Shop rates

[Musclerodz]

I think Steve Cook here in OKC is around $40 hr for body and general work, but open ended. It is as high as $65+ for major high end fab work here. Funny I was just thinking about this earlier this evening since I am hoping to open an install center later this summer. Hey, Foose is only $70/hr or was, times how many employees, open ended.

Mike

[Sales@Dutchboys]

55$ for us up here in Michigan

[CraigMorrison]

Originally Posted by Steve1968LS2

$65-$75 is normal around here.. $125 per hour for the high end shops...

Hey, it's the expensive rent

That's about what the shops charge around here. Some of our higher end dealers are in the $100-125hr zone.

[way2lo2]

Here in sunny Cleveland Ohio, our basic labor rate is $60 for fab or mechanical, which by the way is the same rate its been since opening my shop in '93, and $40 for body and paint. Some of the smaller jobs are quoted by the job since the normal Joe wants to know exactly what his bill will be when he comes pick up his car. I still find myself under billing the customer, I always feel guilty for charging for the little things that take time, the phone calls to part suppliers, chasing down elusive parts, running to powdercoaters, etc or just doing a little extra to make the finished product more trick. Its getting harder and harder to stay in business these days, I found myself writing checks for some sort of taxation weekly, or at least it seems this way. I have the best crew we've had since opening up 14 years ago and most weeks my guys make more then me. I still find for where I'm at, if I charge any more then where the rate is now I might not have any more work. You should see the looks people give me when I quote them 10-12k to disassemble the trim and sheetmetal, strip, do minor bodywork and paint a midsize car. Everyone wants quality but 90% don't want to pay for it. The days of a nice $2500 paint job are over, actually I don't think those days were in my lifetime anyways. My $.02.
Boris

[Blake Foster]

WE charge 65-70 and alot of the jobs are open ended..... we will try to give the guy a "Estimate" but i can gaurentee something will change during the build and it will cost more. i have herd that we are even a little low.

[Rick D]

We are at $65.00 an hr. We try to give an up front estimate as to the final cost but until you get in to the job you never know for sure. We are/were toying with going up (just got the TAX bill) on hourly rate but will see. We have a bunch of qutoes out there so for now it will stay where it's at Maybe. The biggest thing I see other shops losing money on is the cost of their paint and material. You can not use good materials and paint a hole car for $2500.00 to $3000.00. I have a 79 Malibu race car we are doing right now (painting it Prowler Orange) cool color. Cost for just the color only is $377.00 a gallon. That dose not include reducer, or clear coat or primer or sandpaper or tape. I could go on and on but you get my point. The guys that I feel get the real shaft are Collision shops. If they aren't on top of their guys than can lose alot on cash real fast.

[kennyd]

Originally Posted by badrs69

We are at $65.00 an hr. We try to give an up front estimate as to the final cost but until you get in to the job you never know for sure. We are/were toying with going up (just got the TAX bill) on hourly rate but will see. We have a bunch of qutoes out there so for now it will stay where it's at Maybe. The biggest thing I see other shops losing money on is the cost of their paint and material. You can not use good materials and paint a hole car for $2500.00 to $3000.00. I have a 79 Malibu race car we are doing right now (painting it Prowler Orange) cool color. Cost for just the color only is $377.00 a gallon. That dose not include reducer, or clear coat or primer or sandpaper or tape. I could go on and on but you get my point. The guys that I feel get the real shaft are Collision shops. If they aren't on top of their guys than can lose alot on cash real fast.

the paint and materials in a big collision shop even-out over a period of time . our collision shop is 15k sq feet , 15 pepole , 2mil plus .
we average a 25% profit on paint and materials .
our labor rate is 42hr plus 26 hr for materials and 2hr materials on body labor . most insurance companys in the area pay 42 hr ( excpet the one travis works for )
the streetrod shop , we estimate bid by the job , but they change . we fiqure $40 a hr . the reason we dont have a labor rate of $100 a hr like cali is because we dont have high overhead .

[kennyd]

Originally Posted by Musclerodz

I think Steve Cook here in OKC is around $40 hr for body and general work, but open ended. It is as high as $65+ for major high end fab work here. Funny I was just thinking about this earlier this evening since I am hoping to open an install center later this summer. Hey, Foose is only $70/hr or was, times how many employees, open ended.

Mike

steve cook rocks ! he is the most underrated builder in the us !

[TravisB]

Originally Posted by kennyd

the paint and materials in a big collision shop even-out over a period of time . our collision shop is 15k sq feet , 15 pepole , 2mil plus .
we average a 25% profit on paint and materials .
our labor rate is 42hr plus 26 hr for materials and 2hr materials on body labor . most insurance companys in the area pay 42 hr ( excpet the one travis works for )
the streetrod shop , we estimate bid by the job , but they change . we fiqure $40 a hr . the reason we dont have a labor rate of $100 a hr like cali is because we dont have high overhead .

NATIONWIDE were on your side.

I just cut the rates when it goes to your collision shop.....lol.