Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)

Labor rate…………………………………………………$50.00

Building & equipment, Heavy tools and supplies …………...$5.00

Mechanic wages, matching taxes, benefits, uniforms, etc……$25.00

Insurance - Workers compensation, liability, building, etc …$10.00

Advertising…………………………………………………$3.00

Net profit………………………………………………….$3.50

A: There are numerous reasons for this policy, but the 4 most important ones are, Safety, Liability, warranty and profit.

1. Safety: Your service garage will usually use the best quality parts available to them. Most parts are manufactured to meet or exceed the safety standards established by the United States Department of Transportation. In recent years, there was a change in the import laws that have permitted parts to be imported that the manufacturing standards fall far short of meeting these US standards. These parts can fail in service, sometimes with serious consequences.
2. Liability: If the garage permits the use of these parts in a repair procedure, they can, in many cases, be held responsible for the damages, and injuries caused by the failure of the replacement parts.
3. Warranty: The garage is in most cases and most states require replacing the failed parts that they have installed without charges to the vehicle owner. Some state laws even require this if the garage installed customer's own parts. If the garage obtained the part, in many cases the manufacturer will pay a reduced rate labor charge to the garage for replacing the defective part.
4. Profit: A garage purchases the necessary parts at the established wholesale price. They will resell the part to the customer at a suggested retail price. This profit is a necessary part of the profitability of a business enabling them to remain in business.

A: Yes you can ask, but for the same reasons as above, very few garages will use salvage parts. In many cases, good qualities after market new parts are about the same price and sometimes less than salvage parts. The salvage company establishes the price of the part to be 1/2 the price of the full retail price of the comparable part purchased from the new car dealer. Then the garage has to add to that price, the cost of sending an employee to obtain the part and also add a reasonable profit to arrive at the final price to the customer. Often the salvage parts are little if any better than the part being removed from your vehicle.

A: Most garages and service companies warrant their workmanship (labor) for as long as you own the car. The parts warranties vary widely depending the manufacturer and in some cases state and local laws. Most parts carry a minimum warranty of 90 days. Some higher quality and specialty parts carry a lifetime warranty.

A: All vehicles should be inspected. Even a one year old car with 10,000 miles on it, though most likely is a fine vehicle, may well have been severely damaged in an accident or flood and repaired. These repairs may not necessarily be done properly & can cause costly problems in the future.

A: There are a number of options when deficiencies in a vehicle are discovered with the vehicle being inspected. If the problem is severe accident damage, or flood damage, it is recommended that you not purchase the vehicle at all. These two types of damage can cause long term difficulties and repeated excess wear of various components of a vehicle. Many vehicles are competently repaired to like new condition, but many are not and there is no way to be sure which type of repair the vehicle has had performed. If the problems are simply mileage wear problems that create a possible current or near future safety or derivability difficulty, an estimate can be written and then you can negotiate a lower purchase price for the vehicle or have the repairs done before you take delivery of the vehicle.