Looking at getting a '12 Advance with some accessories installed. What's a fair price for a labor hour?

 

That's a loaded question with many varying answers. Fair to one person is not going to be fair to another and the labor rates are going to vary dealer to dealer.
If you are looking at a brand new vehicle, you may want to try and negotiate free installation as part of your overall deal or buy the accessories from one of the vendors here on AZ and do it yourself.

 

Acura dealers can charge upwards of $110 per hour - $125 at some dealers.

 

my dealer charges $117/hr. then you have the book time and then actual time spent doing install/repair. dealers will general quote you a "book" time which will make most people either laugh in the face of the sales guy/service advisor or your jaw will remain on the floor. accessories can be had for much cheaper than the MSRP pricing of the dealer (this is how they make a few extra bucks on you), and even less if you DIY. i just installed running boards on my MDX...DIY with an extra set of hands. the price of the running boards was significantly less than MSRP. i'm sure the dealer would have charged a minimum of $2-300 for install. a couple of our vendors can get these parts (they are 100% genuine OEM) for you at a pretty good dscount. if you're looking for a tow hitch (go aftermarket, its way cheaper and its a pretty straight forward DIY). dealer will want over $700 for the hitch and install. i paid $200 for draw-tite hitch and DIY the install. so the mark up is ridiculous.

my dealer quoted me $895 for aspec suspension INSTALL (not the suspension parts) with alignment (i laughed) for my TL. i got it done with my brother for F-R-E-E and some quality time with him. i did get the alignment done at the dealer ($125).

what accessories were you looking to get? if you get it with the car at the time of purchase, try to get them to throw it in as a pkg, but know what the pricing of these accessories are (invoice and MSRP). go to acuraoemparts and you can find this info.

 

Mine wanted $150 to install sport running boards. Not sure what that entails...Was lower than I expected though.

 

Looking at having the dealer do all the installs at once, just to get it done. Unless, of course, I feel I'm being gouged.

Here's what I'm figuring is a fair amount of installation hours:

Tow Package 1 Trii-Fold Cargo Tray 0 Body side moldings 0.5 Cargo Net 0 Black Roof Rails 0.5 Black Roof Crossbars 0.25 Rear Bumper Applique 0.25 All Season Floor Mats 0

 

Make sure they give you fair pricing for the accessories themselves... I went to a dealer across town to do all the installs... Dealer I bought my MDX from, felt I practically stole the MDX from them with the price they sold me the car for, so wouldn't budge on anything for accessories or installation...l

Dealer across town basically wanted MSRP for all the accessories, but I got them to price match the internet price from the popular dealers on this site....

 

Definitely negotiate into the price of the car. We ended up getting the Sport running boards for ~$600 installed (regular $850 + $150 labor). Once you sign the papers, there's no incentive for them to give you any kind of deal.

 

There is always incentive. If they don't want your money, you'll simply give the money to somebody else.

I ended up going to a different dealer, but if the other dealer was willing to cut me a deal on the accessories and installation, they were obviously still making money on the accessories and labor. There isn't a logical reason why the original dealer would refuse this money, knowing you'll just get it from somewhere else.

When I went back to my original dealer to fetch a few things the dealer forgot, the sales guy was flabbergasted that I bought the accessory wheels, running boards, rack, and a bunch of other stuff from another dealer. He said he thought I was just trying to milk them for extra discounts on the price of the car, he didn't know I was serious that I wanted all the accessories. It's just that accessories weren't a deal killer for me, as I knew I could get a deal on them from elsewhere...

 

Thanks for the help. I've used prices on OEM accessories on sites found here. Usually seems to be around a 25% discount from MSRP.

What do you think of the hours estimated to install these accessories:

Tow Package - 1
Trii-Fold Cargo Tray - 0
Body side moldings - 0.5
Cargo Net - 0
Black Roof Rails - 0.5
Black Roof Crossbars - 0.25
Rear Bumper Applique - 0.25
All Season Floor Mats - 0

I figure at $125/Hr * 2.5Hrs = #312.50

 

Try this link it has all the install times. http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/AI/BFR47307.pdf

 

GL with those labor times...the dealer is gonna laugh at you. but give it a whirl. they are either going to nail you with the price of the accoessories or labor. i doubt they are going to eat some on both.

the OEM tow pkg is way over priced. you can get a tow hitch for less than $200 (aftermarket) and a harness for around $50. you also DO NOT need to put in a new bumper to replace the existing factory one either. body side molding is personal choice...i dont' like them b/c they deter from the lines of the car and they really don't do anything to guard against door dings. i just park further away. the roof rails are a little more involved. probably an hour not 30 min. not a simple plug in play. the cross bars are a little more plug n play.

just sayin' is all.

 

Is this your estimate or the shops estimate?