I'm getting my tooth filling replaced next week.

Anyone know the cost of the two optional filling materials?

I don't mind paying the dentist for good work since I want it to last, but I want to know what I'm paying for the work.

Sir, it is not about individual equipment cost, besides equipment varies by regions and zones.

Should new car dealers break out every part for you? What does that bolt cost?

zl700 is right. I used to sell lennox, and at that time lennox had a list price book with a hi list price in it . than they gave the dealers a percent factor to find there cost, and the dealer would come up with there selling price from that.
Most dealers will give you a contract price on the job, but they are not going to show you there job sheet. All you can do is com pair your bid and check out your dealers, and pick the dealer that you feel, check out your job and will do the best job for you. This might not be the cheapest bid.
later paulbm

At the risk of ruffling feathers here, the HVAC industry uses a business model that to say the least isn't very consumer friendly. One problem is that there seems to be a *lot* of dealers sitting around waiting for their next customer, and when he arrives they badly need to make up for all that dead time.

If they admit to the hardware price you might realize that you're being asked to pay $4000 for two guys - often a well trained tech guy and a helper - to put in something like 16 hours apiece on your behalf.

My equally highly trained car mechanic does really well on around $50 an hour including overhead, probably because he's busy all day; the fact that Mr. HVAC is not, is not my problem. Nor his, as long as there are enough guys willing to pay what he asks, no questions.

Not all hardware pricing is easily available, but it's not too hard to get Rheem/Ruud prices. They're comparable in quality (if not better) to most leading brands (and in fact were at the top of a recent Consumer Reports list).

Goodman is even easier, and a Bryant dealer commented that their stuff cost 15% less (trying to convince me that meant it was junk). In either case you'll need to spend a little time learning about the stuff so that you can compare models. An in the process you'll become an intelligent customer, will know what features there are and what works best for you, etc. And likely earn the respect of your dealer, along with a fairer price.

I'm not sure why you care what the actual cost is. You are free to call as many contractors as you like. Then you can pick the contractor that you think will give you the service you want at the price you want. If you think one guy is charging you too much than call someone else.
You are free to shop for a Honda Accord or a Toyota Camry. You can look at the different cars and then agree on a price. You're not going to get a list of the price of the components of the car and then see that they pay the factory workers $45 a hour.

I'm with johnax on this issue:

I think that there is a lot of inefficiency in the HVAC industry. I don't believe that everyone should be relegated to making $50 an hour including overhead, but I think there are too many guys charging too much (both equipment and labor) and then not delivering on the level of professionalism and quality. I see this in plumbing as well.

You see this in industries where it's difficult to quantify and qualify what is being delivered.

For those that say "just get several quotes" you know as well as I that there a customer could get 10 quotes and none would be comparing apples to apples. For even a savvy consumer it's pretty much a crap-shoot.

Oh, and Funnycide, I do get the dealer's price on a car before I go shopping (including shipping and dealer incentives) and wouldn't go back to "the bad old days" of shopping for a car without that information.

For a 40-hour week, $50 is $104,000 a year. Isn't that enough for a technician? Besides the labor, 20% profit on $4000 worth of condensers and air handlers puts another $800 in the bank. Even two a week puts another $80 grand in the piggy every year. So you'll get no tears out of me.

A couple of weeks ago I stopped at a shop that was recommended to me, to chat about my needs. We talked for two hours, during which his wife called twice and a guy from another local business stuck his head in to ask a question. And it was a hot spell in Los Angeles.

This guy is first-tier for one of the majors, and his truck looked shiny-new, so one could guess he's doing all right for himself. I don't particularly blame him, I just don't want to be the guy who pays for his dead time.

And the way to avoid that is to become an informed buyer, as the OP was trying to do. It's a $7k++ purchase, take the time to learn what's out there, which of it you want, and what it's worth. When this particular dealer realized I'd done my homework he went from trying to sell me $10K worth of stuff to being willing to show me detailed prices for hardware and labor. It wasn't his first choice, though.

A side benefit of knowing what you want, you'll have a better chance of picking a good shop. Probably the same proportion of them as of good doctors. Or any other trade.

I appreciate what you are trying to say johnax, but I'd guess that you don't own a business.

To start with, probably 1/3 of that $50 goes to employment expenses - taxes, insurance, etc. It's not in his pocket.

When you are talking "overhead" I assume that you are talking a stocked truck, tools, shop/office, utilities, liability insurance, probably an office person, etc.

And yes, even for a busy person there is shop time, travel time, parts runs, quotes, etc. that aren't billable hours.

If this is a business owner, he's also entitled to make a profit off of his investment besides the $35,000 that's now left over for his salary because he probably has between $300k - $1m in capital invested in the company.

johnax has never employed folks or run a business.

50% overhead is good, 100% is not uncommon, and in very technical trades 150% is not uncommon.

Or you can hire joe from down the block and when you need warranty work find out he has moved on.

paul63126--I recently got several bids on HVAC replacement for my home. Two of the five itemized their estimates for me. I'm buying from one of them. Find the right contractor; they'll break down the costs for you. Good luck.

If the HVAC business has so many "inefficiencies", then maybe you should just do the job yourself. We're not trying to hide any costs. A fair price is a fair price apples to apples. You'll get what you pay for most of the time.

donniehvac:

Hey bud, I was the author of the "inefficiencies" comment, not the OP. That said, this forum is chocked full of stories of bad service, techs that don't know their superheat from a hole in the ground, dramatically different quotes for the same job (considerably different sized equipment),etc.

How about offering up something more reasoned than what you posted.