Guides
Auto repair shop job quote template: fields, an illustrative example, and typical ranges
A quote template for auto repair shops with fields, an illustrative brake example, typical labor and parts ranges, change authorization, and warranty notes.
What to take away
- A usable quote is priced, not descriptivelabor hours times your rate, parts at cost plus markup, supplies, tax, then a total the customer signs.
- Five inputs set that totallabor time, door rate, parts markup, supplies charge, and tax treatment.
- Typical US independent-shop ranges run $110 to $190 an hour for labor, 25 to 40 percent parts markup, and supplies at 3 to 8 percent of labor or a flat $5 to $25.
- Work added after signing needs a new written authorization with the revised price and completion time.
- A written warranty brings federal disclosure duties onto the quote itself.
A completed quote fits on one page. The vehicle and VIN sit at the top, the customer's complaint is written in their own words, the diagnosis follows, and priced lines run down to a total, a signature line, and an expiry date. Four things move that total: hours, rate, parts cost, and tax.
The fields a quote template needs
Ten fields carry a repair quote. Leave one out and the question returns later, usually with the car already on the lift.
Quote template fields
- Customer and vehicle details
- Customer concern in their words
- Inspection and diagnosis results
- Recommended repair and system
- Labor operations and quoted hours
- Parts, supplies, taxes, fees
- Options, priorities, exclusions, authorization
- Customer name, contact details, and who may authorize work.
- Vehicle year, make, model, VIN, mileage, and plate.
- The complaint in the customer's words.
- Diagnosistests run, results, fault codes, measurements, and what the test could not show.
- The repair operation, named as the labor guide names it.
- Labor hours, the guide and edition they came from, and the rate applied.
- Parts number, quantity, unit price, core charge, and parts warranty.
- Shop supplies and fees as named lines, with tax applied per line.
- Options split into safety, required, and deferrable, plus the stated exclusions.
- Change authorization, completion estimate, warranty terms, signature, and expiry.
A published time guide supplies the hours. Mitchell 1, MOTOR, and ALLDATA all sell them, and each edition changes as vehicles change. Name the guide and edition so a second shop can check the number.
For open-ended work, price the diagnosis on its own line and treat the repair as a second quote. How the rate is built is set out in what to charge for auto repair shop services.
Example: front brake quote for a 2016 Honda Civic
The numbers below are illustrative, not a benchmark. Substitute your own parts cost and door rate.
| Line | Detail | Hours | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front pads | Ceramic, OE-equivalent | $68.00 | ||
| Front rotors | 2 at $54.00 | $108.00 | ||
| Brake hardware kit | $16.00 | |||
| Labor, front brakes | Replace pads and rotors | 2.0 | $145.00 | $290.00 |
| Shop supplies | Flat charge | $12.00 | ||
| Subtotal | $494.00 | |||
| Sales tax | 7 percent, parts and supplies | $14.28 | ||
| Total | $508.28 |
If your state taxes labor, the rate applies to the whole subtotal. A $95 diagnostic charge would sit above the subtotal and be credited when the customer authorizes the repair. The customer's copy shows one price per line, and the internal copy carries parts cost and margin.
What real pricing numbers look like
Every line is a margin decision before it is a customer decision. The arithmetic behind a rate, a markup, and a fee is worked through in the auto repair shop pricing and profit guide.
| Item | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Independent shop labor | $110 to $190 per hour | Metro area, brand mix, technician pay |
| Dealership labor | $150 to $250 per hour | Franchise brand, region |
| Parts markup over shop cost | 25 to 40 percent | Supplier terms, warranty, return rights |
| Shop supplies | 3 to 8 percent of labor, or $5 to $25 flat | State rules on fees |
| Diagnostic charge | $75 to $200 for one hour | Whether it is credited against the repair |
Your door rate has to carry technician pay, rent, tools, service information subscriptions, insurance, and profit. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes mean hourly wages for automotive service technicians by state, which gives you the pay half of that sum.
Pay commonly runs 25 to 35 percent of an independent shop's door rate. Benefits and technician utilization swing that figure, so compare your own payroll before copying a rate from another shop.
Parts markup has to absorb returns, obsolescence, and warranty comebacks. High-cost electronics often carry a lower percentage on a larger dollar margin.
How you pay a technician changes what a billed hour costs you. Under flat rate, pay follows book time instead of clock time, so a fast technician costs less per billed hour while the shop carries the slow jobs. The trade-offs are weighed in flat rate vs hourly pay for auto technicians.
Choosing a pricing approach
Where it fits
- Fixed price per job
- Comparable brake and maintenance work
- Time and materials with a cap
- Diagnosis and electrical tracing
- Good, better, best
- Maintenance with a real choice
- Prepaid maintenance plan
- Repeat customers on a schedule
Shop example
- Fixed price per job
- A front brake job quoted at $508.28 whatever the clock says
- Time and materials with a cap
- Two hours quoted, billed at actual time up to two hours
- Good, better, best
- Oil service at $59, $89, and $139 levels (illustrative)
- Prepaid maintenance plan
- Annual plan covering two oil services and a rotation
Change authorization and warranty disclosure
Five steps keep added work authorized and paid.
- Stop at the figure the customer already approved.
- Record the new finding and the evidence behind it.
- Price the added work with hours, parts, and a new completion time.
- Get written approval from the person named on the quote.
- File the change order with the original quote and work order.
A written warranty pulls the shop into federal disclosure rules. The FTC guide to federal warranty law explains what the terms must say and where they must appear, including warranties that cover parts and workmanship together. Automaker warranty work settles at negotiated rates, covered in how to negotiate warranty labor rates.
Many states require a written estimate and explicit authorization before work begins. The FTC consumer guide on auto repair basics lists what a customer may ask for, including the estimate and any replaced parts.
