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Lots of professionals give free estimates. Just call a lawyer, most of them have 1/2 hour free consultation. If you need a new bathroom, just call a contractor and you will get a free estimate. A plumber will not fix your bathroom for free but will tell you how much it will cost. Need to hire a consultant? Define a scope of work and you'll get a free estimate. How about a facelift? A surgeon will be more than happy to tell you what it would cost.
I've never asked any garage to work for free on my car. But surely if your shop charges $80-$90 per hour they don't pay you that much. The labour rate covers your salary, overhead, and profit. And overhead includes, among other items, all the free estimates that will result in paying customers but also covers all those customers that decided to fix their cars themselves. And that's life.
There are many garages out there that will give you free estimates (in Ontario a repair estimate is free unless a notice is posted that it is not). If a garage needs to give a brake job estimate it has to spent about 3/4 of an hour removing the wheels, checking pads, rotors, inspecting your brakes and generating an estimate, all for free. And how about a body work?
So if all those professionals and businesses can give free estimates and remain profitable, surely a simple OBD-II scan need not attract a $40 fee as it is only a tool (and a fast one) to diagnose a problem so then you can estimate the repair much faster and thus reduce your overhead. But it seems that the same shop that could spend 45 minutes checking your brakes at no charge, now when fitted with an scanner that would instantly produce brakes condition report charges you $40 for this.
Happy charging :-)
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