First step to prevent getting ripped off in auto repairs is to understand the fees to fix a car, car repair estimate or an invoice.

It is important to understand the industry definition for commonly used words in an invoice or an estimate:

Aftermarket Parts: parts that are not made by or for the manufacturer.

MSRP: retail price

OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer. Manufacturer approved parts designed specifically for your vehicle.

Flat Fees: services such as alignments that do not get into parts, tax, labor disaggregated

Miscellaneous Charges: these can include, but are not limited to shop supplies – rags, chemicals, hazardous waste disposal fees, waste oil, etc. …

Labor costs: Repairs Shop hourly fee service your vehicle

Established labor time: the time or hour, it will be correct in your vehicle

Labor Description: The Step-by-step written details of repairs and / or services

TSB: Technical Service Bulletins. Information and instructions of the manufacturer for known and specific concerns provided they (can not remember) himself.

Now let us look at the information which is required or provided in an estimate

There are six basic components to a car repair estimate

1) Customer / Vehicle Information

2) Parts

3) Labor Charges

4) Miscellaneous Charges

5) Apartment Fees

6) Summary of charges

Customer and vehicle information
This is quite simple. Basically the top portion contains your personal data and characteristics of your vehicle: year, make, model, mileage … etc, as well as your request or concern.

Car Parts
Parts are listed usually with a short description and the quantity and price. There are three types of parts: OEM (parts by or on behalf of a manufacturer). These are the parts installed by a dealer, although many local shops use OEM parts.

Aftermarket parts are non-OEM parts, and there are different degrees of quality, depending on the brand and where they’re made – China against the United States, for example.

Then they used parts purchased from a salvage Yard.

To determine if you are paying too much for the parts, first find out, what kinds of parts are used? With OEM parts, you do not want to pay more than MSRP, although most people do without realizing it. Premium aftermarket parts are also from the best brands, but do not cost more than MSRP and should be lower than OEM parts. Used Parts prices are all over the place, so choose the prices in the middle.

Auto Repair Labor

The work is set in tenths of a bill. So 1.0 equals 1Hour. 1.5 corresponds to an hour and a half.
Labor costs of $ 60 to $ 100 per hour at local repair shops and $ 80 to $ 140 per hour at the dealer level. Labor hours are dependent on the established industry guidelines, which are often misused.

When you see the shop labor rate posted on the car repair invoice, ask your service center for the speed. Workshops are able to manipulate the labor rate (among others) with a labor matrix. Matrix quantities are a complex and ethically questionable practice. What you need to know if you paid as high as $ 150 per hour, rather than the posted labor rate of $ 105 per hour due to ‘low’ speed of repair.

You may want to multiply the number of hours billed (which is also often not posted) by the work of the workshop rate to determine whether you have been charged accordingly.

Most of the work descriptions are poorly written and difficult to understand. To ask questions.

Here is a “clear” job description is for a 30,000 mile-service on a Toyota Camry.

Performed 30,000 miles on customer service and in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications. Changed oil and filter change, installed new air filter, cabin filter and performed all necessary checks, controls and procedures, including the road test (miles 30,123 – 30,125). Performed lubrication services and confirmed proper operation of the vehicle. Set tire pressure, and checked fluids, belts and hoses. Note: car pulls slightly to the left. Needs Alignment

Miscellaneous Charges

These costs may include, but are not limited to, shop supplies – rags, chemicals, hazardous waste disposal fees, waste oil, etc. … The latter can be charged separately in a summary at the end of your repair bill.

Flat Fees

Flat Fees can be another area very difficult. Flat Fees are services such as an orientation, not to get broken down into parts, tax and labor reform. This makes it difficult to identify the real and fair price. On the positive side, most flat fees are competitively priced.

Be warned, however, another term for Flat Fee is called Menu Selling. In other words, you might see Tune Up: $ 99.99 or Transmission Flush: $ 89.99. You need to confirm that the shop will actually provide the service based on the car manufacturer recommendation and not their own menu.

Summary of charges

The last part of an automatic repair estimate is the summary of the facts. It is found usually in the lower right corner of the invoice. Check against the fees to ensure that it all adds up mathematically, as well logically.

We hope that by following above steps, you wil be able to get an estimate which is realistic and more accurate!

Bookmark to:

Our press release!

In today’s economy, auto repair shops are struggling to get new customers to their shops and retain their existing customers. Additionally, with the high cost of advertising, they are finding it difficult to promote their shops and share any special deals or discounts they want to offer to their customers. To solve this problem and to help auto repair shops reach new customers, Prundo.com (http://www.prundo.com) has launched its auto repair shop portal, which allows all auto repair shops to share their shop details and coupons, special offers/deals with their targeted customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“Auto repair shops spend over $800 per month to promote their shops through printed media, online advertising and other direct mail options. However, all these channels have a big disadvantage of not being able to reach the target customers efficiently and cost-effectively. Prundo.com fills in this gap by providing an online portal, which allows the shops to display their car repair prices, coupons, special offers and deals, whenever the customer is looking for such deals,” said Alka Gupta, CEO of Prundo.com. “As Prundo.com is exclusively targeting auto repair customers, the auto repair shops can reach their targeted audience cost effectively”.

Auto repair shops can register themselves at ( http://www.prundo.com/station_register.php ) and input their auto repair shops details. After registering, auto repair shops can access following great features:

1.    Display Service Station Details: Each shop gets its own unique page with details such as address, phone number, directions, affiliation, working hours, services provided, prices and special offers.

2.    Add/ delete/modify services and offers 24 x 7: Shops can display and change the services and prices directly through their account 24 x7. No need for spending money on reprinting their promotion material.

3.    Easily create coupons from multiple templates: Prundo.com offers free coupon templates which can be easily customized for each auto repair shop.

4.    Free submission to popular online classified websites: Prundo.com submits auto shop details for free to various classified ads for greater visibility of the auto repair shops.

5.    Display Coupons: Shops can display between two to unlimited number of coupons on the website.

Prundo is offering all of the above great features through three subscription models (http://www.prundo.com/station_register.php). They are also offering special promotion of one free month with monthly membership and two free months with annual membership!

About Prundo: Prundo.com , located in Irvine California, is based on a patent pending concept, to make auto repairs easier and cheaper for both, their customers and the auto repair shops. Customers can view and download money saving coupons for brake, tire, oil change and over 30 other routine maintenance and auto repairs needs. Auto repair shops can reach their targeted customers easily and cost effectively through their own auto repair shop portal.

Bookmark to:

Annual event proves the economic and environmental impact of car sharing; underscores added health benefits of a low-car lifestyle

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., /PRNewswire/ — Zipcar, the world’s largest car-sharing service, today announced the results of the 2009 Low-Car Diet, in which more than 250 people around the globe gave up their car for a month, from July 15 – August 15, 2009. After this year’s annual program, 100 participants noted that they planned to stay car-free, compared to 83 who made that same commitment after last year’s Low-Car Diet.

The key findings from this year’s 2009 Low-Car Diet include:

• Economic Impact
  • Respondents spent 67 percent less on vehicle-related costs compared to the previous month when they were driving their personally owned cars

• Environmental Impact
  • 59 percent of the participants reported that the Low-Car Diet encouraged them to make other environmentally friendly changes in their life such as recycling, eating more organic foods and reducing their at-home energy usage (e.g. turning off lights and air conditioning)
  • Participants took 74 percent fewer trips by car and reduced overall vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) by 66 percent
  • Low-Car Dieters also doubled their public transit ridership with a 98 percent increased use of public transportation

• Health Benefits
  • Participants walked 93 percent more and biked 132 percent more, logging a combined total of 8,060 miles by bike during the Low-Car Diet month
  • 47 percent Low-Car Dieters reported losing weight; a total amount of 413 pounds were lost during the program

“Once again, the Low Car Diet results emphasize our mission to enable simple and responsible urban living,” said Scott Griffith, chairman and CEO of Zipcar. “We congratulate this year’s Low-Car Dieters and honor their ability to apply a ’smart consumption’ mindset to their daily lives – ultimately impacting their own wallets, health and communities.”

The Healthy Side of Car Sharing

Since many 2008 Low-Car Dieters highlighted the health benefits of last year’s program, this year, Zipcar decided to weigh up these findings. As a result, Zipcar confirmed what last year’s Low-Car Dieters suggested – the program helped Low-Car Dieters to shed pounds and adopt a healthier lifestyle. As they walked and biked – to work, to public transit, to the store, to run errands, to a friend’s place, or sometimes just to be active – Low-Car Diet participants reported feeling healthier, losing weight and having more energy throughout the day.

Participants were encouraged to tap into the health benefits of living without a car by key sponsors and editorial partners who generously supported this year’s Low-Car Diet. Montague Corporation provided an innovative folding bike to one participant in each city; HealthCentral provided fitness and nutrition experts to consult with participants at regional kick-off events; and bloggers from EverydayHealth in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle participated in the Low-Car Diet, sharing their experiences and creating a dialogue.

Two Low-Car Dieters – Evan and Michelle Judson, a married couple with two children, from Portland, Oregon – took their experience to heart, hoping to prove that if they could succeed, anyone could. As a result, they lost a collective 15 pounds and are selling two cars. “We’ve both lost weight, saved money and our children are learning a car-free lifestyle early on, so deciding to sell our two cars was a no-brainer,” said Michelle Judson.

To learn more about participants in the 2009 Low-Car Diet, and to read their blog posts from the past month, please visit zipcar.com/lowcardiet.

About the 2009 Low-Car Diet

Zipcar’s Low-Car Diet is an annual program that gives urban residents the opportunity to try out a car-free lifestyle for one month. Beginning July 15th, more than 250 people in cities in the U.S., Canada and London, gave up their personally owned car for one month, choosing instead to walk, bike, take public transit or Zipcar as necessary. The 2009 Low-Car Diet was supported by national sponsors and editorial partners, including Montague Corporation, HealthCentral.com and EverydayHealth.com.

More information is available at zipcar.com/lowcardiet.

Bookmark to: