I recently had to change the brake pads and disks on my cars.

Lux Garage: 1500€

Bibis Garage (Garage in Audun le Tiche): 1000€

Norauto in Longwy: 600€ on their sytem with a french plate (same vehicule), then I gave my Lux Registration plate >> 800€ so I finally settled for Audun le Tiche

In reality the parts are 300-400€ (I checked the exact model number of the ones installed by Bibis Garage) and Labour is 1h30 but Of course he told me that nobody would mount parts bought elsewhere.

So my question is:

Is there nobody in Lux that would have the right tools and knowledge to make let's say 200€ for 1hr? I think there's a (private) market to be made here.

Does anybody knows someone like this?

Same question for a simple car interior wash (not a professional detailing) but with someone with the right tools.

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There is a guy in lux who does this for free for your PC (you give him the parts and he fixes/builds your PC) but this is the kind of things I can do myself. https://ihelef.lu/

If you look for someone to fix your bike for a small fee there are people too (I think the guy is [bikerepairesch@gmail.com](mailto:bikerepairesch@gmail.com) but I am not sure)

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by asvengeur

7 comments

  1. Well minimum wage in France is 1000 euro less than in Luxembourg. As generally salaries in France are way lower the hourly rates will also be lower. I don‘t know which luxury garage you went but infrastructure / the building itself simply is way more expensive than the same one in Audin le Tiche… All those cost need to be covered. Not saying that some garages are stupidly expensive but I do think context matters

  2. Buy the tools and DIY!

    First I’d recommend is a jack, breaker bar and a decent socket set, then you can change your wheels/tyres each year and quickly be in profit. I bought tyres *and* steel wheels online and was in profit by the end of the first winter. The only thing stopping anyone from doing this is storage space, it really is a spectacularly easy job.

    Brakes are another incredibly easy job… it’d take me about 1.5 hrs and I’m not a pro and only have jack rather than a lift. I expect a pro could do it easily in 30 mins. You might need to buy a couple of extra tools (I need some torx sockets) but you’ll still be in profit on your very first pad change. Apart from occasionally needing a bit of brute force it’s no more difficult than Lego.

    Oil and filter changes are also trivial, you can even get pre-selected parts kits for most models so only need to add 1 item to your shopping basket online.

  3. Making 200€ is the easy part. Keeping them after taxes is the tricky one.

    For reference: replacing pads, discs and calipers is ~1600€ in Germany.

  4. If done correctly (i.e. legally) then 200€ are gone fast if you can’t scale up sufficiently. 

    You need insurance, tools, a workshop, insurance, etc.. 

  5. Yes.

    On the other hand, outside of the rip off garages here there are some things to consider. Most places charge around 75 EUR per hour
    Parts cost to store and garages often don’t get much of a discount when ordering.
    Profit after parts costs have to take into consideration:
    Cost of tools (way more expensive than people think and have a life span)
    Labour costs (remember employers pay contributions on top of the hourly rate to employees)
    Premises rental
    Insurances (legal obligations ect)
    Cost of qualifications and training

  6. Why stop at brakes? Extend the DIY and swap the engine for a battery and call it a Tesla 🙂

  7. You are being taken for a ride bigtime.

    I still have LU plates and I take it to a dude on the BE side who charges 35-40 EUR / hour for his labor. Also he said if I order the parts and bring them he’ll use those parts. I don’t order parts usually. Your disc and pad change shouldn’t be more than 200 EUR on one axle. Wtf.

    Depends on your car too. I drive a 2007 Å koda shitbox.

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