How to price a diagnostic
A diagnosis is labor. Price the time it takes at your labor rate, and get the customer's yes before you start.
Bay 01
Price the time
- A diagnosis is billed time: verify the complaint, scan, test, and find the root cause.
- Price the hours it takes at your labor rate, the same as any labor line.
Bay 02
Separate the regular from the deep
- A regular diagnosis finds most faults.
- When it does not, a deep diagnostic (teardown, scope, bench test) is more time, so it is a second, larger quote, not a surprise on the bill.
Bay 03
Get the yes first
- Put the diagnostic on the estimate as its own line, and send it before the work.
- The customer says yes to it, and to any repair you find, line by line.
Bay 04
Write down what you found
- Whatever the result, the customer is paying for the finding.
- Write it with the measurements (see How to write a 3C story), so they can decide on the repair.
Bay 05
Where Scarab OS does this
- Each check has its own sheet: the regular diagnosis (verify, scan, test, find the root cause; 13 points) and the deep diagnostic (teardown, scope, bench test; 14 points on a car).
- The labor goes on the job as a line at your rate. The VIN picks the rate for the vehicle's weight class.
- The customer answers each estimate line, Yes, do it or Not now. On a job that has been quoted, the work waits for that yes before it starts.
Bay 06
Questions shops ask
How do I price a diagnostic?
Price the hours it takes at your labor rate, the same as any labor, and quote it before you start.
Should I charge for a diagnosis if the customer doesn't do the repair?
The diagnosis is labor the customer said yes to, so it is billed on its own line, whatever they decide about the repair.
What's the difference between a regular and a deep diagnostic?
A regular diagnosis verifies, scans, tests and finds the cause. A deep diagnostic is teardown, scope or bench testing when the regular one didn't find it.
