Dispute resolution

[Grimsta]

Careful now. Your at home shop just became a real business with insurance and liability. If your "friend" gets hurt at your new shop he could turn on you and really cost you allot. Your liability insurance would cover a customers injury but not a customer acting in the role of a mechanic. Sorry to sound like a negative SOB but thats the real deal at least here in the sue me state Palm Beach, FL...
By the way the average labor rate per hour is $92 in my area. Your friend is getting quite a deal.

Yeah i know about that. I'm gonna have a sign a waiver so if he severs his arm, thats his prob, lol. Average labor rate around here is $95-$100+. The crappy ass little crap shops are expensive and the good shops, the only ones I would recommend going to if I didnt have mine are all $100+ now

how did the city find out about your home

I dont know. Some asshole around must've complained although I dont work past 7, dont make noise, do the work inside the garage w/ the door closed. But I did have 2 customer cars infront of my place for a couple months because they're big builds. But i live in a cul de sac so I have a lot of land to do with as a wish

 

[OneJArpus]

I learned my lesson by not doing business with family. In ANY way. I had a 17'' monitor for sale. It was in good shape i wanted 110 for it a while back when they were 300 for CRT's. My cousin wanted it real bad and i told him i want 110 for it, i told him to pay me with in a year. He said fine, 1 yr later i told him he owed me for the monitor and he said i was nuts cuz new LCD monitors at 15'' were going for 200 and he's not going to pay that much. I ended up telling him to keep it cause im not going to fight over it and 2 days later it caught on fire.


I hope you and your friend can come to an agreement. If he is a buddy of yours and he knows the situation maybe he should understand and just pay up. Even if you given him a written quote some place on there you should put *prices subject to change* and that will cover you with any rise in cost before work starts.

 

[Grimsta]

Lol, funny thing about family. I refused to work on my mom's car for the longest time because she's one of those people that dont even remotely know a damn thing about a car except what the gas and brake pedal do and she blames her car problems on the mechanics. She had her car in at a shop I worked at and I didnt do the service but the shop owner did, he did it by the books and when she got her car back the vent selector didnt work and she was like 'He messed up my car when he was working on hit he must have knocked something off." i'm like "no he didnt, sometimes shit happens coincidentally it wouldnt be the first. He has no reason to poke around under your dash for a 30K service(now a days you would for a cabin filter, but this was before cabin filters)." and she kept persisting and persisting, and thats why I didnt work on her cars. But now she has an Altima and I take care of that.

 

[Facime]

Even if you given him a written quote some place on there you should put *prices subject to change* and that will cover you with any rise in cost before work starts.

"estimates" are just that...estimations on final cost based on the information given at the time...when things change (work added, unforseen troubles arise, vendors change prices, etc) the end price can vary greatly.

now a price "quote" is a different matter and most times is quoted a little high to take these factors into account. Ive always been of the mind that if you "quote" a price its firm unless the contract is changed.

 

[OneJArpus]

"estimates" are just that...estimations on final cost based on the information given at the time...when things change (work added, unforseen troubles arise, vendors change prices, etc) the end price can vary greatly.

now a price "quote" is a different matter and most times is quoted a little high to take these factors into account. Ive always been of the mind that if you "quote" a price its firm unless the contract is changed.

very true!, but if a friend of mine was doing discounted work and would live on the street because i would have paid him to work on cars in his place illegally then i would understand the price jump cause he has to get a place to do work.

 

[Grimsta]

this is his car

just kidding, this is actually my cousin's car in Spain. I just set the "teeth" on there for the picture. Dont worry, he doesnt actually drive around like that, lol

 

[Mk3runner]

I'd sport that look, thats pimping!

 

[JMDigital]

Well he's already supposed to be a "walkin billboard" and that hasnt really done jack, but whatever. I will have him sign a contract obliging him to attend at least 4 track events within the year whether it be NASA, AutoX, SCCA, or even drag i guess although I couldnt really care less about that

Sounds like you are a stand up guy, Have him put your logo and phone # on his car. Even if its a small magnetic that he can remove when he is not at the events. Also, If you have cards you need to give him some to pass out. Its one thing to tell someone about you but if there is a card to hand out that would be better. Now that you have a shop, you should have a little "Grand Opening Car Show" give out some prizes and talk to people. You could make it a yearly event at your place.

 

[Grimsta]

F$#K that, he'll keep the name on the car even after events for that price.

At the BBQ i've been considering raffling off a set of blue valve stems and an AutoArt watch. I used to work for a place that sold AutoArt crap and it was cool stuff so I set up an account with them

 

[ILikeCarsYesIDo]

this is his car

Why are you showing them MY car?!?!

 

[Grimsta]

ha ha ha. You want it? I'm 100% sure my cousin would sell it to you

 

[TurboFreak]

I guess I'm the minority on this one. If I told a FRIEND of mine I would tear his deck down and replace it for $450.00 labor, and a month later my power bill was a little higher than normal, then I would still charge him $450.00. I don't need a written aggreement between a friend and myself. If I gave him my word on a price then I would stick to it. You're only as good as your word. Hopefully you two can work it out.

Exactly.


EDIT: Shoulda read the rest of the thread... haha. My bad.

I'm working something out with him now. I offered him his original deal if he would work alongside me in the shop on his car a little

THAT is full of win.