Prices
What Parts Cost Here, and Why Lead Time Matters More Than Price
Parts at or below $100 carry 100 percent markup, parts above $100 carry 35 percent. Special order parts require full payment at order. On coach work, lead time is a bigger constraint on your delivery date than price.
The markup, stated plainly
Parts $100 or less: 100 percent. Parts over $100: 35 percent. That structure is standard in the trade and the reason for the higher rate on small parts is that a $12 fitting costs the same to source, receive, stock and warranty against loss as a $1,200 assembly does.
Special order parts: 100 percent deposit at order, non refundable. Special order parts are not returnable to the supplier, so they cannot be refundable to you. A molded cap in your coach's colour is not resaleable to anyone.
Materials are separate, and paint is where it shows
Paint supplies: $55 per paint hour. Body supplies: $5 per body hour. Those are consumables burned on your job.
On a paint job the materials line is large and it surprises people. A 60 hour refinish carries roughly $3,300 in paint supplies at $55 an hour, on top of labor. That is primer, sealer, base, clear, reducer, activator, masking and the abrasives, and it is not padding.
Hazmat and disposal: $45 flat when chemicals, refrigerant or LP is involved.
Lead time is the real constraint
Owners focus on parts price and the parts that actually decide your delivery date are the slow ones. Roof membrane runs 10 to 20 business days. A laminated sidewall panel runs 15 to 40. A molded front or rear cap runs 20 to 60 and on a discontinued floorplan may not be orderable at any lead time.
That is why every service page on this site carries a parts lead time as a data field. It is also why we order at authorization rather than when a bay opens.
Where a part is genuinely unavailable, the honest answer is fabrication rather than replacement, and it is quoted as fabrication so you can see what you are buying.
OEM, aftermarket and used
On structural and safety parts we use OEM or OEM equivalent, and we will say so. On trim, appliances and cosmetic components there is frequently a real choice, and on a coach that is out of production a used assembly from a salvage unit is sometimes the only path.
Where a carrier specifies aftermarket and you would rather have OEM, that difference is usually yours to pay and it is a decision worth making knowingly rather than discovering on the invoice.
Questions
Questions on this
Can I supply my own parts?
Sometimes, on non structural components, and it changes the arrangement: we cannot stand behind a part we did not source, and if it arrives wrong or fails the labor to redo it is yours. On structural, LP and electrical we source the part.
Why is a part on your estimate more than the price I found online?
Markup, which is stated above and is how a shop covers sourcing, receiving, freight, returns and the risk of a part that arrives damaged. The online price also usually excludes freight on anything large enough to matter on a coach.
What happens if a part is discontinued?
We tell you at estimate rather than at week six. Options are a used assembly from a salvage unit, an adapted equivalent, or fabrication. Each is quoted honestly for what it is, and fabrication is labor rather than a part.
Turn a band into a number
The band tells you the territory. A priced estimate on your vehicle tells you the number, and it is credited against an authorized repair.