How to read a garage quote without feeling stupid

Most garage quotes are a job description and a number. The number is impossible to judge on its own, which is why people either accept it uneasily or ring round for another number they also cannot judge.

A quote becomes readable once it is split into its parts. Here is how to split it.

Every quote is really four things

1. Parts — what is being replaced, and which grade.
2. Labour — an hourly rate multiplied by a book time for the job.
3. Consumables and sundries — fluids, seals, clips, disposal.
4. VAT — 20%, if the garage is VAT registered.

Ask for those four separately. It is a completely normal request, and the reaction to it tells you something either way.

Parts: OE, OEM and aftermarket

This is the single biggest reason two honest quotes differ, and almost nobody explains it.

• OE — the part in a manufacturer's box, bought through a franchised dealer. Most expensive.
• OEM — made by the same factory that supplies the manufacturer, in that firm's own box. Usually the same component, noticeably cheaper.
• Aftermarket — made by a third party. Ranges from excellent to poor, and the price range is just as wide.

A quote using OEM parts can be a third less than one using OE and be exactly as good. A quote using cheap aftermarket parts can look like a bargain and cost you the job twice. Ask which grade is being quoted, because otherwise you are comparing two numbers that describe different work.

Labour: the rate is not the cost

An hourly rate on its own tells you very little, because what you pay is rate × time:

• A garage with a higher hourly rate quoting half the hours is the cheaper quote. Comparing rates alone gets this backwards, and comparing totals alone hides it.
• Most garages price common jobs from published "book times" rather than a stopwatch, so the hours are usually not negotiable, and are not meant to be.
• Dealers tend to charge more per hour and quote fewer hours, because they work on that specific model all day.

If a quote gives you a total only, ask for the rate and the hours. Two numbers you can compare beat one you cannot.

Where VAT hides

A garage that is not VAT registered is genuinely 20% cheaper on the same work, not cutting corners. A garage that is registered must charge it. Trouble arises only when one quote includes VAT and the other does not, which makes a fair quote look expensive. Always ask whether the figure is inclusive.

The four questions

Take these to any quote:

1. What are the parts, and what grade — OE, OEM or aftermarket?
2. What is your hourly rate, and how many hours is this job?
3. Does that figure include VAT?
4. If you find something else once it's apart, will you ring me before doing it?

The fourth is the one that prevents the invoice arriving larger than the quote. A garage that agrees to it readily is telling you how it works, and so is one that doesn't.

Then compare against a range, not another guess

A second quote gives you a second number. A researched range tells you where both of them sit. Ours are on the service price pages, each with its sources and the date it was last checked — and if you would rather not ring round, you can ask several Liverpool garages at once.