Nickrosis
Manned by Boderators
The debate rages on at our company from time to time... The clear cut cases this week were our 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins and our 2004 Ford F-550. They're both getting transmission work done under warranty this week. With 32,000 and 4,200 miles, respectively. 
But in other cases....
We aren't big enough to have dedicated mechanics. And it's easy in a lot of ways to just tow a vehicle to a shop and have a "pro" repair it. A $200 tow bill and $700 repair bill is pretty small compared to having our mechanic fix it at his hourly rate of $24 (equals $48/hour when you calculate the real cost of an employee). If he spends a day and a half, that's $600 in labor and $300 for the parts. Coming out even? Not really.....
He was stumping today instead of fixing the leaf springs. If he stumps at $100/hr for 9 hours, we're coming out ahead. Why? Because I think the work was done better by having a company that specialized in the work (truck springs) and because I know that many times a project that is just supposed to last for 45 minutes or just for 2 hours ends up being a long and drawn out project. And we can't afford to be losing both an employee and a truck.
Anyways, I know there are many different viewpoints on this, and I know I will have a different angle when our building is built, but this is my present state of mind.
But in other cases....
We aren't big enough to have dedicated mechanics. And it's easy in a lot of ways to just tow a vehicle to a shop and have a "pro" repair it. A $200 tow bill and $700 repair bill is pretty small compared to having our mechanic fix it at his hourly rate of $24 (equals $48/hour when you calculate the real cost of an employee). If he spends a day and a half, that's $600 in labor and $300 for the parts. Coming out even? Not really.....
He was stumping today instead of fixing the leaf springs. If he stumps at $100/hr for 9 hours, we're coming out ahead. Why? Because I think the work was done better by having a company that specialized in the work (truck springs) and because I know that many times a project that is just supposed to last for 45 minutes or just for 2 hours ends up being a long and drawn out project. And we can't afford to be losing both an employee and a truck.
Anyways, I know there are many different viewpoints on this, and I know I will have a different angle when our building is built, but this is my present state of mind.
