comes down to 'the going rate'....plenty of aircooled specialists overcharge for what is essentially straightforward mechanical/electrical work, because they know such and such charge £x and this seems to be 'the going rate'....not criticising them for doing so...just an observation....(how can someone charge £40 an hour for fannying around with a grinder? )
Yes you can, and yes it's much much cheaper and I, like you Steve, am honest in my dealings with my customers. I always encourage my pupils to get the use of a car or even buy their own so they can practice with their friends and relatives. It gets them driving much quicker because I will teach them something during a lesson and they practice it during the week. Next week we move on and learn something else. It can cut down the number of lessons they need by 75%. What do I gain from losing 3/4 of their potential lesson income? A very good name in my area and lots of referrals.
No it's not. If you wanted some decorative Victorian bookshelves making you could go to a professional cabinet maker and he would charge you the going rate. I can make them just as well as the cabinet maker but I don't need to earn a living from it so I would only charge my costs plus some money for beer.
they train chimps to apply bodyfiller in the States.... all those banana skins are a health and Safety nightmare
phone up a bmw or Mercedes main dealer and ask for their hourly rate and a quote that they will stick to, mechanical work on old cars of any sort is time consuming and hard work, bolts snap, round off wires fall to pieces in your hands, I went to unbolt a wire on a starter motor last week and the end of the solenoid broke off, I have removed hundreds of starter and its never happened , whose fault is it mine or the 35 year old starter? Aston martin don't give quotes, you book it in and pay when they say its finished, no timescales no estimates. to many people buy cheap vans and expect to run them on a shoes string with 100% reliability, then when they take it to a garage to take a look they see that half the stuff on the vans worn out etc, then comes the "RIP OFF" cries and just because they spent a lot of money on a van doesn't makes it a good one
I agree....I'm not slagging the specialists off as such...just begrudging the disparity between what some people can charge for what they do, relative to others.....'tis the market at the end of the day
I bought one of my vans for £800, unmolested, nothing special, just an old Devon van conversion, none of your fancy westfalia stuff. Ive been restoring stuff for over 30 years and fortunately have the skills and tools / equipment to do the job myself and do it properly. Ive now been restoring the van on and off for the last 3 years with probably another year to go given the daily grind getting in the way. Ive bought everything for the van either new or very good used ( used alloys, used engine cover ) Ive got parts bills in the resto folder totaling £12,000, time wise there is an easy 500 hours in it so far .. with probably another 300 hours work in it to finnishs the body work, paint it, buff it, rewire it and fit the new interior before MOT and shakedown then some snagging.... A cheep hourly rate would be £40 an hour ( BMW are £120 per hour for a service up here) now 800 hours @ £40 ph is £32,000 plus the parts and original purchase your looking at £45,000 for a van that would have no real attraction since its a van conversion modified to accept custom recessesd glass. Its probably worth £20,ooo, but on the market there would probably be lots of feedback from the scenesters saying it wasnt worth that being a van conversion. Consequently it would probably be lucky to see back the price of parts. ( i forgot to add the cost of the engine refurb) Ive come to realise its not worth restoring these old busses unless A) you do it yourself, B) you accept that you wont see your investment back, C) do them for realistic customers who are prepared to pay realistic prices for restoration work.... Its not always the restorer thats robbing the client, very often the client doesnt understand whats required and there kidding themself that they have the funds to see a resto through to the end .. Yes you can "do up" a van for a lot less, but you will be doing it again really soon afterwards... its a loose loose situation... On the flip side, I bought a van of a mate, non runner one prevous owner, needs a full going through which means a suspension strip and rebuils all new brakes all new bearings all nes sterring joints, all new cables, fresh interior, minor body repairs and a replacement engine ... Its RHD as good as or better than some imports and cost £4000, by the time its done I estimate, without any labour cost, it will be standing me in the region of £10k, Add 150 / 200 hours work @£40 ph, that reasonably priced bus will be weighing in around £18,000.... with a market value in the region of £15,000... and a market awash with similar priced stuff and cheeper .. there really aint no way to realistically estimate what it would cost to "restore" an old bus .. Its a personal thing. thats my tuppence worth.. if only I had tuppence... to spare.
If you want a bus that'll sail through several MOTs without an advisory then buy a brand new T5, or a Danbury!! these things are at least 35 years old. Acid dipped fully restored shell and every other part that you can buy new 40k + similar price really.
Don't believe all the hype about "rust free Aussie buses". The majority of them are/were owned by people who live on the coast (where the majority of Aussies live) & as we all know salt & vans aren't a great mixture.