That week where every car had a hidden problem

Last Tuesday, a 2018 Civic came in with a simple quarter panel dent. Two hours in, we found a full wiring harness chewed through by mice behind the liner, adding a full day of labor. The next day, a truck bed repair turned into a frame rust discovery that needed a $1,200 section replacement. By Friday, my boss just looked at the schedule and said, 'This week is cursed.' Has anyone else had a string of jobs where the initial estimate was completely wrong?

4 comments

4 Comments

robertcarr1mo ago

Man, that's not even a cursed week, that's just Tuesday in this business. The initial estimate is almost always wrong once you pull stuff apart. Those hidden problems are the whole job, not some weird exception. You just gotta build the diagnostic time into the quote or you'll go broke.

the_tessa1mo ago

Yeah, robertcarr is right about building in the diag time. We started adding a flat "exploratory" fee for any job where we can't see the full damage up front. Saves so many headaches.

cole_flores441mo ago

Tell me about it. We tried that flat fee thing for a bit, but some customers just see it as a charge for nothing. Then you get into the whole song and dance about how the real cost is in finding the problem, not just swapping the part. It's exhausting to explain over and over.

west.casey1mo ago

My old shop had a 2005 Corolla with a busted tail light that turned into a full floor pan replacement. robertcarr gets it, the real job is always behind the first thing you see.