For the labour of an oil change, I was quoted $25 for my car, and $65 for my motorcycle.
To change the oil and filter on my car, you have to reach in a super terrible spot prone to burning and cutting people who attempt it.
On my motorcycle? It's an enduro, I have a foot of clearance and can see the single bolt required from across the driveway, it also requires exactly 2 quarts.
I got quite quick at changing my bike oil, and continued to pay someone else to burn themselves on my car.
Few thoughts / possibilities
- was work done as part of larger work, as incremental?
- does 25$ charge include parts?
- was this a quick turnaround lube shop or an actual qualified mechanic
- do you have a relationship
- what's their business model? A lot of them have loss leaders because when they change your oil for 25 they'll find out you also need a brake change or filter change or or or
$160 last time I got an oil change at the dealership.
There is usually one bottle that meets spec in retail stores, and it is $80 alone.
I kick myself for the VW diesel pretty consistently, but I still have some time left on the Dieselgate warranty extension.
Canadian prices?
Pre-COVID I was doing full synthetic (Mobil-1) for $25 a bottle on sale plus a $15 filter in my other car. A good sale is $45 now.
Everything feels like highway robbery now.
I use synthetic, and their markup is so much it's cheaper to just provide them with my own. Hell their price for filters is more than the parts counter at the dealership.
Quick lube shop, so the least qualified people you can get to lay their hands on your vehicle. Gonna be honest, I check there's still oil in my car when I get home.
And yes, the quick lube shop is always trying to upsell me services I "need", like $100 to change my air filter, or $80 to change my cabin air filter (both which are literally 1 minute jobs), and $20/$40 parts from the dealership. Same with brake fluid flushes and other things.
That being said there's going to be a bell curve. If you're going to ask mechanic for a quote, presumably you were unable to kick start it doth two tries, and now you're in a different bucket.
As well, not all bikes that start are safe to ride. A mechanic may - should - have a safety minded standard of service.
Also remember - if I am doing repairs for fun, I only count the parts cost.
But if I go to professional mechanic, it's $100/hr in labour. So $1000 might be $300 of parts and a day of labour to restore to safe operation an old motorcycle.
That is quite in line with the amount of work I've seen friends do to bring old bikes back on road (well... my friends would spend weeks and dozens of hours, but we're assuming mechanics are more efficient:)