The amount of time that something takes is not what determines its value 🤣🤣

When you are looking at that billing statement, what you’re paying for is the expertise of the mechanic. The time is only a multiplicative factor. And more to the point that statement you are looking at is almost certainly a lie. It’s for your benefit but it’s still a lie.

And I hate to be the one to tell you this and burst you naive innocence but when you go to a mechanic they are not billing you for the actual time they spend working on your car. Only in very rare cases where the problem is unidentified and the solution is open ended will they bill you for actual time.

Most mechanics most shops (and I know a lot because I’m in the trucking and heavy equipment business) are quoting you hours and an hourly rate so you understand the amount of effort that is required. They have flat rate sheets in their system that adds up the total hours based on the type of work to be done. (As a software engineer I’ve actually built these kinds of systems for HVAC companies and custom audio companies) That’s what you are going to be billed for but they aren’t spending that exact amount of time working on your vehicle.

They might spend more time they might spend less (it will probably be less time because the sheets have a built in buffer usually around 30%) but even more time is not going to be reflected in your bill, unless they find another problem.

When you go to a shop and they tell you an hour you are going to pay for an hour even though it’s only going to take 40 minutes and really probably more like 20 or 30 because they aren’t actually working on your car that whole time. But you are still going to pay for the hour.

No shop has time for that kind of time tracking. Besides In an efficient shop mechanics are rarely working on one vehicle at a time and rarely is only one mechanic working on your vehicle. You are getting charged an hourly rate based on the average amount of time your type of service takes. The rate you are paying is the shop rate and it’s has nothing to do with how much the mechanics are getting paid.

Even independent small mechanics are not billing you for actual time. They do not track time like that. They aren’t going to bother. If they don’t give you a flat rate if you insist they will quote you time and a rate but they aren’t billing you for actual time. (Except in very outlier circumstance).

Ain’t nobody got time for that kind of malarkey.