How much does you RV shop charge?

I wouldn't know. In 19 years of camping, I've never taken my trailer(s) to a shop!

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I look at what kind of car the owner drives to work. If it's a 7 series BMW or a 600 series Mercedes, then that tells me a lot.

You would not believe the number of "paper" contractors, driving around in crew cab 4x4 diesels, giving nothing but estimates, with the only wear and tear on the vehicle showing up in and around the drivers seat. Tells you a lot about their values. Also look at the finish of the paint, if it looks like they get their vehicle detailed, run, the other way. A work truck does not have perfect paint.

I look at what kind of car the owner drives to work. If it's a 7 series BMW or a 600 series Mercedes, then that tells me a lot.

rockhillmanor wrote:

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
I do a lot of my own repairs but when I cannot fix it I take it to our local RV shop which does a great job and usually has most needed parts in stock. I had an appointment this morning at 8am to repair my hot water heater. They took it in at 8am as promised and had it repaired and ready for me to leave at 10am. Parts ran just over $40 but they have raised their labor rate to $110 per hour so the labor was $220 plus the $19.95 shop supply charge. (Which we all know is a rip)

I guess you get what you pay for. I got good service in a timely manner but this seems a little high. Just wondering what the going shop rate is now.

STOP using "RV" repair shops!!
They are certainly NOT the only place that can work on a MH.

I've said it before. Call Mobile RV Repair. Find a CG near you and ask the CG owner for the phone number of who they use for mobile RV repair. Yo0u do NOT have to be parked in a CG to have them come out to repair your MH. They will come to your house.

They have every part you will need on board, your RV will be fixed on the spot where you are parked, that very day, and repaired correctly for 1/10th of the cost of what an RV shop will charge you.

That was my first call. I could only find one in our area. He wanted a service call fee of $120 plus mileage and then $85 an hour. If he had to go after parts he charged his hourly rate plus mileage for that. I just politely told him no thanks.

Too much time is billed when no work is done. going and getting parts is one example.our local dealer charges $105 per hour and if you get 1/2 hour work out of that i'd be amazed. I got into an argument about charges and they said they have to pay for electric and telephone and heat etc. I told them that I had the same bills in my buisness and I come to you, so I had the extra expense of truck and fuel. No, I never returned to them.I think I would rather pay a flat rate charge where you know up front what the bill would be and if it goes right for the mechanic they can make some extra money.

randallb wrote:
JnJn,
Your comment on shop supplies tells me that you have no idea what it costs to provide rags, uniforms, sealers, solvents, floor mats, cleaning supplies (for the carpet and other interior clean up) and the myriad of other items that would be much more expensive if billed separately. Different state laws require either a set fee, a percentage of the repair, individual itemization of shop supplies or a choice of all three. Trust me, individually itemized supplies gets much more expensive. An example is brake cleaner, a phenomenal dry cleaning fluid, which retails for $2.99 to $4.99 per can. A uniform which would be billed at $6.00 / day (6 years ago) and rags at approximately .30 each. It would not take long to run up a $30.00 plus shop supplies bill. I tried itemizing my shop supplies for a few days, allowable under my state's law, and the uproar was amazing. I did this primarily as an educational tool and most people were more than happy to pay a set fee.
Randy

My comment was based on my experience running a business. It is called "overhead" and ours was built into our rate.

I would like to know what they did on a HWH that took 2 hours. The ONLY thing that would take 2 hours, was if they had to pull the HWH to repair something behind it or replace a 120 element on an OLD Atwood that had the element in the rear. The MAX labor charge for any work on the outside would be 1 hour. Doug

I found a local shop they charge $75 an hour. I have been pleased with their work. There shop is neat and clean and the guys are very nice to deal with. Being I'm a lady some treat me like I know nothing. I just had to have my towbar worked on. It wouldn't lock in place. They took it apart, cleaned, filed down some rough places, cleaned the bright work with and emery cloth, lubricated etc. He said it was dirty and even had some rust inside it. I bought it used on a towcar and we didn't know it needed serviced. He charged me a whole $80, a new Demco Aluminator is $1045 so I was happy to get it done. They order us parts too, I intend to keep using their service.

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
I do a lot of my own repairs but when I cannot fix it I take it to our local RV shop which does a great job and usually has most needed parts in stock. I had an appointment this morning at 8am to repair my hot water heater. They took it in at 8am as promised and had it repaired and ready for me to leave at 10am. Parts ran just over $40 but they have raised their labor rate to $110 per hour so the labor was $220 plus the $19.95 shop supply charge. (Which we all know is a rip)

I guess you get what you pay for. I got good service in a timely manner but this seems a little high. Just wondering what the going shop rate is now.

STOP using "RV" repair shops!!
They are certainly NOT the only place that can work on a MH.

I've said it before. Call Mobile RV Repair. Find a CG near you and ask the CG owner for the phone number of who they use for mobile RV repair. Yo0u do NOT have to be parked in a CG to have them come out to repair your MH. They will come to your house.

They have every part you will need on board, your RV will be fixed on the spot where you are parked, that very day, and repaired correctly for 1/10th of the cost of what an RV shop will charge you.

I once pulled into a diesel shop to diagnose a faulty hydraulic fan controller. Ironically another Country Coach pulled in at the same time with the same problem. The mechanic worked on both coaches at the same time, spending most of the time waiting to get the engine up to operating temperature while idling (which just wouldn't happen.) While waiting for the temp to rise the mechanic took his lunch. Both coaches were in the shop for 2 hours and the shop tried to charge us both for 2 hours of labor, essentially charging 4 hours of labor in a 2-hour period, including a lunch break. I argued and got the bill reduced.