Cambelt change price

[360beast]

So a customer has asked me to do a cambelt on their 940.

Before I start the tale please bare in mind I told the customer just what to get for this job and he has ignored my suggestions and cheaped out on belts.

The car has been sat for god knows how long and done about 50k miles since its last belt 11 years ago!

So the customer has provided the belts (none of them genuine so I've had to figure out which belt will fit where). The a/c pump would not budge until I had fully removed the alternator and slackened off every single bolt a lot on the A/C pump which I have never had to do before.

Then the bolt for the crank pulley had obviously been done up with an impact gun because I had to put a pipe over my breaker bar to even have a chance of undoing it.

It is all back together and running now with new belts and a new tensioner he bought the tensioner but was reluctant to fit it and wanted to reuse the one on the car even though it was leaking grease, I ignored him and fitted it.

Admittedly I put the alternator and air con belts on in the wrong order so spent half an hour redoing it after realising my mistake (I have deducted this from the price).

It then was put on the ramp as he wanted me to do the oil and filter but didn't tell me until I had got there so I didn't have my oil filter pliers. He had no tool suitable to remove the very stuck oil filter so it is now sat with no oil in it. He also didn't get a new washer so is spent about 15 mins sanding the used one down to make it flat again to reuse it!

I have charged £80 for the job as it took me over 4 hours and a lot of messing around, he wants me to go back tomorrow morning and finish the oil and filter but he is kicking up a fuss that I've charged £80 to do a cambelt and new belts!!! Thoughts please on the price?

I sort of know him and he wants me to do four cambelts so I have done it slightly cheaper for him, I don't think I will bother with the other cars if this is what he is going to be like.

[mocambique-amazone]

That's the reason why I don't work on cars anymore.
And very typically as he is a Volvo owner. Most of them won't spend any money at service.
"I did a hughe service/maintenance job at my Volvo at 150 000miles"

"Whow, what did you do?"

"A change of the engine oil AND a filter"


No joke


Say pardon, I did a mistake. 180 should be the price


And do never ever anything for him again.


This guy us a waste of your lifetime

My 2c

Good luck, Kay

[360beast]

Originally Posted by mocambique-amazone

That's the reason why I don't work on cars anymore.
And very typically as he is a Volvo owner. Most of them won't spend any money at service.
"I did a hughe service/maintenance job at my Volvo at 150 000miles"

"Whow, what did you do?"

"A change of the engine oil AND a filter"


No joke


Say pardon, I did a mistake. 180 should be the price


And do never ever anything for him again.


This guy us a waste of your lifetime

My 2c

Good luck, Kay

Thanks Kay I will tell him I'll do the other cambelts for £180 then

[Martin Cox]

If I coud get that much good quality skilled labour for £80 I'd be delighted! I'd also feel rather guilty about underpaying.

As an aside are you talking about a copper washer on the sump plug? If you really have to reuse one, heat it to a dull red heat and let it cool. This anneals it and makes it soft again so it should seal when refitted. A trick I learned running an old 240 many years ago.

Martin

[Laird Scooby]

Have i understood correctly Luke that he wanted you to travel to him to do the job? In that case, even at "mates rates" you've undercharged by a minimum of an hour for todays work!

If you have to travel to the customer, it has to be a minimum 1hr (or part thereof) charge for travel as you have to come home again afterwards.

As for the shenanigans on the timing belt and auxiliary belts, first because he has gone cheap and supplied his own belts, you can't guarntee them, only your work fitting them. It's a debatable point but you have no idea if that timing belt has been sat around for two decades being kicked from pillar to post and picking up damage along the way, damage you may not be able to see.

As for the other timing belts, are they all on red blocks? If not, check out how long each is going to take. Also find out if they have been done any time recently, if not then it's time and materials, no fixed prices.

Worth investing in a Boa Constrictor and keeping it with you too :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Constrict...D/352880683243

There is also a Baby Boa :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boa-Baby-...h/143810806950

Very good for removing stubborn oil filters among other things!

As for that customer in general, it sounds llike the sort of person that won't be happy no matter what you do so it's down to you to consider if you want to keep him as a customer. So far he's jerked you around like Pinocchio on bungee cords and customers like that usually get worse!

[volvo always]

I payed £60, but that was 4 years ago. I supplied the genuine belts and tensioner.

Your price is more than fair. I wouldn't be making a fuss! Sounds as if you travelled to the car "as not run in years"

In my work situation, if a customer is unreasonable, I don't do any more work for them!

James.

[griston64]

I got Cam Belt,tensioner,both aux belts and all three front seals done for £105.00 labour. That was by a very good Volvo indy. I had bought all the stuff to do it myself but it was middle of January and it turned absolutely Baltic so for that price it was a no brainer

It was all gen Volvo parts from main dealer so all in a fair bit more in total

[360beast]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Have i understood correctly Luke that he wanted you to travel to him to do the job? In that case, even at "mates rates" you've undercharged by a minimum of an hour for todays work!

If you have to travel to the customer, it has to be a minimum 1hr (or part thereof) charge for travel as you have to come home again afterwards.

As for the shenanigans on the timing belt and auxiliary belts, first because he has gone cheap and supplied his own belts, you can't guarntee them, only your work fitting them. It's a debatable point but you have no idea if that timing belt has been sat around for two decades being kicked from pillar to post and picking up damage along the way, damage you may not be able to see.

As for the other timing belts, are they all on red blocks? If not, check out how long each is going to take. Also find out if they have been done any time recently, if not then it's time and materials, no fixed prices.

Worth investing in a Boa Constrictor and keeping it with you too :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Constrict...D/352880683243

There is also a Baby Boa :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boa-Baby-...h/143810806950

Very good for removing stubborn oil filters among other things!

As for that customer in general, it sounds llike the sort of person that won't be happy no matter what you do so it's down to you to consider if you want to keep him as a customer. So far he's jerked you around like Pinocchio on bungee cords and customers like that usually get worse!

Hiya Dave

Yes it is a 25 minute drive each way to his house where he has a workshop with a ramp that lifts the car half way, however the wasnt on the ramp while doing the job.

All cambelts are on 940 turbos with air con (I hate adjusting the air con pumps!) So I could potentially do the other 3 in a day if it goes well but I can't be arsed to deal with him again now.

I've got a brilliant pair of oil filter pliers which haven't failed me yet but I didn't take them as I wasnt expecting to do an oil and filter!

This is definitely the last job I do for him.

[360beast]

Originally Posted by griston64

I got Cam Belt,tensioner,both aux belts and all three front seals done for £105.00 labour. That was by a very good Volvo indy. I had bought all the stuff to do it myself but it was middle of January and it turned absolutely Baltic so for that price it was a no brainer

It was all gen Volvo parts from main dealer so all in a fair bit more in total

I'd say I was bang on the money then doing cambelt, tensioner, 3 aux belts, oil and filter for £80, seals are only another half an hour or so once it is all off so if he wanted me to do them (which I told him he should do!) Then it would have been £100 in total.

[Ian21401]

Originally Posted by Martin Cox

If I coud get that much good quality skilled labour for £80 I'd be delighted! I'd also feel rather guilty about underpaying.

As an aside are you talking about a copper washer on the sump plug? If you really have to reuse one, heat it to a dull red heat and let it cool. This anneals it and makes it soft again so it should seal when refitted. A trick I learned running an old 240 many years ago.

Martin

Likewise re the paying.
A previous work colleague of mine who ran an old BSA motor cycle used to re anneal the copper washers that way.