nunsa

It's called flat rate, Suppose a Toyota tech get's $15 an Hr flat rate ok? I'm going to do, lets say a 30,000 mile service on a Taco and it costs the customer 4 hours of labor, I complete the service in 2 hours and I do another one that's 2 30,000 miles services in 4 hours, I hust made $120 in 4 hours, not a bad deal huh? That's how flat rate works, the only time a tech gets screwed if the customer waits for his/her vehicle. Go ahead and get yourself a service, what have ya, tell them your going to drop it off and roam the lot, they won't know who you are, in about an hour or so your vehicle will be out back already finished! True story!

CynicX

Or if the tech gets a call back. Or doesnt know what hes doing or something happens that makes him take more hours then the job pays. Which I hear can happen during warrenty work since warrenty work doesnt pay as well as none warrenty.

Quick describtion of flat rate for those that dont know still. All the jobs pay by hours, ex. oil change might pay 30 minutes. If a tech does an oil change in 10 minutes he will get paid for 30 minutes of work. So now in 15 minutes hes been paid for 30 minutes of work and is already working on his next job.

I used to be a flat rate service tech. It has its ups and downs. If you a "go getter" you can make alot of money. If you are lazy then it can bite you in the butt. Worst thing for a tech and flat rate is if there is NO work. Like a slow time, and you sweeping your area and cleaning your tools and not getting paid at all even though you are at work.

Flat rate also benefits the employer because he knows if the employee isnt working, well they arent getting paid. So the employees are busting there butts to get more hours and cars are coming and going really quick.

Usually it works nice for the employer and the employee as long as the work is there.

This is also why it will benefit a tech to rip a customer off. You come in and the fake a HG leak. Well they could make ALOT of extra hours.

Captain_Toyota

Most dealer mechanics get paid for however long a job is supposed to take. However, if a repair is supposed to take 2 hours to complete and it takes them 3, then only get paid for 2 hours.
A friend of mine works as a mechanic at a Ford dealership and he has a hard time getting 40 hours of labor in per week. The amount of time Ford thinks it should take them and the amount of time it ACTUALLY takes is vastly different. Make no mistake though, they make LOTS of money on service. However, the dealership is the one pocketing that money, not the mechanics.
Cap'n

Babypig

I just had enough of blair or blaine the service manager walking around in his white lab coat at Downtown Toyota, telling me i was getting the wrong code for my TPS and that it wasn't that when the tech was telling him it was that. He thinks hes some kinda toyota superman with that white labcoat on and he don't know as much as he thinks. That and the 107 an hour labour rate threw me for a loop. Did spend a lot of time at the Aquariums west store next door though. Bought lots of fish from there.

r0cky

i've been to four local toyota dealerships ... only one did not attempt to screw me over on service, and that might've been because i told them what the prior one had done and they were horrified.

as far as parts departments, two have been good -- toyota of plano and toyota of dallas (thanks Phil and Chris!).

my mom has a suburban type thing from sewell, and her service guy there is great - i've gone to him a few times for on the side help.

FingerMan20

Is flat rate the same as flag hour pay? Because I worked at City Garage for a bit, and they pay techs by flag hours, which sounds like flat rate.

Ironmike4x4

I am a GM tech and that's how our business runs. We live in a small town and a recent non-FDIC insured bank went under killing our business. Our customers are people that we know or are related to so we pretty much have to have good service. We go by the saying, "Treat th vehicle as if it were your grandmother's car." I've heard of techs staging vehicles to look like it needs repairs but if we did that then we would definitely go out of business like the rest of my town.
My complaints at my dealership is the parts guys are slow and you have to wait on THEM for service. Our only 2 salesmen are morons, and our service advisor is an idiot (thank God he quit yesterday). I tell my parents if they want service work on their vehicle then take it to us, but if they want to buy one, then take it somewhere else.

Ironmike4x4

Yes it is, we get "flagged" for every work we do which has our number on the repair order. The service writer is supposed to figure up the time for the repairs and then you get that amount. If you have a "comeback" then you get back flagged meaning the repair is free, but if it is red flagged then another tech has taken the vehicle while you were gone on vacation or an appt or something and you lose your pay.

tpg013

So sad to hear of someoney unhappy experiences. I go to Sunrise Toyota on Long Island and have been dealing with the same serive writer through 15 years and 3 different 4Runners. Sure it hasn't all been ropsey but I thinkl they are outstanding.

A quick expample. My check engine light came on. It was the charcol canister. $359 for the part and another $150 to install. Because of my history with them, they paid for the part and I paid for the install. Mind you, the waranty was up on my truck a long time ago. They did not have to do that, but that' good customer service.

Funofchoice

Here in Cali at Toyota of Santa Cruz service is pretty good. Parts is great. Made a friend behind the parts counter and he refers me to all sorts of different places for quailty aftermarket if toyotas were just rediculously expensive (which they normally are). Maybe the guy felt sorry for me cuz I regularly came in for parts when I was doing a rebuild on my 3.0. In the service station they were even better. Last time I had a bunch of questions about some rear brake adjustments and the tech allowed me to come in the shop and watch him do it so I could do it at home. said to come in with any questions and he'd be glad to give any kind of free advice. charged me $15 for the adjustment. The guy I met in the office was great too. After the rebuild I brought it in for an inspection and for them to tap it with a hammer and stuff and they charged me $20. Down in Monterey they charge my dad $100 for any kind of inspection. I can only say that the sales dept is a joke. It seems like they don't the difference between a highlander and a 4runner.

90

Makes me wonder how much any of these guys know. I had the same guy tell me that there is no filter in my type of transmission, so they don't check it when they do a flush.
On the other hand the other dealers around here ( for parts anyway ) are fast and knowledgeable, on the phone at least.