Does a diagnostic fee cover multiple issues or one?

Each issue is its own diag. Unless all the symptoms happen to be caused by 1 problem. In which case, fixing the 1 problem fixes multiple issues. For instance, a failing battery will shut down components 1 by 1 triggering multiple codes and issues. Of which you should be charged a hour for batt diag.

It’s an hourly rate. Charge by hour. However long it takes to fix, that’s what you charge. Whether it’s 1 problem or 10. Charge by the hour.

Simplest answer is, It depends on how many systems have failures, How many pretty lights are on and how long those lights have been on. May have many other codes in the system since the lights came on, Then it becomes a situation on how much time and money someone wants to spend. A single Scan dignosis is not a Crystal Ball.

A scan tool diagnostic is finding a solution to the symptoms the car is reporting. Many codes can pop up to be caused by one problem, or 1 code can be caused by multiple issues. It all depends on that shop on how they apply charges to find that issue. But in general, a diagnostic fee is usually hour by hour, charges how ever long it takes to peel back the layers to find you a fix.

By law, they’ll tell you what the initial fee will be for that 1st hour and it more is needed they HAVE TO call you B4 to authorize any more time to continue.

Depends on the shop. I’ve worked at shops that have a flat diag fee for most things. And I’ve also worked at shops that charge per test needed.

We do it hourly in michigan based on what it says to perform each test compared to the techs’ skill level.

We try to give the customer the benefit of the doubt and bill out another hour only if it really needs it. (Usually they’ll check on the tech at 1hr-15-1hr1/2 if nothing has been found yet.)

And usually there is a cap of how many hours per each issue depending on make and model.

Depends on the issues and the mechanic. It’s usually a diagnostic hour for each issue, depending on how hard the issues are to solve.

We go by time. Diagnostics can range from $80 bucks to over a thousand dollars, depending on what tests are required and what parts of the vehicle need removed to gain access to what needs tested.

If there’s multiple issues requiring more time, it will usually cost additional. We try to keep it fair as possible and find the shortest strategies for pinpointing the issues, while also trying to maintain the productivity (hours worked to hours billed) to keep the shop open.

Sometimes additional time may need to be requested, but it’s important to let the customer know up front.

1h per concern; however if 2 concerns are connected, I would wave that 2nd hour. The key thing is, I won’t assume till I know, so that there aren’t any surprises.

Edit to add; 1 hour per concern to start. Sometimes diagnostics take much longer. For example, a transmission not shifting properly; I would use the hour to confirm that the problem is internal to the transmission, but then reach out and get you up to speed before charging you to lower the transmission and open it up to find what failed inside.