Originally Posted by
JROW
There is a system, flat rate manuals, independant shops use them too. They have smaller costs and bottom line so they have a lower labor rate. It's just like any other business. Go build yourself a 4 million dollar shop, hire 6-7 certified technicians, buy all the latest state of the art equipment, and then charge customers 1 hour, at an independant shops rate, to do a water pump when the manuals call for 5. See how long your business lasts.
At the dealership level, if I remember correctly, the money is made in sales... selling cars keeps the doors open. The service department gets the majority of their customers via warranty work. That right there pays for the overhead etc. etc.
Now maybe the customer-pay segment is just too small for the dealer to give a shit and they do just fine off of warranty work. But it'd be interesting to actually analyze the numbers. My huntch is that if you moved to a direct bill system vs. flat rate and were competitve on parts prices then you could grow the business.