Question 1

What are the posted labor rates?

Accepted Answer

Four rates cover the shop floor. Body and paint labor is $210 per hour. Mechanical and electrical labor is $260 per hour. Diagnostic time is $285 per hour. Detail labor is $95 per hour. A single repair order often touches more than one of these, so a job with structural pulling, a slide motor replacement, and a refinish will show three separate labor lines. Each line lists hours and rate so you can see exactly which department did what.

Question 2

How does a published price range turn into an actual number?

Accepted Answer

The range narrows in three steps. First, an estimator photographs and measures the damage and identifies every affected panel, seam, and system. Second, parts get priced against current supplier quotes rather than book averages. Third, labor hours get written against the actual repair method chosen, since a panel that can be pulled and filled costs far less than one that must be cut out and bonded. That written figure is what you authorize, and it does not move unless a supplement is approved.

Question 3

Is a deposit required?

Accepted Answer

Jobs over $2,000 take a 50 percent deposit at the time you authorize the work. Jobs over $10,000 take an additional 25 percent when the parts arrive at the shop, which is the point where the money is committed to inventory sitting on our rack with your name on it. The balance is due at pickup, before the unit leaves the yard. Under $2,000 there is no deposit and the full amount settles at delivery.

Question 4

Why is there a surcharge on card payments?

Accepted Answer

Card processing on large balances costs the shop real money, so payments by card above $1,000 carry a 3.5 percent surcharge that matches what the processor takes. Below that threshold there is no surcharge. Anything paid by check, cash, or bank transfer avoids it entirely. On a job in the twenty thousand dollar range the difference is meaningful, so many owners settling a large balance choose a bank method for the final payment and use a card only for the deposit.

Question 5

How does parts markup work?

Accepted Answer

Two tiers, applied to the supplier cost. Parts costing $100 or less carry a 100 percent markup, because the ordering, receiving, handling, and returns work on a $12 clip costs about the same as it does on a compressor. Parts above $100 carry 35 percent. The markup covers sourcing, freight coordination, warehousing, core handling, and the risk of a part arriving damaged or wrong. Every part appears on the estimate as its own line so you can see the item and the price.

Question 6

What are the materials charges on the estimate?

Accepted Answer

Three lines cover consumables. Paint supplies bill at $55 for every paint labor hour and cover primer, sealer, reducer, hardener, clear, tack cloth, masking, and gun cleaning solvent. Body supplies bill at $5 for every body labor hour and cover abrasives, filler, adhesives, seam sealer, fasteners, and cutting wheels. Hazmat and disposal is a flat $45 per repair order and covers regulated handling of solvent waste, used filters, and contaminated rags. These are not padding lines. They are the actual consumption model.

Question 7

Is sales tax charged on labor?

Accepted Answer

No. California sales tax at 7.75 percent applies to parts and materials only. Labor hours are not taxed. On a refinish heavy job where materials run high the tax line will look larger, and on a structural job that is mostly hours the tax line will look small relative to the total. The estimate separates taxable and non taxable subtotals so the math is visible rather than buried in one lump figure at the bottom.

Question 8

What is a supplement and why did my price change?

Accepted Answer

A supplement is a written addition to the original estimate covering damage that was not visible when the first number was written. Delamination behind a sidewall, a cracked slide rail, rot under a corner seam, or a bent frame horn only shows up once panels come off. The supplement lists the new parts, the new hours, and photographs of what was found. Nothing on a supplement gets ordered or performed until you or the adjuster approves it in writing.

Question 9

Why does teardown change the price so often on RVs?

Accepted Answer

Recreational vehicle construction hides damage in a way that automobile construction does not. A laminated sidewall spreads impact energy sideways under an intact skin. Water intrusion travels along framing members and surfaces three feet from the actual leak. A sidewall that looks like a scuff can turn out to have crushed block foam and separated substrate across four feet. Teardown is the only honest way to see it, which is why the first number is a starting figure and not the last word.

Question 10

What does the $150 systems estimate cover?

Accepted Answer

RV systems work needs hands on the unit before anyone can quote it. The $150 covers a technician putting the slide through a full cycle under load, checking amp draw, verifying hydraulic pressure or motor current, running the awning, pressure testing plumbing, load testing the house electrical side, or exercising a generator under a bank. It produces a written finding rather than a guess. If you authorize the repair, the $150 comes off the final invoice as a credit.

Question 11

Are collision estimates charged?

Accepted Answer

Collision damage estimates are complimentary. Bring the unit in during business hours and an estimator will photograph the damage, measure what needs measuring, and write a document you can hand to an adjuster. What is billable is diagnostic labor, meaning time spent chasing an intermittent electrical fault, tracing a leak to its source, or scoping an unclear mechanical symptom. That work bills at $285 per hour with a one hour minimum and credits back against an authorized repair.

Question 12

Why does diagnostic time bill separately from the repair?

Accepted Answer

Finding the fault and fixing the fault are different jobs with different skill loads. A parasitic draw that kills a chassis battery over four days can take two hours of instrumented tracing and fifteen minutes of actual repair. Charging that tracing time inside a flat repair line would mean owners with simple problems subsidize owners with hard ones. Diagnostics bills at $285 per hour with a one hour minimum, and the amount credits against the repair if you authorize it.

Question 13

What happens to my deposit on a special order part?

Accepted Answer

Special order deposits are 100 percent of the part cost and they are not refundable once the order is placed. This applies to items built or finished specifically for your unit, discontinued components pulled from a distributor last stock, color matched panels, custom cut glass, and long lead castings. Suppliers do not take these back. Before any special order is placed, the part number, price, and expected lead time go in writing so nothing is committed on a verbal.

Question 14

What is betterment and will I be charged for it?

Accepted Answer

Betterment is the portion of a replacement part cost that an insurer assigns to the owner because a new part leaves the vehicle in better condition than it was before the loss. Tires with half their tread remaining, a ten year old awning fabric, a corroded step assembly. The carrier pays a prorated share and bills the rest to you. It appears as its own line on the estimate. The adjuster sets betterment amounts, not the shop, and the figure is negotiable.

Question 15

When exactly is money due?

Accepted Answer

Three points. At authorization, jobs over $2,000 take the 50 percent deposit. When parts land, jobs over $10,000 take another 25 percent. At pickup, the balance clears before keys change hands. Insurance jobs follow the same schedule against the approved amount, with the deductible collected at delivery. If a supplement raises the total mid repair, the deposit percentages apply to the increase as well, and that gets stated in writing when the supplement is approved.

Pricing, Rates and Billing

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