Hi Nigel

I am a one-man band and I have put my rate up to £38 from £35 for new customers and it will soon have to apply to everyone.

I have had to do this because insurance has increased and I will have to continue investing in diagnostic kit.

I charge for a "unit" of labour, based roughly on an hour of course, but I charge a unit for plugging in the scanner etc. This gets round the "you didn't spend an hour on my car!" response.

We are still a LOT cheaper than dealers locally and collect and deliver vehicles as a matter of course, because we are not in town.

If the odd customer complains about prices they are referred to the dealer. They are awfully quiet about the bills when they come back.

I run one smart old banger as a courtesy car and generally customers are pleased to be offered a set of wheels so that they can carry on as normal.

Regards,

Steve