car or can't pick it up for a few weeks he is screwed for cash. Second if the job comes back because of a mistake or a defective part he is not getting paid for doing it a second time. Poor guy has worked 12 hour days since we graduated in 1987.

Sometimes shop that don't want to do larger jobs quote it high assuming you will just take it elsewhere. Some smaller shops with self taught guys believe torque wrenches are optional and know nothing about torque wrench calibration. Keep in mind there is a reason the more expensive guy is in business.

 

This is the most greatest line from Gorn on this particular thread/post, "It has also been my experience the hard work self taught guy is less likely to knowingly rip you off but more likely to unknowingly do the job wrong."

I have seen good mobile locksmiths (REFERRED BY A TOP-RATE TRANSMISSION SHOP) pull off my hazard button while successfully replacing my ignition lock replacement & give me a new GM code key and leave the hazard buttom for me to haphazardly find. 7 days later.

I didn't see walls of books like from Chilton, but he has probably seen lots of American cars.


Just like in plastic surgery, you go to the guy who specializes in hair transplants, and has done thousands of them, not the dude who does breast jobs and nose jobs and also hair transplants for an inexpensive price.

I'm waiting on a return text to see if the mechanic near the border has had 'Vette '71 Stingrays on his lot or other similar classic American sports cars.

But I AM SUPER LEANING tOWARDS haVING the guy who may over charge but who won't make a mistake do it here in local San Diego. Thanks everyone.

 

*i WOULD look at the overcharge as establishing a relationship with a trusty competent second mechanic in local San Diego. I already have one. The next time he will be more receptive towards me on advice and stuff. So this $1,092 is an educated investment on building a relationship with a 2nd Go - To Local Qualified Mechanic.