Battery Cable - Negative labor time

0.5 hrtypical

0.5 to 0.8hours on most vehicles

$75typical labor at $150/hr

Battery Cable - Negative takes about 0.5 hr of shop labor on a typical vehicle. Across 31,218 vehicle and engine combinations from 63 makes, most fall between 0.5 and 0.8 hours, and the longest take up to 1.5 hours. Tesla, Rivian and Polestar vehicles tend to take the longest; Opel, Geo and Eagle the least. The exact time depends on your car, so look yours up below or pick it on the home page.

Shop labor rate

per hour

Enter a rate to see the labor cost of each job. Many US shops charge somewhere between $100 and $200 an hour.

At $150 an hour, labor for this job is usually $75 to $120, about $75 on a typical vehicle. Parts are extra.

How long it takes across all vehicles

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Hours, in half hour steps. Each bar is how many vehicle and engine combinations fall in that range.

Battery Cable - Negative time on popular vehicles

2026 Ford F-150 2.7L V6 EcoBoost0.6 hr
2026 Ford Mustang 2.3L I4 EcoBoost0.5 hr
2026 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.5L I4 Turbo0.6 hr
2026 Toyota Camry 2.5L I4 Hybrid0.8 hr
2026 Ford Ranger 2.3L I4 EcoBoost0.5 hr
2026 Dodge Charger 3.0L twin-turbo Hurricane I6 (Standard Output), 420 hp – Charger Sixpack S.O.0.6 hr
2026 Ford F-250 6.7L V8 Power Stroke Diesel0.7 hr
2026 Hyundai Sonata 1.6L I4 Turbo0.5 hr
2024 Audi A4 2.0L I4 TFSI0.6 hr
2025 Subaru Legacy 2.4L Turbo H40.5 hr
2026 Audi A6 2.0L Turbo I40.8 hr
2025 Volvo S60 2.0L I4 Turbo+SC0.8 hr
2026 Porsche 911 3.0L Twin Turbo H60.9 hr
2025 Toyota 4Runner 2.4L Turbo I4 i-FORCE (T24A-FTS)0.5 hr
2026 Hyundai Elantra 1.6L I4 Turbo0.5 hr
2026 Ram 1500 5.7L V8 Hemi eTorque0.6 hr
2020 Ford Fusion 2.0L I4 EcoBoost0.5 hr
2026 Ford Explorer 2.3L I4 EcoBoost0.5 hr
2023 Chrysler 300 3.6L V6 Pentastar0.5 hr
2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.6L V6 Pentastar0.5 hr
2022 Volkswagen Passat 2.0L I4 TDI 1500.6 hr
2026 Subaru Outback 2.4L H4 Turbo0.5 hr
2020 Chevrolet Impala 3.6L LGX V6 (305 hp)0.5 hr
2026 Ford Escape 2.5L I4 Hybrid0.6 hr
2026 Dodge Durango 6.2L V8 Supercharged0.7 hr
2026 Honda Civic 1.5L I4 Turbo0.5 hr
2026 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 3.0L I6 Duramax LZ00.9 hr
2026 Toyota Tacoma 2.4L Turbo I4 (T24A-FTS)0.5 hr
2026 Honda Accord 1.5L I4 Turbo0.5 hr
2026 Toyota RAV4 2.5L I4 PHEV A25A-FXS0.6 hr
2026 Honda CR-V 1.5L I4 Turbo L15B0.6 hr
2026 Jeep Wrangler 3.0L V6 EcoDiesel0.6 hr
2026 Ford Bronco 2.3L I4 EcoBoost0.5 hr
2026 Chevrolet Tahoe 3.0L I6 Duramax0.9 hr
2025 Nissan Altima 2.5L I4 (PR25DD, 188 hp)0.6 hr

Battery Cable - Negative time by make

Make	Typical	Most vehicles	Vehicles
Tesla	1.2 hr	0.8 to 1.2	131
Rivian	1.2 hr	0.6 to 1.2	46
Polestar	1.2 hr	1.2 to 1.2	44
Lucid	1.2 hr	1.2 to 1.2	24
Mercedes-Benz	0.8 hr	0.5 to 1.2	1,804
BMW	0.8 hr	0.5 to 1.2	1,232
Audi	0.8 hr	0.5 to 0.9	777
Porsche	0.8 hr	0.5 to 1.2	674
Jaguar	0.8 hr	0.6 to 0.8	271
Land Rover	0.8 hr	0.5 to 1.2	177
Genesis	0.7 hr	0.6 to 0.7	53
Ram	0.6 hr	0.5 to 0.7	326
Mini	0.6 hr	0.5 to 0.6	144
Smart	0.6 hr	0.6 to 0.6	6
Chevrolet	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.6	3,208
Ford	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.6	3,093
Dodge	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	2,279
GMC	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.6	1,547
Toyota	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.6	1,446
Volkswagen	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.8	1,085
Nissan	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.6	880
Pontiac	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	848
Buick	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.5	775
Jeep	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.6	735
Plymouth	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	702
Hyundai	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.8	699
Cadillac	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.8	687
Chrysler	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.5	620
Mazda	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	617
Oldsmobile	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	557
Kia	0.5 hr	0.5 to 1.2	515
Mercury	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	512
Honda	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.6	499
Volvo	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.8	480
Subaru	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.6	472
Lexus	0.5 hr	0.5 to 1.2	446
Mitsubishi	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	416
Lincoln	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.8	332
Fiat	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.6	315
Acura	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.5	241
Infiniti	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.6	238
AMC	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	166
Isuzu	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	154
Suzuki	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	151
Saab	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.6	116
Saturn	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	108
Alfa Romeo	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.7	87
MG	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	68
Morgan	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	67
Studebaker	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.5	67
Peugeot	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	48
Scion	0.5 hr	0.5 to 0.5	43
Daewoo	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	30
Renault	0.5 hr	0.4 to 0.5	28
Hummer	0.5 hr	0.5 to 1.2	21
Eagle	0.4 hr	0.4 to 0.5	41
Geo	0.4 hr	0.4 to 0.4	37
Opel	0.4 hr	0.4 to 0.4	20

Other electrical repairs

Wiper Linkage1.5 hr typical
Wiper Motor - Front1.2 hr typical
Side Mirror Assembly0.8 hr typical
Wiper Switch0.8 hr typical
Headlight Assembly0.6 hr typical
Washer Reservoir0.8 hr typical
Tail Light Bulb0.3 hr typical
Radio/Head Unit1.2 hr typical
Combination Switch1.2 hr typical
Subwoofer1.5 hr typical
Battery Cables - Both1.0 hr typical
Speaker - Dash0.8 hr typical

Hours are what a professional technician takes with the right tools, the same way shops quote jobs. Figures come from the Open Labor Project database.