On Jun 16, 2004, at 10:00 AM, Joy Hecht wrote:

> Is there actually a book (or more likely a database) that auto repair
> people
> use to do labor estimates for repairs?  I had heard somewhere that
> there
> was.
>
> It's a useful thing to know - and to be able to find out the book
> times -
> because it gives a reasonable upper bound on the cost of paying for
> repairs.
>
>
> Does anyone know if it is exists, or how to access the information?

The book is called a "flat rate manual".  When I worked as a mechanic
for
a couple of dealers I was paid the number of hours that the manual said
it took to do the job.  If the manual said it took 3.4 hours I got paid
for
3.4 hours no matter how long it took it me to actually do the job.

The manual we used had a brown cover and was published by the same
folks that publish the blue "motor" manuals.  Anyone can buy them, but
they are not cheap.

I remain, as always
YrLyl&ObdntSrvnt,

r