A few days ago, my car was in for a long list of repairs that it needed. Nothing major, just a whole bunch of minor stuff that I’ve been letting slip by. You know, it’s a pain to bring your car in to have it fixed. Also, you have to live without a car for a day or two, maybe even three! That’s OK, though, there are other forms of transportation here anyway.
Anyway, the thing I wanted to talk about when it comes to this subject is the cheap cost of the labor. You know, back where I come from, the labor is usually the biggest part of the bill. Parts are usually less, or equal to the labor amount at the most. It’s the opposite here. Parts are the majority of the bill, with just a small amount charged for the labor.
I have a small SUV here called a Mitsubishi Adventure. It’s about 7 years old already, although in many ways it still looks and performs like it’s new. One of the little problems that I was having with it is that the rear door latch was not working properly. Sometimes, when you went to open the back door, the handle did not work, and door could not be opened. Back in the States, I would not be surprised to pay $100 to have this fixed, maybe more by now, I don’t know. How much did that repair cost me here? $4. That’s right, P200, or the equivilant of Four Dollars! Amazing! And good too. On top of the inexpensive price of the labor, parts are less here too. In many cases, you can expect to pay only about half for the parts.
So, all in all, car repairs and other kinds of repairs are very inexpensive here!
Enjoy it!
Hi Bob,
What about car rentals? Not sure if you've written about this subject yet… Any experience in this area?
A very interesting blog today Bob, about your car, so cheap for labour, sometimes its almost uncanny, as though the labour cost is not real !, the funny thing is, Gina told me today that we are having a water heater put in the shower room in our house, but I said to her, how much is the labour ? she said, oh just give him P500.00 so I said, you cannot be serious, noo one is going to install a water heater for P500.00, she said, well if you want to tip him, give him P750.00 if you wanted to be generous, I said surely we are not getting a full installation for that ? she said yes, its only P500.00.
I know here, if you have a shower installed, the bill is normally around P10,500 up to P20,000 but if companies fit it for you, they would charge around P80,000 to bring out the shower and install it for you, such is the extortion that exists in rip off UK, I am so looking forward to Filipino labour charges, thanks for sharing that Bob.
Hi Tina – personally, I know of no places in Davao where you can just rent a car. Generally, if you rent a car, it includes a driver, and the driver must do the driving. I like to do my own driving. For the cost, I'd prefer to just use a taxi for a day or two when I have my car in the shop.
Peter – Actually, I would consider P500 for installation of a water heater to be very expensive! At the places here in Davao that sell water heaters, if you purchase the heater, the installation is free! I'd probably give P50 or P100 tip to the installer, but it certainly would not be required. Think about this…. the installer probably makes no more than P200 to P250 per day in wages, so the tip you gave is quite large! I am certain that he appreciated it, though.
It's time to use your Cadil-lakad, Bob 😀 Just make sure you have your umbrella with you and a bottle of H2O!
Hi jul – Ha ha…. I had to ask Feyma about that Cadil-lakad! Funny. 😆
Hi Bob- It always amazes me that when a vehicle is being repaired in one of the small town repair shops every thing from an engine overhaul to a brake change is done with the minimum ammount of tools.If you count the Philippine basic tools as a hammer,chisel and ajustable wrench and with that they could keep a Ferrari on the road.Seriously knowadays most service centres in the west have computers to do the engine performance diagnostics etc so as the new models replace the old the local mechanic is going to be out of a job soon I suspect. Maybe there is scope to leave the vehicles used in the developing world as alternative technology so that they can continue to be repaired at the local garage without the need for sofisticated technology.That way the cost will always remain reasonable.
Hi Jim – Here in Davao where I live, they have the computers needed to work on modern cars.
Hi Jim and Bob … you might like the post I made a few weeks ago on my car reapir/dealer expereinces: http://philfaqs.com/driving/visit-to-the-dealer/
I would put this chain up against any dealer of any brand world-wide. They invest heavily in employee training (customer service and technical skills) and their facilities are first-rate. I used to know a lot about working on cars … now I can't even identify a lot of the computerized test equipment that's in the service bays today.
Not every olace in the Philippines is "third-world" that's for sure … and as with Bob's experience, they are cheap as well. I looked and this particulat company only has branches on Luzon … perhaps folks in other places can comment on their local situation.
Hi Dave – In general I have had good service from our local Mitsubishi Dealer. A couple of times I have caught them doing something that was not quite right, but that is an exception, I'd say.