Mark up on the materials is crazy. Right now I'm not able to crawl around on the ground under the car (at least not without paying for it over the next day or two depending on what's done).

I was quoted $200 by the Ford dealer for engine oil on my BOSS 302 because of the 5W-50 oil. I asked if I can bring my own oil and filter, and the price dropped to $40. So, with parts and labor together the price got cut in half (oil cost about $60-70 and filter is $10).

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Originally posted by Schmelby:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:


Sounds like you are very handy. Something which is being lost with our younger generation coming up.

I've shown my son probably six times how to change his oil.
He goes to Jiffy Lube. I give up.

A $130 charge for a service on your GoldWing is cheap. A good shop will also inflate and inspect your tires, check thickness of your brake pads, check lights, horn and visual inspection of your bike. Lubing the kickstand and footpegs and pivot points. All while disposing of your old oil, keeping records of your service intervals and warranting their work.

quote:

the price dropped to $40

That is the most generous and accommodating dealer I've ever heard of. You should take donuts too.....

The shop that quoted you $1500 for the knock sensors is overcharging. Would like to know what there labor rate is. NAPA make a kit for both sensors and a wiring harness for $140. Intake gaskets are $100 and labor guide shows 2.5 to 3 hrs labor. That should be a total of about $500 - 600. I am a automotive shop owner and I understand making a profit and I also understand gouging people. Haven't figured out why garages and dealers have to do it but it is rampant and most people dont know any better.

Fuel pump on Seirra died, (this was years ago) Towed it to nearest shop. Can you give me quote; yes, we need to run diagnostics…. Stop by the next day. Yes, it’s fuel pump, it’ll cost $1300 to replace. No thanks. So he gives me a bill for $90 to run tests. Uuuggh, fine. But the kicker was when I went to fix it myself, I found he had drained the gas tank….poof, another $30-$40 gone. The oem pump online was $300 (almost 50% off his quoted price). I find $1000 for a couple hours work to be excessive.

I understand overhead, and people’s tolerance for it varies, but 2 women working there were shopping online and playing solitaire. I know because I stood & watched them for 20 minutes while he finished his diagnostics.

Over the years, there are four shops including two dealers that Mrs. BB61 and I swear they actually. made things worse and on purpose to get us to come back. Then just before C19 hit, we bought my parents 2004 Toyota Avalon from my parents for my girls in college. Right after we got it, we had a noise in the rear-end develop. My parents had it “fixed” by the dealer just before we go it. Long story short, I had recommended to me a local independent shop that looked like something from the Andy Griffith show. I tried them. $60 dollars in parts and labor combined and it was fixed. My parents paid more than that for the improper fix.

Next, I took our Armada into them to see what was the matter for a code that was flashing. They had it for nearly a week. Every time I drove by it was up on the lift or still in a bay. At the end of the week the owner called. He told me that he believed it is a computer problem. But as he is not a dealer he can’t confirm it. The part we needed, if he was correct, was $1,000. If he was wrong, it would still cost $1,000 as he couldn’t return it. He then told it was unfortunately a dealer fix. For his week of work, it cost me $50.

He now has by Tacoma. The alternator went out. I’ve replaced an alternator once before and I swore I would never do it again. I’d rather pay him.

As for motorcycle oil changes. You are right, they are very easy. At least for dirt bikes. But for my Toyotas, if I buy from the dealer a 3 oil change package for synthetic oil, I I get a big enough discount that it is only about $20 more than if I do it myself. The $20 in time is worth it to me. But that is all they do anymore.

I guess I'm lucky, I was looking for an independent garage and was told to go to a certain one.

They're awesome. The techs are on a very nice weekly salary, not flat rate, so they have no incentive to oversell. They are all good, if they end up not being good, they're sent packing.

The only problem is that they are usually at least a week behind, sometimes 2 weeks, so it may take awhile to get your vehicle fixed. I'm ok with that as I have a spare vehicle.

You just really have to ask around, as much as you can, to find really good strong recommendations, sort of like finding a needle in a haystack. They're out there, just hard to find.
.

quote:

Originally posted by Calif Phil:
A $130 charge for a service on your GoldWing is cheap. A good shop will also inflate and inspect your tires, check thickness of your brake pads, check lights, horn and visual inspection of your bike. Lubing the kickstand and footpegs and pivot points. All while disposing of your old oil, keeping records of your service intervals and warranting their work.

A good shop might, but also might not. The "visual inspection" from hurried mechanic getting payed flat rate, with bikes backed up to get worked on, may be the extent of it other than the oil and filter change itself. OTOH when you take your time goimng over your bike you KNOW it was checked thoroughly.

quote:

Originally posted by simmy952:
The shop that quoted you $1500 for the knock sensors is overcharging. Would like to know what there labor rate is. NAPA make a kit for both sensors and a wiring harness for $140. Intake gaskets are $100 and labor guide shows 2.5 to 3 hrs labor. That should be a total of about $500 - 600. I am a automotive shop owner and I understand making a profit and I also understand gouging people. Haven't figured out why garages and dealers have to do it but it is rampant and most people dont know any better.

I don’t think they gave me a printed quote and if they did I don’t have it anymore. When I told them they were the most expensive of my three quotes and what I saw I could get parts for they tried saying they have to use the best quality expensive parts to warranty their work….blah….blah….blah.

quote:

Originally posted by Calif Phil:
A $130 charge for a service on your GoldWing is cheap. A good shop will also inflate and inspect your tires, check thickness of your brake pads, check lights, horn and visual inspection of your bike. Lubing the kickstand and footpegs and pivot points. All while disposing of your old oil, keeping records of your service intervals and warranting their work.

Well unfortunately I have no idea if they do all those things. They may say they do, but I have no way of knowing. When I had them replace the air filter they did not put one of the covers back on correctly and I did not figure that out for a few weeks. When I took it back they refused to fix it since I didn’t catch it that day and maybe I had messed with it. It Is a cover that is not easy to remove and put back so I am stuck with it until next repair.

The age old problem regarding mechanics and repairs. Do you take it to the "stealership" or an independent. There are some crooked dealerships, and some shady independents. I've been molested by both. Since the warden and I work so close to home, we barely put any miles on our cars. I may put 5,000 a year on my Audi, and she about 8,000 a year on her GMC SUV, and this is only because we use her car for road trips. My Audi mechanic has retired. I spoke with a Lodge brother who has 200,000 on his Volvo. His shop works on Audi's too, giving his shop a try this week for brakes and an oil change. If I'm impressed, the warden's car may have found a new doctor too. My Harley goes to the dealership. The only things I'll put my 12 thumbs on are my lawn mowers.

Guys on the other thread are defending charging 115 bucks to seal a windshield crack. Overhead and stuff. FML.

Just an update....Went to the new independent for my Audi. Stopped by a couple of days before and dropped off my maintenance binder showing the records of what had been done to the car. I knew I'd be needing at least brakes and rotors on the front. The car was completed in one day. Replaced the brakes and rotors in front, and replaced the brake fluid. Replaced the oil/filter, and lubed chassis. Flushed radiator, and replaced tranny fluid and differential fluid. Picked the car up at the end of the day. Charges were fair considering all the things they did. They accepted a check (I saved them 3% by not using a card). Very happy. I received a text from the owner thanking me for the business, and stating that the next oil change was free. Looks like I've found a new place to bring both cars.

I have been using the same family owned shop for the past 10 years. Great service and reasonable prices. The owner always sends a follow-up text asking how the service was.

Had 105K service done on my Acura V6. Plugs, timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt, transmission fluid, rear differential fluid, transfer case fluid, brake fluid, oil & filter, tire rotation. $1,500.

Local Acura dealership quoted me $2,100 for exact same service.

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Originally posted by Graniteguy:
I have been using the same family owned shop for the past 10 years. Great service and reasonable prices. The owner always sends a follow-up text asking how the service was.

Had 105K service done on my Acura V6. Plugs, timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt, transmission fluid, rear differential fluid, transfer case fluid, brake fluid, oil & filter, tire rotation. $1,500.

Local Acura dealership quoted me $2,100 for exact same service.

That sounds very reasonable. As long as the front of the engine is all taken apart to change the belts, makes sense to change the water pump to.

When I was stationed at Fort Sill, OK, I knew a guy who had a Lexus ES330. For some reason he took it to the dealership in OKC. They quoted him $1,200 for brakes, not sure if it was just pads or pads, rotors and brake fluid flush. He called me and asked what he should do. I said I can show him how to do it, we can rent a bay on Fort Sill at the auto center. Showed him Rock Auto where he bought the parts. We spent a few hours on a Saturday morning doing the brakes (pads and rotors), engine air filter and synthetic oil change for maybe $400 or so. He bought lunch and we had a good time.

Another guy I knew had a Chevy pickup and went to Firestone in Lawton for brakes. He said the service guy quoted him "$800 with a discount, I'm a retired First Sergeant and take care of service members." Buddy comes out and calls me from the parking lot asking if I knew how to do brakes. We went to the same auto shop on Fort Sill and I did 4 brakes, new rotors and new pads for about $250 in parts plus a big dinner. I sure enjoyed that dinner!

I don't fancy myself a mechanic but I can more than hold my own when it comes to auto work.