Pricing automotive work

[julianf]

If he is a friend, tell him to do all the cutting, cleaning, fitting of the replacement parts etc and make it clear that the ONLY tool that you will touch is the welder.
Make it clear that the cutting / cleaning etc is the horrible job, but its fairly low skill, and that youll help them out at the end of it with the skilled work.


Up until now, NO ONE who has asked me to weld their car has taken me up on this, i think, very reasonable offer.

Which, i think, is a win*.

(edit - *but then its never been good friends actually asking me)

 

[addjunkie]

If he is a friend, tell him to do all the cutting, cleaning, fitting of the replacement parts etc and make it clear that the ONLY tool that you will touch is the welder.
Make it clear that the cutting / cleaning etc is the horrible job, but its fairly low skill, and that youll help them out at the end of it with the skilled work.


Up until now, NO ONE who has asked me to weld their car has taken me up on this, i think, very reasonable offer.

Which, i think, is a win*.

(edit - *but then its never been good friends actually asking me)

I did a landrover chassis that was stripped and had been blasted on this basis. It was even his machine, gas and wire. Hes frightened of it. Last car I welded was a mini for my nephew, and even that was only really enough to show him how, the rest he did himself. Took my brother about 5 years to recover from the trauma of having his pristine garaged messed up!

 

[julianf]

The last "can you weld my van" request was met with an offer to teach him how to do it himself...

Curiously, the "asker" was too busy for that.


(but too skint to just take it to a garage - one of his other "friends" did it for him in the end)

 

[julianf]

ps. this sounds like me being an ass...

I never actually charge friends for any work. I don't do "mates rates" - if someone is an actual friend, i wont take their money at all, even if its a difficult or time consuming job.
But then there's those fringe sorts who are always busy when you need a hand, but always asking when they need some help.

 

[brightspark]

First thing,
Don't work out the price based on the area of that red box.. that's not big enough..

rule of thumb on welding crap if u can see an inch there will be about 8 and never give a fixed price

 

[stuvy]

I can quite easily destroy £30 worth of consumables an hour, and a £3k welder with a 3yr warranty is costing you £5 a day just to own it..
That only gives you a wage of £10/hr and I'd get more than that doing bar shifts in the warm looking at drunk girls....

Whilst you can destroy £30 of consumables an hour you wouldn’t on a sill

My welders at work are worth a lot of money but my own personal one was purchased off here for not a great deal of money(I’d spend more than that in a pub)

It’s a rusty old van, your dreaming of you think your going to do that job for £100000’s of pounds

As I said I’m happy at £45 an hour but it takes as long as it takes no quibbles. Don’t agree to it don’t give me the job

 

[owas]

One of my neighbours asked me to do a patch on the sill either side on some ldv thing.
Told him I'd do the welding for free, just cut out and make up the panels,even gave him a few offcuts and told him exactly what he needs to do.

Cheeky b came up to me the other day and asked if I could get it done last weekend, he'll leave me to do the cutting ect aswell.

Yeah no

 

[winchman]

Local bloke ended up charging by the inch I think its £5 per inch, its the only way he could make it pay.
Its easy to forget about consumables electric etc.
Many years ago when I was totally pot less a friend lent me a MIG and I did the floors, inner and outer sills one wing and front panel on my Metro, I was drawing people like moths to a lamp all wanting a small welding job doing for buttons, I politely declined

 

[premmington]

I done "days and days" of MOT welding of late - I don't mind it. It is low meterial cost - compared with other automotove repair jobs.

Over the years I must have done a colossal amount.

But I am not cheap - everything - it is multiples of £200's

£200 £400 £600 £800 £1000.

Last one I did was - disabled vehicle - previous garage refused it as the petrol tank needed to come off to do it. That was into low four figures.

 

[brightspark]

i used to get pillocks wanting me to gas weld old knackered exhausts up wouldnt even waste my time and gas to do my own

 

[premmington]

i used to get pillocks wanting me to gas weld old knackered exhausts up wouldnt even waste my time and gas to do my own

I will do exhaust sections that contain the CAT or DPF in them with a welder - but for normal sections with silencer boxes and bends in them - it is buy new at our workshop.

 

[Cato]

Local bloke ended up charging by the inch I think its £5 per inch, its the only way he could make it pay.
Its easy to forget about consumables electric etc.
Many years ago when I was totally pot less a friend lent me a MIG and I did the floors, inner and outer sills one wing and front panel on my Metro, I was drawing people like moths to a lamp all wanting a small welding job doing for buttons, I politely declined

Did he have a career change from being a porn star?

 

[brightspark]

I will do exhaust sections that contain the CAT or DPF in them with a welder - but for normal sections with silencer boxes and bends in them - it is buy new at our workshop.

these were old knackers on escorts marinas and cortina

 

[Cato]

I will do exhaust sections that contain the CAT or DPF in them with a welder - but for normal sections with silencer boxes and bends in them - it is buy new at our workshop.

I looked at some pre-made bends for making up a bike exhaust recently, the prices are staggering now. So why on earth anyone would think that welding would be a cheap job is quite odd.

 

[bricol]

I remember quite some time ago, a mates daughter got a job requiring the use of her boyfriends car to get there - it had failed its MOT and needed welding . . . who do we know with a welder . . .

I offered to teach either one of them, or help them, but they needed to be there all the time, I wasn't doing it on my own . . .

They bought another car . . .

I refuse to weld anything automotive bodywork related I don't own.

 

[brightspark]

i got people wanting welding doing and the term was a cheap blow over respray so called friends then they came up with the crack im selling it to get another car cheekly sods at my expense

 

[stuvy]

I looked at some pre-made bends for making up a bike exhaust recently, the prices are staggering now. So why on earth anyone would think that welding would be a cheap job is quite odd.

Some people still think £1 an inch is acceptable

 

[julianf]

I wasn't doing it on my own . . .

This is something I've been really aware of.

If a friend is helping me out and it's something that is outside of my skill set, I lurk about like a dog at dinner time.

If they drop something, I pick it up, if they need something, I'm the gofer, constant supply of tea, lunch, etc.etc. Basically I try and make it the most luxurious environment they've ever worked in.

I did a job for someone without charge a while back and kept having to go and find them when I needed anything. Wondered wtf I was doing there really.

 

[JOEPRO]

What's the best way to price automotive work ive been asked to do a bit one is a patch on a transit connect sill the other is the inner boot of a cavalier I've always done my own but never charged anyone to do there's

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Having done many a similar repair on my own cars and continue to do so I would never want to weld on someone else's car for any amount of money! It's horrible work.

 

[Cato]

Having done many a similar repair on my own cars and continue to do so I would never want to weld on someone else's car for any amount of money! It's horrible work.

I don't even want to do it on my own vehicles. That's why I have a Vivaro rather than a Transit and why my classic projects are all motorbikes and not cars. As Spartacus said when he saw the Alps "Sod that!".