Question for actual jeep technicians

[Bill paulins]

I’m a retired tech with 40 years experience and I can confirm that techs are paid flat rate so if a job pays 4.0 hours then that’s what it pays regardless of how long it takes you

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[BXFXJeep]

Next time you (not a specific you, but a general you) get an estimate for repairs, swing by a place that sells tools. Deduct the part price from the total estimate, then spend that much, or some percentage of that, on tools. Do that once or twice, and you may never have to spend money at a repair shop again.

There is a huge difference between ripping people off, and fair trade practices.

The reason dealerships can get away with like this is because they lobby your favorite representative to make laws to allow them to rip off the general public, no other business can operate like this, and stay in business, but they just happen to have the government in their pockets.

No one want people to work for cheap, but ripping off the public, and providing service is unacceptable, and unethical behaviour.

I'm lucky I have a couple of competent decent mechanics I've used over the years, that is the the reason I very rarely ever went back to the dealership for anything, I do what I can, what I can't do, and I take it to them for their expertise, and expensive tools, and pay them what they ask, they never seem to rip me off though, strange that.

I take my vehicle, they give their price I pay, I don't haggle.

Dealership model is based ripping off people plain and simple, from the sales, to service, and parts as some suggested here it seems.

For parts I just search online and call around for the best price, then have a friend buy them for me at a trade discount.

The problem for most people is they don't have access to good mechanics.

The first couple of years of car ownership I used dealers etc, I quickly figured out that is not the route to go.

As for mechanics unsatisfied with their compensation/job, perhaps find another job, I've never understood why people stay in a job where they are not 100% satisfied, and worse use it as an excuse to provide substandard work.

Of course dealerships don't want to do warranty work, when they can rip off a customer with a $1,000 easy unnecessary service job, one they can't even do proper either.

 

[AcesandEights]

There is a huge difference between ripping people off, and fair trade practices.

The reason dealerships can get away with like this is because they lobby your favorite representative to make laws to allow them to rip off the general public, no other business can operate like this, and stay in business, but they just happen to have the government in their pockets.

No one want people to work for cheap, but ripping off the public, and providing service is unacceptable, and unethical behaviour.

I'm lucky I have a couple of competent decent mechanics I've used over the years, that is the the reason I very rarely ever went back to the dealership for anything, I do what I can, what I can't do, and I take it to them for their expertise, and expensive tools, and pay them what they ask, they never seem to rip me off though, strange that.

I take my vehicle, they give their price I pay, I don't haggle.

Dealership model is based ripping off people plain and simple, from the sales, to service, and parts as some suggested here it seems.

For parts I just search online and call around for the best price, then have a friend buy them for me at a trade discount.

The problem for most people is they don't have access to good mechanics.

The first couple of years of car ownership I used dealers etc, I quickly figured out that is not the route to go.

As for mechanics unsatisfied with their compensation/job, perhaps find another job, I've never understood why people stay in a job where they are not 100% satisfied, and worse use it as an excuse to provide substandard work.

Of course dealerships don't want to do warranty work, when they can rip off a customer with a $1,000 easy unnecessary service job, one they can't even do proper either.

Not sure why you quoted me, was their a point to your post, relative to mine? Are you trying to say you don't like owning your own tools or something?

 

[Trails]

I suggest if you don't do your own wrenching, find a good service department and service advisor, form a good professional relationship and when the situation warrants, don't be shy about offering a fair tip!

Do you mean tip the service advisor or the tech? Or both?

 

[Jeep Wick]

It is my understanding that you technicians hate doing warranty work because you always get screwed out of your hours. Jeep will say it takes four hours to make this repair when in reality it takes six, but you only get paid for four hours of work

I am going to schedule my clutch replacement recall for my 2022 manual Wrangler. My question is this, how many hours is Jeep paying you for versus how many hours it actually takes to do the replacement. Also, what is your hourly rate?

I am asking because I want to cover the difference, maybe pull the technician aside and give him some cash for the difference under the table with the hopes that he will not try and rush through the job and do it poorly.

I am not looking for responses that say don’t get it done. Don’t let Jeep touch your car put in a Centerforce clutch put in a ACT clutch. I can’t do this for many reasons number one being I don’t have $3000 to drop on a new clutch install. I am just looking for a JEEP technician to tell me how much money they will most likely lose by doing this warranty repair so I can cover the difference

EDIT: I keep seeing a lot of the same comment talking about how the technicians get paid. I could be wrong about JEEP, but how it was explained to me for warranty work is, Yes they are paid by the job. However, there is a time limit on that job that the manufacturer will set, take the clutch for example to replace it, they will allow say 4 hours but in reality it’s simply impossible to do it in less than six hours so the max they will be paid is four hours yet it took them six. Now, a customer came in the customer is billed for however long that Job took to do there is no time limit. But for warranty work it’s very different and from what I am told the manufacturers 100% of the time will undercut the job on how long it takes to do and the technicians hate doing warranty work because they’re essentially going to be working for free. And my plan was to try and figure out how long they will be working for free and make sure that they don’t and they are paid for their time if the manufacturer is not going to do it then I will do it because it’s the right thing to do

A couple hundred dollars to the tech is not going to guarantee the job gets done right. I get that you don't want to spend money on a clutch, but the replacement parts are not confidence inspiring from what we've seen. Neither are the techs.
You want to find someone reputable, and odds are that guy doesn't work at any of the dealers. If you find him, let us know. Hell, half the guys on the forum are probably better mechanics.

 

[4xFUN]

Do you mean tip the service advisor or the tech? Or both?

Both can't hurt, often I tip the tech and give the service advisor a nice bottle of his favorite spirits...

This is just for warranty work, I do all my own wrenching.

 

[58Willys]

I generally flag 60-70 hours a week here,.....

Good to hear that, Ive been wondering if a good tech could do that.

 

[Spartan99]

I have an enormous amount of respect for career techs. I went to school for it, got ASE certified, dabbled as a tech and after a few months threw in the towel and changed careers. You have to be smart as hell to make a living as a tech.

 

[calemasters]

just a wild guess but im pretty sure surgeons are not hourly…

I had triple coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The procedure took 3 hours. The surgeon started the procedure at 11:00 a.m. At noon he punched out for lunch. He returned at 1:30 p.m. and finished the operation. He only charged me for the 3 hours labor, plus materials and O.R. fees.

Several years ago, I did Labor Time Guide studies for a large automotive corporation based in Detroit. The studies were done with hand tools (no power tools) and every operation was timed. A 0.2 hour increase was added to the time study time to allow for the tech to bring the car in from the lot, obtain parts from the parts department, etc. If a dealer tech felt the warranty labor time was incorrect, we would repeat the study and adjust the time, if needed.

In general, the warranty labor rate ($/hour), is an agreement between the manufacturer and the dealer. It is typically based on competitive labor rates in the dealer's market area, or in some states, the same rate that the dealer charges the retail customer. The retail customer labor rate can be different than the warranty rate. The dealer can charge the retail customer whatever he decides . But the dealer should not price himself out of business.

 

[hilljumper]

I have an enormous amount of respect for career techs. I went to school for it, got ASE certified, dabbled as a tech and after a few months threw in the towel and changed careers. You have to be smart as hell to make a living as a tech.

and you aren't?

 

[alphawolff]

and you aren't?

A lot of career technicians aren't able to grasp the higher ends of diagnosis, especially electrical and modern diagnostic scan tool use. No different than people not being able to use a computer efficiently. Almost all of them have a strong set of mechanical skills, though. They can diagnose and repair a suspension concern all day long, rip an interior apart, swap engines, etc, but they're unable to perform loss of communication diagnosis.

Everyone in this field generally has a unique skill set that works well for the work they desire. The guy next to me does interior work, and the guy next to him does all the suspension/alignment work. The guy across from me does engines and other heavy line work. I do the electrical and drivability issues(CELs). You don't need to be great at everything to make good money in this field. I diagnose and give work to the other guys all the time because I know they'll get it done in a fraction of the time it'd take me, and vice versa

As someone who has all 8 primary ASEs including the L1 advanced certification, they're honestly useless for actual knowledge expression. They're just things to help you get your foot in the door at a higher base rate, rather than an indication of skill.

 

[hilljumper]

A lot of career technicians aren't able to grasp the higher ends of diagnosis, especially electrical and modern diagnostic scan tool use. No different than people not being able to use a computer efficiently. Almost all of them have a strong set of mechanical skills, though. They can diagnose and repair a suspension concern all day long, rip an interior apart, swap engines, etc, but they're unable to perform loss of communication diagnosis.

Everyone in this field generally has a unique skill set that works well for the work they desire. The guy next to me does interior work, and the guy next to him does all the suspension/alignment work. The guy across from me does engines and other heavy line work. I do the electrical and drivability issues(CELs). You don't need to be great at everything to make good money in this field. I diagnose and give work to the other guys all the time because I know they'll get it done in a fraction of the time it'd take me, and vice versa

As someone who has all 8 primary ASEs including the L1 advanced certification, they're honestly useless for actual knowledge expression. They're just things to help you get your foot in the door at a higher base rate, rather than an indication of skill.

Interesting. OK. Specialization. Makes sense.

 

[JL_Noob_22]

And to think I thought the point of a warranty was so *I* don't have to pay for the repair.

My Jeep is sill under warranty, but I typically drive a lot of miles so I'm usually looking at the warranty in the rearview mirror. I've been fortunate that after driving for over 40 years, I've had a warranty claim exactly four times.

For the past 20 years I've done my own wrenching whenever I can because the warranty is long gone, and I don't trust many others to do it. A few times I've run into something I can't (or don't want) to handle and when that happens I take my vehicles to a local independent shop. I know a lot of people think somehow dealer techs are better, but as has been said, many are disgruntled leading to lesser quality of work or they leave for greener pastures, like an indy shop.

I'd say if you're paying, take it to a reputable indy shop. Otherwise, find a local Jeep club with members willing to help you do it yourself if you don't know how,

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