Pricing

We charge for the time we actually spend on your car, plus parts. We bill straight time rather than flat-rate book times: if a job goes faster than expected, you pay less; if age-related complications arise, we stop and get your approval before continuing. There is no diagnostic fee and no separate charge for looking at the vehicle — diagnosis is labor like any other, billed at the same rate.

Labor: $100 per hour, billed as straight time for the hours actually worked on your vehicle. Your invoice itemizes the time spent on each operation.
Parts: Billed at our cost plus a standard markup. Parts are itemized on your estimate and invoice with part number, brand, and price. Small consumables and hardware may appear under shop supplies rather than as individual lines.
Shop supplies and disposal: Itemized separately when they apply, such as fluid disposal or hazardous waste handling.
Taxes: Sales tax is applied at the rate required in Texas and shown as its own line.

How we estimate, and why it is an estimate

You receive a written estimate listing parts and labor before we start. We do not begin work without your authorization, and we do not charge you for work you did not authorize.

Work under way in the shop: a technician at the bench with two covered cars alongside.

We build the labor side of that estimate from published book times for the operation. On an older car, book time is a starting point rather than a promise. A fastener that comes out in two minutes on a new vehicle can take an hour on one that has spent thirty years in the weather, and problems that are invisible until the car is apart are normal at this age. Because we bill straight time, a job that goes faster than book costs you less — and one that runs into seized hardware or a previous owner's improvised repair can run longer.

So the estimate is our honest projection, not a fixed price. What protects you is the authorization rule below, not the estimate itself.

If the work runs beyond the estimate

A red Ferrari 308 driving past a row of storefronts, panned so the background blurs.

If we find additional work is needed, or the authorized work is running materially longer than estimated, we stop and contact you before continuing. You get the revised figure and the reason for it, and work resumes only after you approve. If you would rather stop there, you pay for the hours already worked and any parts already fitted, and we return the car.

If we cannot reach you, work stays stopped until we hear back. A car waiting on an answer is still occupying a bay, so please keep your contact details current with us — storage charges can apply once a vehicle sits beyond the period stated in our terms.

Your final invoice will not exceed the authorized estimate for parts and labor without your prior approval. Sales tax, shop supplies and disposal, and any storage charges are shown separately and are not part of that figure.

What diagnosis can and cannot tell us

Diagnosis narrows a fault down; it does not always find it on the first attempt. Intermittent problems in particular may not appear while the car is with us, and a fault that only shows up cold, or after an hour on the highway, can take more than one visit to pin down. We will tell you plainly what we have ruled out and what we would do next, and you decide whether to keep going.

The same goes for timing. Any completion date we give you is an estimate. Parts for cars of this age are sometimes back-ordered, sometimes wrong in the box, and occasionally no longer made at all — when that happens we let you know as soon as we know, along with the options.

Ready to get your car sorted? Email sales@redcargarage.com with the year, make, and model, and we'll take it from there.