I managed a meineke car care for 2 years I know exactly what you mean! I can't tell you how many people would take advantage of our free inspections and try to fix it on their own. Made alot of money off of people like that.

A good mechanic is worth every penny they cost. I like to do my own work because it's cheaper, but when it comes to troubleshooting a late model vehicle the professionals are much better and faster.

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My wife was in & out of surgery in 15 minutes, the doc charged me $38k, next time maybe I should just Google on how to do the surgery. Time to sharpen my knives.

More like pay 15k for a bandaid

LOL! A man that understands! Your field is your field and mine is mine. I'll pay you for what you need for yours...You'll pay me for what I need for mine. Fair trade.

What I don't understand is why body shop rate is so much lower than mechanical rate, more hazardous than a mechanic & plus some jobs require the same skill as a mechanic. What is your take on this southern151?

Where its different is no two wrecks are the same. Our technology has no plug in repair available. It's years of practice that refine our skill. I'd never say collision is harder or better than mechanical.

Bottom line, our rates are lower but, our flag hours are typically higher. In short, we can make time on our hours rather than break even. Also, if our rates were the same as mechanical rates, there would be a lot more totalled vehicles due to percentages. Really, I don't want our rates too much higher or, we'll be losing them all to salvage yards.