True dat. But, an indy, a good & fair one, will be much-much closer to actual time than some "book time". that the dealerships use. In my experience.

I have very little free time, even if I had the skills (which I don't) to do this DIY. I'd rather take a 4-5 hour drive through my favorite country roads (which I do).

Good job, Pup. Keep an eye on the coolant level the new few drives. In the morning, when she's cold, top off as necessary, until the level stabilizes. It may take a cup here, a cup there.

Remember a shop has to account for ALL time involved. That includes drop off/pickup of the car, paperwork, ordering parts, jockeying cars around, etc. Actual "wrench time" is only a portion of the job.

Surely any drop-off and pickup are separate charges, not rolled into the labour charge?

Paperwork should not be part of the charge. When you buy an hour of someone's time, that doesn't include them invoicing you. If they're even remotely efficient at ordering parts, it will add but a few minutes. Same goes for moving cars around.

Moreover, moving cars around is their problem, not yours as a customer. What next? Charge you labour hours for the time is takes to clean up the shop at the end of the day? Charge you for their travel costs home at the end of the day?

I know it's not easy to make money and there are large overheads running a shop. But in my experience standard practice is to exaggerate the hours involved pretty dramatically and I don't like that.

Would far prefer they were all more honest and quoted a higher hourly rate.

Fortunately, if you hunt around you will find one or two who do bill just for what they do.