So when this first came to my attention, I refused to believe it. I had overheard a Service Manager say to a Service Advisor, “Make sure you use the Matrix when you quote that job.” So at the time being a curious mechanic, I asked,”what is the Matrix?” At that time the Service Advisor pulled a little chart out of his desk that had all these columns of numbers down and across. “Oh it’s basically hoping the customer can’t compute math and it is a way to over charge them.” He said. ” WHAT?” I couldn’t believe it until I looked at the card in his hands. That’s right. The more hours you spend, the more the shop rate increases! Now, a lot of businesses do the opposite. You spend more, you should get a break right? Maybe at the independent shop or at your Mom & Pop style repair station but that’s not how the dealership does it. Say they are $100.00 an hour. At that rate 4 hours of labor should be and usually is $400.00 . With multiple repairs to the same vehicle, sometimes you can be quoted 16 hours worth of work and not all customers are savvy enough to notice the first 5-6 hours were $100.00 an hour but beyond that the additional hours were calculated at $107.00 an hour or more! So that 16 hour job is now costing you $1,670.00 instead of $1,600.00 in labor only! Not including whatever parts were required to do the repairs and the disposal fee which is usually a percentage of that total repair. Most consumers wouldn’t catch it would they? That is what the dealer is betting (or banking!) on.
The Mystery of the Matrix
