Warranty Labor Rates

[GMtech]

When I first started out at the dealership I used the tools I had at home which were Craftsmen, but after breaking many of them and having to find time to return them for replacement, I did usually buy Snap-On and Mac, they will still wear out and break but they come around weekly to replace. The sockets that I used the most and were the most frequent to crack or get stretch out from super tight bolts, I had doubles or triples of those sizes.

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[got3fords]

I worked at a GM dealerships for 34 years, Factory flat rate is a rate calculated by the factory on how much time what it takes to complete a job. This is calculated in tenths of an hour, for each job line on the repair order, you punch in at the time clock for that one job line, if you have let's say 5 job lines (5 different customer complaints), then you will have to punch in and out at least 5 times on a timecard and attach the top piece that has adhesive on it to the back of the hard copy (repair order). You have to write a story of what was done on each repair to get paid for that job. Factory flat rate usually pays 1/2 of what customer pay hourly rate, meaning if a warranty transmission job pays 8 hours, customer pay would be 16 hours, that is why many transmission repairs are replacements vs repair on a customer pay. Factory flat rate I was told by General Motors was timed by using only hand tools, so you would think a technician should be able to make or beat the factory times. This is not true! Seems every year the factory flat rate times decreases, making it harder to make time. I was lucky that the first 30 years of working as a GM technician, I was paid hourly, the last two years (after the 2008 crash), I was forced to work flat rate due to many GM dealerships closing. I was the highest hourly paid in the shop because I did transmission work, but took home one of smaller pay checks, why? because you lose at least 2 hours per transmission job. On every job, you need to test drive the vehicle to confirm the customer's complaint, many times the complaint is intermittent, so more time is needed to drive the vehicle to confirm the complaint, the factory gives you only .3 for a road test (18 minuets), it often takes much longer. You also must drive the vehicle after the repair in which you are paid another .3, again you need to do longer drives to make sure the transmission is properly shifting. And, for some reason the vehicle comes back (come back), you will not be getting paid for the second repair! Some technicians do well on the Factory warrantees, usually the electrical and drivability techs, but they also get customer pay along with the warrantee work, most transmission work is either factory warrantee or extended warrantee which pays the same. The last two months I worked at the dealership; I did 100 percent warrantee which means, a very small paycheck, it just was not worth it beating myself up at the age of 56 anymore. Oh, and another false statement people think, the techs buy their own tools, they are not supplied by the dealer, I had 60k tied up in tools, mainly so you could beat factory flat rate.

Wow, that's a lot to absorb. If I read / summarize correctly, yes, a technician can and does make less on warranty work in certain places of work and certain circumstances. But half, like my coworker says is the norm?

 

[got3fords]

When I first started out at the dealership I used the tools I had at home which were Craftsmen, but after breaking many of them and having to find time to return them for replacement, I did usually buy Snap-On and Mac, they will still wear out and break but they come around weekly to replace. The sockets that I used the most and were the most frequent to crack or get stretch out from super tight bolts, I had doubles or triples of those sizes.

I worked as both an aircraft technician, then garage door installer, then farm tractor mechanic before going back to school to earn my engineering degree. Having the right tools was always a cost you had to try to manage. Borrowed a lot, bought a lot of Craftsman, and when necessary splurged on Snap-On, Mac, or a third less expensive tool truck brand I can't remember. The trade was very forgiving in this regard I agree.

 

[Rp930]

Recent changes in the law in most states mean warranty rates are now the same as the customer pay rate.

 

[got3fords]

Recent changes in the law in most states mean warranty rates are now the same as the customer pay rate.

I thought I saw something to this effect.

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