Here in the commonwealth it seems that the dealer wants my wealth to be in common with his.

The annual inspection gives a technician the choice to look for any and all reasons to repair my car.

In October 2023 a timing cover reseal was quoted at $4495. In February 2024 it was $4548. Yesterday the same repair was quoted at $5262.

So in 287 days the cost went up $714. That’s $2.49 per day. 15.7%. Annualized call it 20%.

I’m calling it avarice.

I assume that's an 'Engine Out' service...Ouch!

It just seems to be everything now

I had a quote to trim my huge old magnolia in my back yard done in the summer, it's pretty large and high for a magnolia so I know it's going to take time and need lift etc; $1,250

I couldn't swing it then but would like to get it done early next year and they sent me a new quote; $1,800 WTF

For me there have been several instances of stealerships wanting a lot of money for simple fixes.

On a BMW of my wife's the A/C went out and they wanted $800 to replace the control head in the dash. I was ready to pay but the wife said No-Way, too expensive. Did some research and found out that there was a common problem of a resistor going out on the circuit board and there was even a youtube video on how to fix it. The resistor cost $1.15 (because I had to purchase a package of 2 just to get the one I needed). A little disassembly/solder/reassembly and the $1.15 resistor fixed the $800 problem.

Later on the same BMW an oil change place evidently stripped the threads in the drain hole in the oil pan. BMW Stealer quoted $1100 to replace the oil pan, refused to even talk about rethreading or inserts. This time I was the one to refuse their solution. Again took to the internet and read up on possible fixes. All it took was a new, longer, oil pan bolt. The longer bolt allowed getting into an area that wasn't stripped. This time I had to buy a box of 10 bolts to get the one I needed. $11 for the box.

Take THAT BMW!

Sadly, the industry is heading for a rude awakening.
In defense of the Service Departments, overhead cost have risen a lot like everybody's has more than greed, IMO.
It is still way, way too much for regular folks.

On car inventories ~ they are rising every day, sitting on the lot not selling.
Paying $60, $70 thousand for a car is ridiculous.

No wonder Service is trying to make up for their losses.

I think they are all going to be hit hard pretty soon.

I do get the rant though.
I was quoted $1400 to replace my starter, it is not an easy job (look up Nissan Titan starter- labor intensive) and I did mine for about $300 or so in parts.

Something has got to give.

Recently was quoted nearly $400 to replace my blinker/washer/brights/wiper control as the wipers stayed on intermittent. Decided to tackle it myself. $49 part and about 10 minutes worth of work.

Manufacturers sell cars to dealers. They only get in trouble when allocations start getting refused. Dealers are on the hook for the unsold inventory. Dealers will probably stay afloat due to the recalls. Doubt they will prosper without manufacturers kicking in some major incentives to move current inventory. Even if the manufacturers do, up to 40 percent of customers are upside down are their current loans.

I never take my car to the dealership for anything other than warranty work because whatever they charge is double or triple what you pay a independent mechanic. Fortunately I have a great mechanic that does great work at a reasonable price but good mechanics can be hard to find.

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
I never take my car to the dealership for anything other than warranty work because whatever they charge is double or triple what you pay a independent mechanic.

And 10x what you'd pay to DIY.

Another great example: I've lost count of the number of folks whose minds I've blown by showing them that it takes only a couple minutes to replace your cabin air filter and engine air filter. On nearly every vehicle out there it's ~$20 for both filters and less than 5 minutes total in labor to do both, whereas the dealerships want to charge them $80-$100 each.

Wow! Didn't know that they were that bad.

On a lighter note, I was recently able to swap out the leaf springs on my truck with a pair from the junkyard.

Set me back 67 bucks and a few hours. That gave me an excuse to take the money I 'saved' and get an MP320 that I didn't need.

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:

...Fortunately I have a great mechanic that does great work at a reasonable price but good mechanics can be hard to find.

I'm in an area where they are impossible to find! For every good recommendation somebody gives me there are five or more people who got screwed by the same guys.

I need some standard maintenance done for my Chevy Cruze, the timing belt scheduled replacement, and I can't find anybody trustworthy to do the job. The dealership where I bought the car quoted me $950 which is, ironically, the level for getting arrested in California for theft like this.

The dealership used to be good, until they weren't anymore.

I brought my Porsche in the the local dealer for an annual inspection and was offered the annual service for ONLY $2495 plus tax..

The annual service this year is an oil change and a look around. Fortunately I have a good local mechanic who will do it for about 10% of that cost…

I guess I'm lucky. My local dealer does good work, fast, and with OEM parts. I've been going there 20 years. His prices run maybe 15 to 20 percent more than the local crooks, but it's worth it to me. I won't buy a car there, his new stuff is way overpriced, but the service is great.

My sister just paid the stealership $485.00 to put on a new serpentine belt.

25 years ago I told a girl in the office I would replace the pads on all 4 wheels on her Mustang
for 100-125 bucks for just pads if that's all it needed. Didn't trust me. Dealer sold her pads,
rotors, calipers, 2 brake lines, fluid flush, etc. I bit my tongue when she told me.
When I left work I peeked under her car. They put 4 sets of pads on and charged her 1800 bucks.
I quit offering to wrench on other peoples cars except for family. Hell, even my dad didn't trust
me and he got ripped off.

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
...They put 4 sets of pads on and charged her 1800 bucks.

I quit offering to wrench on other peoples cars except for family.

Hell, even my dad didn't trust me and he got ripped off.

Well, it sounds like they didn't deserve your generosity but good for you for trying.

In the meantime, physician fees are cut by almost 3 percent this year. No longer are physicians highly paid specialists.
According to the American Medical Association, Medicare physician fees have decreased by approximately 29% when adjusted for inflation since 2001, signifying a significant decline in physician payments over the years through Medicare.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
I guess I'm lucky. My local dealer does good work, fast, and with OEM parts. I've been going there 20 years. His prices run maybe 15 to 20 percent more than the local crooks, but it's worth it to me. I won't buy a car there, his new stuff is way overpriced, but the service is great.

It damn well ought to include a massage while you wait, at a 20% markup over the market, but your choice.

In the mid 70’s GM realized that once a car was out of warranty it was rarely seen in a dealer’s service department. Many reasons were cited, price of parts together with price of labor and quality of the work done.

So they started with the Mr.Goodwrench program. Competitive prices with the independent shops in both parts and labor, quick turnaround times plus a factory backed warranty. For many years this worked, Ford and to a lesser degree Chrysler followed suit.

For many years this was a good program at least with GM. But as usual, they killed the goose that laid the golden egg. Slowly but surely bit by bit we’re returning to that era.