I know that costs are a big reason that Dave's shop is taking on less and
less restoration jobs-they barely break even! If some guy comes along who
does want a restoration on one of the cars on the lot, they'll do it-but it
will *cost*. (I think he's doing an old Mercedes now for some ball player.)
People think there's a lot of money to be made in restorations, but it's
just not so.
Laura
Vita brevis est: rapide agite, vigore strigate!
----- Original Message -----
From: Fred Thomas <vafred@erols.com>
To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2000 9:12 AM
Subject: prejudice
>
> The main reason for shops not wanting to touch a older car, is the
out-come
> of what was charged and what is expected. When a owner of any older car
> wants any paint/body work done, no matter what is said, the owner wants
show
> car results, and they are going to be more criticle of what ever work was
> performed. The normal going rate for labor at a shop is 35.00 per hour, no
> shop can make ends meet on this labor rate, so if it will take 4 hours to
> fix a fender, the estimate says 8 hours, estimates are always double what
> time is involved to complete the task. If you want a concours paint job,
> tell them up front, if you want a very good presentable paint job, same
> thing, tell him, you get what you pay for (sometimes) "FT"
>
>
|