No, The only shell I have at Nick's house is my Moke, which is awaiting restoration.  To say he admires me, I would dare to say it is a mutual respect and admiration we have for each other.  I met Nick many years ago when I delivered his first Mini to him (which was in pieces) and he was a teenager.  My first encounter with him was to tell him, "hey kid, tell your dad his car is here"...well, I was surprised to learn the car and parts I was hauling was his.  Over time I stopped in at his place and watched him transform that bunch of parts into the best VTEC Mini I have ever seen.  When he went away to college to learn the restoration business, I continued to stop at his place (in Kansas) to visit him and see what his latest creation was.  I have never encountered anyone in the auto repair/restoration business that set his sights on being the best at such an early age and accomplishing it.  His work speaks for itself, and when I decided to restore my Moke, there was no doubt in my mind where it had to be done.  It required me transporting it all the way from TN to Woodland, CA, but believe me, it was/is worth the effort.  We have purchased some of the panels that my Moke will need, but there are several that I have used my drawing talents to recreate patterns for Nick to fabricate them.  When he finishes my Moke I know it will be absolutely the best in the world...and coming from where it was when I took it to him (rust and dents) that is a major statement.

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When Nick did my boot (after Carl scratched it) he mentioned this guy Hugh who was the guru of gurus.  Can't remember how it came up but you have quite an admirer there.  

We have Carl to thank for keeping Boot2Bonnet well-supported.  The place is littered with his previous Vtec attempts, nineteen of them apparently.  Each time he would cart one over for burial at Nick's before starting over with a new Heritage shell

I know of one specialist over here that is reputed to charge aroud £90 per hour for routine mechanical work - the sort of stuff that I do for free or beer...  No wonder I have a waiting list (as do they strangely) and end up doing things on both sides of the Atlantic !

If and when I do charge people, it's usually only a nominal amount and is always a fixed price as I generally insist the owner is with me while I am working- playing with Minis should be fun, so they get to learn how to do stuff for next time and i have smoeone to talk to. 

Shop rate is a huge variable from coast to coast in fact from one town to another, You have to factor in all manner of things inc rent and utilities insurance and all the other costs involved in running a business. And you have to remain competative with surrounding shops. This doesn't include any local gov. tax's and so forth which varies from one county to another.................It was so much easier when I worked for the dealer at $35.00 per hour!! and I had more money at the end of the month!! Anyway my shop rate is $110 in Sonoma county North Bay San Fran..

I think you'll find that most of the East coast folks tend to do their own wrenching.  Very few Mini specialists on this side of the Mississippi (IMHO) and lots of Mini owners helping out other Mini owners in their area.  I know I've put in a few $0 labor hours on other folks Minis, as well as lots of other folks doing the same for me.  But, when I do need a professional Mini person to handle a job (such as a restoration) I took my business all the way to the west coast.  There is no one in the Mini community whose work compares to Nick Upton regardless of their price.

If it's a genuine specialist then although the hourly rate may be higher there are savings to be made in quick diagnosis and faster repair times over a non speciaist that might spend the first half an hour head scratching then go round the houses to effect a repair without specialist tools and knowledge of the marque in question.

I know when cars enter our workshop I've often done trouble shooting with the customer over the phone and have a pretty good I idea of the issue before the vehicle arrives. Repairs can then commence immediately and effectively as we only work on minis all day every day and know them so well.

As an example I recieved a call from another workshop this morning trying to fix a mini steering rack. The guy described the difficulty he had removing the rack as they were not aware to start with that the subframe needs to be lowered. They figured that out, then sent the rack off for reconditioning. On return the rack still had play in it hence the call to us looking for parts to fix it. Out of interest I enquired what they had been charged for the rack refurbishment and discovered it was $200 more than we can supply a brand new steering rack for. So money down the drain on parts, longer fitting time and a less effective repair as old parts are being refitted.

In response to the initial question you cannot factor in restoration or servicing costs when selling on a car. Sure there is some type of premium to add if the vehicle is in exceptional condition or something a bit special but to expect to pass on all or most of your costs to the next guy just doesn't hold water. I ask every client interested in restoration whether they intend to keep the car or not. If it's the later then my advise is always to forget the idea as they will just be throwing money away.

I've got like a book of stories to share

Dimitris, I take it the barter system is still alive and doing well in Greece?  "mechanics ask what they think their work is worth!"  That totally cracked me up!  I'm still laughing.

Smurf, you don't know how good you have it there.  My modified (read not street legal but one day every 2 years) 2000 Audi TT Quattro has to go to an Audi high performance shop that charges $150 an hour!  Heck even my restored VW Vanagon goes to a second generation VW shop which charges $120.  So in fact my Mini mechanics at $100 are the best deal going.  But of course I have complete confidence in all three shops and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.  So it’s not just a City (SF) thing Shawn. 

Zippypinhead, with all the long time Mini experts on this site I knew the second I hit post that there were going to be many $0 shop rates such as yours. 

Dr. Mini, yes we are definitely fortunate with the Mini Specialists here (could it be the weather, population size or high shop rates?).  But when I see all the Mini meets that happen back east compared to here I think there must be a plethora of Mini specialists out there because there are so many Minis! 

Carl,

I think there are also more factors that go into pricing and then actual sold $$ number. A seller's sentiment alone can add a few grand.

$50 and hour for backyard service. $100 is average shop rate in SF but that is city pricing. Working on a specific monster like your car is priceless to get it right. I think the same for a shop that is mini based and knows their stuff.

There is also the seller's and buyer"s know how. Pros that know every nut and bolt year by year are going to want to get a fair and hopefully economical price on both sides.

Shawn

It's hard to find a Mini specialist in most parts of the country.  You happen to be blessed with the best there is working on your car.  As for shop rates though, you can't get someone to work on a Chevy around here for less than $80 an hour.  Anyway, you get what you pay for.  You can have a HS kid work on your car for $10 an hour but it will take him longer to do stuff and it won't necessesarily be right.

No, they don't. They also do not have to cover all the shop overhead/expenses and then make enough profit to keep the doors open when WE need them.

Wow!!  At 100$ an hour I hope you get some hair pulling and a kiss  .  olice officers and people who save your life don't make that kind of money

in Greece depends on the service provided! there are fixed prices for packages like oil change, brake servicing etc but in most cases the tariff is 50e even for just having a look.. mechanics ask what they think their work worths!

Local for me is one beer per hour. [rolleyes]
Of course I am paying myself....
No "Mini Specialist" around here. Just about any shop you take a Mini to will treat it as a "science project".
Might as well get the books and learn something by doing.

And cars will change hands for whatever the two parties agree to. I really don't think shop rates have anything to do with it.

I’ve noticed that when a Mini comes up for sale there always seems to be two parties of thought on the value.  There are those that immediately think that the Mini is way overpriced while the others think the price is right in line or slightly undervalued.  So I’m wondering if this difference in perceived value could have something to do with the shop rates in the part of the country/world one lives? 

Here in Northern California the premier Mini specialists shop rates are $100 or so an hour.  Now if say the shop rate somewhere else is closer to $50 an hour wouldn’t one's perceived value of a Mini for sale be much lower considering they could get twice as much work done on it for the same cost? 

Nonetheless even if this concept is rubbish it would still be interesting to see what shop rates are where you live!