Our blog this week is about labor rates and how they can be misleading to say the least. When people call around to auto repair shops they sometimes want to know what a shops t labor rate is because this is the only way they know how to differ between shops instead of warranty or quality of the work and parts.  A labor rate is defined by a set time to do a job in a manual that’s set up by a facility that takes cars apart and sets a time that a good mechanic can perform a certain job. They can differ a lot between the companies that set the times up and what it really takes. Sometimes they are way too low and sometimes too high. A good honest shop will take that into consideration and adjust accordingly most of the time, but there are some out there that have a progressive labor rate. These misleading rates are say $100/hr when somebody calls and asks and it can go up from there for each additional hour so say 1 hr is $100/hr and hour 2 is $105/hr and hour 3 is $110 per hour but they only tell people it’s $100/hr  when they call and ask. I know this is done at dealerships my friends have worked at. Some shops will say $50/hr and charge 4 hours for 2.5 hour job also which is still misleading. So in the end make sure you trust the shop and they have a good warranty on parts and labor. At Carnage Off Road we have an available  lifetime warranty on parts and labor depending on the job and our labor rate is competitive with all other shops with no funny business going on about it.

Well this is my first blog ever so bear with me! I want to talk about maintenance on your Rubicon Trail rig or Placerville daily driver. Maintenance is important on both types of vehicles and is a crucial part of not braking down. People seem to think that maintenance schedules are made just to make extra money for the dealerships or independent shops like Carnage Off Road Truck & SUV Repair.

This really is not the case at all. It is a way to insure your vehicle components are looked at and replaced before they leave you stranded on the trail or the side of the highway 50! Timing belt intervals are there so you don’t ruin your engine. I’ve seen my fair share of ruined engines due to timing belt failure. Fluids don’t last forever and components wear just like your tires wear which you can see. It is so much more hastle, time and money to brake, get towed, diagnosed and fixed than it is to do some preventative maintenance.

If your on the trail and your worn cv joint or axle joint brakes, it can cause you a whole trip and your buddies are pissed at you. Some shops are not so honest which makes us all look bad, but most shops are very honest and make up for the poor dealerships and shady shops. So if your putting off maintenance because of money or you think it’s not important please reconsider because it is important and you’ll thank me later!

Next week we will talk about shop labor rates and how it’s not always what it sounds like.

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