Originally Posted by The Wok

You're not counting internal cars. When we don't have a lot of customers, we can stay busy with PDIs and used cars.

But he's right, when flat-rate works out well it works REALLY well. When it doesn't, it really bites you in the ass.

Recent example: had a brake job. Gravy job, 3 hours labor to replace pads/turn rotors. One side done, quick and easy. Second side, bolts are frozen and one breaks off in the caliper. Then we don't have one in (a caliper) in stock. Call Napa, get price, call customer. Wait for customer's reply. They want it (car cannot drive without it; it's stuck in 1 of your 2 bays and you're running around trying to solve the problem.) Call Napa. Napa takes forever to bring it; install it, roll it out. A job that should have taken 30-40 mins tops has now taken a LOT longer, still only pays 3 hours and stopped up the rest of your work because the car was stuck on the lift.

In my experience, the automotive schools are a waste of money. They cost quite a bit and the people coming out of them generally aren't as good as they would've been just getting job experience (and getting paid for it.)