Garage labour rates hit as much as £230 an hour

The maximum cost of an hour’s work for a garage mechanic now stands at more than £230, according to a nationwide study by automotive service and repair start-up Motoreasy.

Overall, the UK average labour rate – combining main dealers, independent workshops and fast-fit outlets – is £67 an hour.

Analysis of 6,000 garages from across the UK found that, on average, Surrey is the most expensive place to have work done to your car, with an average hourly rate of just over £81. At the other end of the scale, Scottish county Selkirkshire has the cheapest average at £49.69.

The highest individual hourly labour rate of £234 an hour was found at a prestige sportscar manufacturer’s dealership in Reading. The cheapest, offered by an independent workshop in Manchester, was just £36.

The list of the top 10 most expensive regions of the UK is dominated by areas in the south with London the second-most expensive place for labour rates behind Surrey.

Meanwhile, the list of the 10 cheapest regions features mostly Scottish and Welsh counties, indicating a clear north/south divide.

The 10 most expensive labour rates by region

Region	Average hourly labour rate
Surrey	£81.07
London	£77.42
Worcestershire	£77.16
Berkshire	£76.77
Buckinghamshire	£76.65
Middlesex	£75.86
Hertfordshire	£75.40
Kent	£74.81
East Sussex	£72.72
Bedfordshire	£72.35

The 10 cheapest labour rates by region

Region	Average hourly labour rate
Selkirkshire	£49.69
Shetland	£53.25
Inverness	£55.81
Caithness	£56.10
Outer Hebrides	£56.10
Gwent	£56.19
North Humberside	£56.27
County Durham	£56.99
Renfrewshire	£57.00
Powys	£58.20

Franchised workshops are generally more expensive, with an average UK labour rate of £99 compared with an independent garage average of £56, a difference of over 40%.

Despite the ever-increasing cost of service, maintenance and repair work in garages, Motoreasy found that more than three quarters of motorists (77%) admit they have no idea how much they pay for an hour of labour.

More than three in five (62%) say they don’t shop around to get the best price before agreeing to work and, alarmingly, nearly a third (31%) don’t even check the final bill before paying.

Female motorists are worse than men for not checking what labour rate they are paying, with more than four in five women admitting they don’t know the hourly cost at their regular garage.

Duncan McClure Fisher, Motoreasy founder, said: “Today’s drivers don’t have the time or, in many cases, the knowledge to make absolutely sure they are getting the best price from garages.

“It’s not made any easier by the fact that the cost of labour differs so vastly across the UK. Even so, anyone spending money should at least understand how much they are paying and for what.”

However the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) says that the hourly price of a service is not the true way of measuring value. “The franchised dealer network has highly trained skilled engineers who place safety and the quality of service above the hourly cost," said Sue Robinson, NFDA director. "The hourly rate, measured in the motoreasy survey does not equate to final bill and is not reflective of the final cost of service.

“An unqualified engineer, charging an hourly rate, may take longer to service a vehicle as a result of not having access to the manufacturer, the specialist equipment and the added FOC services such as software updates."

In the recent Spring 2017 NFDA Consumer Attitude Survey, it was revealed that the average final service price difference between franchised dealers, independent garages and non-franchised national chains was only £20. In addition 67% of consumers thought franchised dealers represented good value for money.

Overall average labour rate by area		Fast fit labour rate average by area
Area	Average Labour Rate (Inc VAT)	Area	Average Labour Rate (Inc VAT)
Surrey	81.07	Aberdeenshire	77.50
London	77.42	Gloucestershire	77.50
Worcestershire	77.16	Bedfordshire	77.50
Berkshire	76.77	Gwent	77.50
Buckinghamshire	76.65	Shropshire	77.50
Middlesex	75.86	Somerset	77.50
Hertfordshire	75.40	Worcestershire	77.50
Kent	74.81	Staffordshire	76.33
East Sussex	72.72	Dorset	75.75
Bedfordshire	72.35	Northamptonshire	75.75
Oxfordshire	71.79	East Sussex	74.86
Essex	71.72	West Glamorgan	74.50
Wiltshire	70.70	Hertfordshire	74.40
Hampshire	70.63	Avon	74.37
West Midlands	69.06	Cumbria	74.00
Gloucestershire	68.96	Dumfries and Galloway	74.00
Suffolk	67.94	Stirlingshire	74.00
Cheshire	67.32	Leicestershire	74.00
Tyne and Wear	66.76	West Midlands	73.57
Northamptonshire	66.22	Essex	73.52
Dorset	65.96	South Yorkshire	72.14
Lincolnshire	65.85	South Glamorgan	71.35
Shropshire	65.44	Hampshire	71.31
Somerset	65.35	London	71.04
Avon	64.85	Middlesex	70.56
Angus	64.42	Derbyshire	70.40
Dumfries and Galloway	63.74	Wiltshire	70.33
Derbyshire	63.67	Kent	70.28
Cleveland	63.58	West Yorkshire	70.14
North Yorkshire	63.37	Berkshire	69.76
Midlothian	63.37	Suffolk	69.60
Ayrshire	62.90	Norfolk	69.60
Norfolk	62.88	Oxfordshire	69.60
South Yorkshire	62.87	North Yorkshire	68.57
Leicestershire	62.82	North Humberside	68.00
Nottinghamshire	62.57	Lincolnshire	68.00
Devon	62.50	Cambridgeshire	67.76
Lanarkshire	62.43	Buckinghamshire	67.67
Cambridgeshire	62.26	Clwyd	67.50
Staffordshire	62.06	Midlothian	66.80
Cornwall	61.80	Devon	66.74
Lancashire	61.64	Inverness	66.74
Clwyd	61.41	Surrey	66.52
West Glamorgan	61.07	Nottinghamshire	66.36
Herefordshire	60.84	Cheshire	66.28
Merseyside	60.64	Lancashire	65.37
West Yorkshire	60.62	Angus	65.00
Aberdeenshire	60.48	County Durham	65.00
Fife	60.44	Tyne and Wear	65.00
Stirlingshire	60.21	Cornwall	65.00
Perthshire	59.59	Cleveland	65.00
Belfast	59.06	Lanarkshire	64.00
Cumbria	58.59	Merseyside	63.71
South Glamorgan	58.29	Renfrewshire	60.53
Powys	58.20	Ayrshire	55.99
Renfrewshire	57.00	Fife	55.99
County Durham	56.99	Perthshire	55.99
North Humberside	56.27	Belfast	54.00
Gwent	56.19	Grand Total	69.52
Outer Hebrides	56.10	*
Caithness	56.10
Inverness	55.81
Shetland Islands	53.25
Selkirkshire	49.69
Grand Total	67.14

Independent labour rate average by area		Franchised labour rate average by area
Area	Average Labour Rate (Inc VAT)	Area	Average Labour Rate (Inc VAT)
Surrey	69.02	London	127.16
London	68.32	Middlesex	126.88
Middlesex	66.74	Surrey	121.34
Berkshire	66.42	Buckinghamshire	109.02
Hertfordshire	65.77	Cheshire	107.85
Buckinghamshire	65.67	Hertfordshire	107.65
Bedfordshire	65.04	Essex	107.28
East Sussex	63.64	Kent	106.60
Kent	62.86	Berkshire	106.37
Hampshire	62.07	West Midlands	104.75
Worcestershire	61.68	Hampshire	104.28
Essex	61.28	Gwent	103.73
Oxfordshire	60.20	Oxfordshire	103.70
Belfast	58.34	Shropshire	103.37
Dorset	57.90	Wiltshire	102.99
Wiltshire	57.88	Worcestershire	102.91
Gloucestershire	57.76	Somerset	102.71
Dumfries and Galloway	57.69	East Sussex	101.34
Northamptonshire	57.67	Merseyside	100.84
Outer Hebrides	56.10	Aberdeenshire	99.73
Cheshire	55.78	Suffolk	99.30
Avon	55.66	Gloucestershire	98.91
Cambridgeshire	55.07	Staffordshire	97.93
Staffordshire	55.03	Dorset	97.80
West Midlands	54.98	South Glamorgan	97.74
Aberdeenshire	54.96	Derbyshire	96.90
Derbyshire	54.91	Leicestershire	95.85
Clwyd	54.70	Nottinghamshire	95.78
Perthshire	54.60	Tyne and Wear	95.43
Leicestershire	54.32	Avon	95.08
Somerset	54.26	West Glamorgan	94.13
Suffolk	54.19	Herefordshire	94.11
Cornwall	53.78	Devon	94.08
Shetland Islands	53.25	Lincolnshire	93.73
Devon	53.10	West Yorkshire	92.96
North Yorkshire	52.90	North Yorkshire	92.40
Nottinghamshire	52.88	Cambridgeshire	92.29
Caithness	52.80	Norfolk	91.45
Midlothian	52.57	Lancashire	91.37
Tyne and Wear	52.43	Angus	91.20
Lanarkshire	52.14	Northamptonshire	90.60
Gwent	52.09	South Yorkshire	89.98
Shropshire	51.95	Midlothian	89.50
County Durham	51.93	Fife	88.41
Ayrshire	51.68	Bedfordshire	86.53
Lancashire	51.67	Lanarkshire	86.30
West Yorkshire	51.55	Clwyd	85.51
North Humberside	51.53	Ayrshire	84.69
Merseyside	51.23	Cornwall	84.26
South Glamorgan	51.23	Cumbria	82.96
Herefordshire	51.14	Cleveland	82.83
Angus	50.97	Renfrewshire	80.90
West Glamorgan	50.91	Dumfries and Galloway	79.80
South Yorkshire	50.90	Inverness	77.30
Fife	50.88	Stirlingshire	76.30
Norfolk	50.85	North Humberside	74.10
Lincolnshire	50.72	Perthshire	74.10
Powys	50.40	Belfast	72.00
Inverness	49.53	Selkirkshire	71.83
Stirlingshire	49.33	County Durham	69.96
Renfrewshire	48.43	Caithness	66.00
Cleveland	46.69	Powys	66.00
Cumbria	46.30	Grand Total	99.03
Selkirkshire	44.58
Grand Total	56.91

Author: Fleet News

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Major Service - 03/05/2017 11:32

SMR costs, excluding tyres, have actually been falling for a number of years. Whilst of some interest this is also a survey of retail labour rates, with most retail customers being primarily interested in the job cost/headline figure and not labour rate. At the risk of stating the obvious fleet rates agreed with franchised dealerships are considerably lower and have remained fairly consistent in recent years.
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