I had to have some non Warranty work done on my Mini recently, and this was my first experience with seeing the labor rate charge for my dealership. I paid 135/hr for some work done that added up to about 4 hrs. I realize that each dealership sets their own rates, but I think this is a bit excessive for a $30K car, on average. I took my sisters new VW in last week and their labor rates are $92 /hr and they have some cars that approach mid to high 40's in price. Do any of ypu have a dealership that charges that much, or more? I think I need to find agood mechanic in the Orlando area to work on my car and leave the delership to warranty only work. If any of you have experience with someone kindly provide his/her name

spencer

 

I don't know about the Orlando area, but $135 an hour would be considered very high in southwest VA. The Porsche dealer in Roanoke VA charged $110 per hour (until it went out of business), and my independent German shop (which does the MINI) charges $85 with better service.

When typing in "Mini Cooper service" in the Orlando area, only three places came up; Maitland Volvo/MINI (which you probably already know), Magic Mechanic, and Royal Motors in Kissimmee.

 

This is one of the issues with MINI's. They're not BMW's in terms cost to buy, but both the labor rates and the parts prices are most definitely in the BMW range. This makes out of warranty repairs very expensive in relation to the value of the car. I think a lot of people who buy MINI's don't realize what repairs and maintenance will cost down the road.

 

I think my dealer's labor rate is $112.50/hr.

 

It's a dealer what did you expect? They have to pay overhead for that nice looking showroom and service area. A good independant Mini shop should be about 2/3's the dealer shop rate.

 

The BMW dealership I work at is 120/hr for warranty work. Almost all dealerships are going to be higher than independent shops, and even those charge a good amount of money. If you are that concerned about the money the simple solution is do it yourself or find a friend who can and pay them with beer and food

 

Here in the bay area.......$185 is the current rate at the dealer.

 

I think is $120/hr here in Jax, Fl.

 

Oh yeah forgot that the Orlando dealership is the same at $120/hr or it was last time I went there about a year and a half ago. Also if you need work down if you are on the east side of the state there is a great shop in Melbourne that does a great job and not overly priced.

 

Here in the Pensacola area it's $100 per hour, $105 for after market installs. I think the normal going rate around here is about $80 for other cars.
I think all parts on newer cars are expensive anymore.

 

You guys should really look around for some shops that aren't the dealership. Most smaller shops charge significantly less than the dealer. The place I take mine to charges $60/hr and is a small one, two guy shop that specializes in BMWs. Other places around town with good reputations that I've used for my boring past were $72/hr.

All dealerships are expensive. I'd have to say most dealerships labor rates are over $100/hr (at least that I've seen).

 

There's one that I've used a few times, it's e2 Orlando, they're pretty good guys, I don't remember off the top of my head how much they charged /hr but it was less than the dealership that's for sure. Give em a call
http://www.e2orlando.com/minicooper/...inicooper.html

 

I do have a guy that will work on mine (doesn't specialize in Mini's) but know foreign cars well that will work on it but he can't give the 2 year warranty on parts and labor like the dealer. I guess that's the only draw back.

 

I'm getting a Helix inter-cooler soon and was looking for a shop in Orlando to install it, so I'm guessing you would recommend e2? I'm very close to them so that would be perfect for me.

 

Why not save the coin and do it yourself? Its not a hard process, time consuming at most.

Remove bumper, swap ICs, reinstall bumper.

 

head over to SunshineMinis.org and you'll find plenty of recommendations

 

In Orlando, yeah I'd recommend them. The dealership here isn't too bad though to be honest, they've always been really nice to me the few times I've gone.

 

They've always been nice to me too, but I assume they don't install after-market parts (am I wrong?).

 

They have that "FAST" thing, which is for aftermarket parts, so I don't really see what the problem would be. Doesn't hurt to ask I'm going over on Friday for an oil change/alignment (cheaper than at the other place actually, yay coupons on their website! ) so I can ask if you'd like

 

Didn't know there's coupon's on their website, I'll have to keep that in mind for the future.

I may go get a courtesy wash this weekend so maybe I could ask myself.
But if you don't mind asking I'd appreciate that, thanks.