I think the answer ORB is that fitters at the tyre/exhaust centres are the lowest of the low. Spend their days doing straightforward tasks, frequently untrained, supply their own tools etc. Next level up will be carrying out more varied tasks and perhaps need a little more training/experience and can command slightly higher wages.

A friend of my son's is a trained chef and reasonably competent at it. Prior to Covid he got fed up with being relatively poorly paid and working evenings/weekends with a young family and walked into a job at a well known quick fit place. His only experience was spannering his own cars. Slightly better money, better hours, but missed the kitchen so went back to it after a few months.

If you had a car in the 90's it was the norm to do a small and big service in alternating years, 30 odd years later and cars are are built to a much better quality ...

I'm not sure I agree with that - tho I suppose cars are assembled to a greater extent by robots than they were. But when my indie looks under my Pug 306 for the MoT he says 'they don't make them like this any more' and I think I know what he means.

That sounds more than reasonable, ORB, but I am wondering what your 'question' is ?

Does there have to be a question?

I'm told here it runs between 750 and 1000NT an hour (non dealership)

At current exchange rate thats roughly 20 to 27 quid.

Um...How do you like them apples?

Edited by edlithgow on 23/06/2022 at 13:32

That sounds more than reasonable, ORB, but I am wondering what your 'question' is ?

I was not very clear.

What do people think of the times for the trackrod ends and the shockers.

By the way Kia in Colchester are £140 an hour...

I agree Andrew, my limited experience with fully electric vehicles has shown me there is is still plenty to do under the bonnet, as you say Tyre's and brakes are number one plus the last one I had a nose around ( Citroën) had at least 2 radiators that I could see ( air conditioning and motor/ battery coolant I presume?) Plus all the normal suspension and steering components.

I also found a filter of some description but couldn't work out what is was filtering !

The hourly rate for labour should reflect expertise. It took ages for me and a non-mechanical pal to diagnose, dismantle and clean a seized Renault Clio's windscreen washer motor because we had never done it before. One of the several delays was the impossibility of pushing the repaired motor back into the plastic reservoir properly. I eventually realised it was necessary to remove the rubber collar from the motor inlet, push the collar into position in the reservoir outlet, and then push the motor back into the rubber collar. Doh!