Most people don’t like to spend the time and money that car maintenance and repair can cost.
But that reluctance-often a result of ignorance or indifference-can leave a driver stranded or, at least, with higher repair bills, according to service managers.
“Everyone in the business says the owner’s manual (which spells out the maintenance schedule for each model), is the most expensive and least-read book around,” said John Bobowski, service director at Metro Ford Sales and Service in Chicago.
The Florida-based American Automobile Association, which compiles an annual survey on the costs of operating a car, offers a benchmark on costs.
“We recommend that a family set aside $300 a year for routine maintenance for each vehicle,” said Geoff Sundstrom, AAA spokesman in the Orlando area.
“Actually, by the time a vehicle hits 40,000 to 50,000 miles, it may be ready for more expensive items like new tires and suspension work.”
Independent garages, tire stores, quick-service franchises and mass merchandisers such as Sears, Roebuck and Co. are vying with new-car dealers for business. The prices they charge and the services they provide vary from outlet to outlet.
“Dealerships are competing much more aggressively today with independent and franchise operations, especially with new-car sales down,” said Skip Potter, director of research for the Automotive Service Industry Association in Elk Grove Village.
Potter said he thinks there is some bias against dealerships in terms of labor rates. “For commodity repairs like changing the oil and replacing plugs, the independents usually come in priced under dealerships. And the independents have the convenience factor going for them,” Potter said.
“Typical” labor rates in the Chicago area range from $40 to $70 an hour, he said. “Body-shop rates and often rates charged for work on older vehicles are lower.”
“People are willing to pay the going rates if the work is done right,” said Brad Stremich, customer service adviser at Gartner Buick Inc. in Aurora. That means $35 to $56 an hour for standard repair and maintenance to as much as $63 an hour for specialized work, such as transmission and air-conditioning repair.
“The dealership has the advantage of having factory-trained technicians who really understand the vehicles they are working on,” said Stremich. “And our replacement parts, both new and rebuilt, are covered by warranty.”
Stremich said Gartner Buick, where seven technicians work on an average of 30 repair orders a day, is a “large small dealership” that often handles referrals from local tire stores.
“At the dealership, you get what you pay for; we back our work fully,” he said. The service adviser did observe that younger buyers are more likely to think about trading in their vehicles when faced with steep repair bills.
Though he serves a different neighborhood, Kevin Stotmeister, president of Car Care Center at 5147 W. 47th St., is the competition to dealerships such as Gartner. At his small (four service bays) garage, Stotmeister works on late-model and older vehicles.
“We do everything except upholstery and paint,” he said. “My warranty is the same as the partsmakers’-that’s up to three years or 36,000 miles on some components-and I pass that along to the customer.”
Stotmeister, who once worked at a Firestone service outlet, said his diagnostic time is shorter than that of many service operations and that he and his staff can do just about anything, including engine replacements.
“The tire stores make all the money,” he said. “What they can’t do, they send to me.”
The Firestone outlet at 6211 N. Lincoln Ave. doesn’t handle body work, whole engines or transmissions, said manager Greg Pfeiffer, but its marketing is slick and appealing. A tape that runs while telephone callers are on hold describes maintenance “packages” such as regular front-end alignments and Firestone’s Oil Change Club, or special credit opportunities for “preferred customers.”
“Price is the overriding concern today; owners really scrutinize their bills,” said Pfeiffer. “There’s still a hard core that puts quality above all else, but most people are looking for the lowest prices.”
Pfeiffer said his operation will do a visual car inspection for $12.95; an electronic checkup begins at $59.95.
“A dealer may have to charge more for service because he has specialists on his staff, people who can do transmission and major engine work,” he said. “At the same time, we feel we have expertise in other areas. And the guarantee on our work is good at any Firestone store around the country.”
Pfeiffer bases charges on the suggested flat rate, which refers to the time it takes a technician to complete a standard repair.
“We use flat rate here, too,” said Gary Fast, service director at Mancari’s Chrysler-Plymouth/Jeep-Eagle, in Oak Lawn. “I find few customers shop labor charges, though. They are more interested in the total bill.”
Fast is proud of Mancari’s national Five-Star status among Chrysler service operations. The corporation checks on its dealerships regularly, he said, looking at things such as staff training, the condition of equipment and the greatest automotive taskmaster, the Customer Satisfaction Index.
Dealer Mancari works hard to attract and keep service customers, Fast said. “This dealership recently expanded service hours to midnights Monday through Friday, plus Saturday appointments,” he said. The Goodyear store down the street closes at 6 p.m., he added.
“Our six service advisers write up to 100 repair orders a day, we have two service managers and a total of 60 people in the department,” Fast said.
The dealership’s posted labor rate is $55 an hour, he said. “If I had to guess, I’d say we average two hours a repair order and an average cost of $225 per ticket.”
Fast said that except in cases of obvious neglect, the dealership often will go to bat for the customer if the factory challenges a warranty repair. “We cater to the consumer,” he said.
“I must say, though, that the car is one of the most mistreated items around,” he added.
Bobowski at Metro Ford agreed. Lack of full maintenance-and that means more than just having the oil changed every 3,000 miles-creates bigger, more expensive problems. Many people assume that the $12,000 they pay for an Escort LX is the last money they’ll spend on the car.
“Fuel and air filters help the engine perform better and at cooler temperatures,” he said. Simple things such as new spark plugs installed as needed save more complicated items such as wiring, alternators and other electrical-system components, he said.
Some owners seem to think dealers don’t want to do warranty work, Bobowski said. That’s essential to business. “We know we’ll get paid for it,” he said. “But customers are afraid we’ll try to sell them a bunch of stuff they don’t need.”
Warranty confusion costs some second owners, said Stotmeister at Car Care Center. “They don’t realize that often the warranty is transferrable from the original owner.”
Not knowing a car’s service history can lead to repairs such as the $1,200 job Stotmeister did recently on an Acura Legend. Had its timing belt been replaced at the recommended mileage, the engine wouldn’t have suffered expensive valve damage, he said.
The recession has increased the length of time individuals own and drive vehicles. The average age of cars in the U.S. in 1991 was close to eight years, according to registration numbers from the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association in Detroit-the oldest average since the late 1940s, when factories were struggling to meet enormous postwar demand.
“I think many people are willing to put money into their cars because they don’t want to have to be in the market now,” said Phil Zoufal, owner of Village Marathon in Grosse Pointe, Mich. “They see that the car they paid $25,000 for four years ago now costs $33,000.
“So they say: `I know the car and I’m willing to put $1,200 into it,’ ” he said.
Zoufal, in business for 23 years, said the costs of running a garage keep climbing. Advancing technology is one reason. He recently replaced five computer boards for the Bear engine diagnostic equipment he bought in 1987 with one board. Cost: $2,400.
Each year, Zoufal spends $900 on repair manuals alone. It costs him up to $90 each time he has used oil hauled away. And the attendant paperwork for its proper disposal is time-consuming, he said.
All of the service professionals agreed there’s a need for pollution control. At the same time, they said, the costs of disposing of everything from crankcase oil to used parts is going to drive up the cost of repairs.
At Mancari’s Chrysler-Plymouth, Fast said using Automotive Service Excellence-certified technicians and Master Technicians affects price. While dealers move in the direction of hiring only highly trained people, other service outlets operate differently.
“An automotive technician needs two years’ on-the-job experience before he or she can take the ASE certification test,” said Julius Ace, placement director at MoTech Education Center in Livonia, Mich. “Our basic training program takes nine months and costs the student $7,700.”
That, he indicated, is only the beginning. Graduates must be state-certified before the school will place them. And learning and financial advancement require several years on the job.
“I had a good customer several years ago, a physician, who complained about the fuel injection in his vehicle,” said Bobowski at Metro Ford.
The customer couldn’t understand why the staff was having trouble with what was then new technology, Bobowski said.
“I reminded him that the human body comes in two models, male and female, and that it hasn’t changed in ages,” Bobowski said.
” `You bury your mistakes; we can’t,’ I told him. He laughed.”
