There's a reason they don't let you into the shop for "safety reasons". You don't need to know how fast they can work. They tell you 5.7hrs for LIM gaskets but it can probably be done in 2. A pneumatic wrench can take off and put on a lot of bolts in a short amount of time.
I watched/assisted the LIM on a GM 3.1 which requires removing rockers and pushrods. It was done in just over 4 hours with only hand tools at about 40 degrees in the garage. Book time was almost twice that.
So, with that extra 4 hours at a shop another 8 hour job could be done. Effectively making 16 hours of pay in only 8.

I'm not bashing on shops, just pointing out that there is a reason why the price can be so high for what seems like something that should not take very long.

 

Bird i agree. I dont really like how that works,but then again ive worked in a small shop and sometimes a 2 hour job turns into 6 hours. So sometimes a 8 hour pay in 4 hours can be nice. I think it almosts breaks even from all the Bs that you can run into sometimes.

 

yeah around the salt belt its usually twice as long to do anything on cars, due to everything braking or not coming apart. its almost strange if something actually comes apart and goes together like its supposed to i almost feel like i missed something.

i did a lower intake gasket at home using hand tools and ended up taking me 12 hours but that was a worst case scenario. the intake was so bad for so long it ended up filling the cylinders up with antifreeze/oil had to do a few plug changes and like 5 oil changes

a lot of it boils down to experience. if you do these intakes everyday i figure you can knock them out in 2 hours, so should you pay less for someone who works fast and knows what hes doing

 

So....in other words...are you saying Chris ^^^ a customer has to pay for more hours than a job really took, to make up for some other customers 2 hour job quote/bill that ended up taking 6 hours? For the shop to break even I mean. Hmmm....sounds an awful lot like the current administration's method of operation.

(Just bustin your chops Chris! )

 

now this may be getting off topic, but is there actually a gm issued write up on "estimated" time on repairs? because im pretty sure thats what i was told. something about gm tech bulletin i think my old mechanic said. figured it wont be 100% accurate but can give maybe a ballpark

 

identfix says its 3.4 hours

chiltons labor time says 3.6

no idea on dealer time, they probably charge you for smoke breaks