quote:

Originally posted by SR:
...

You missed that some of us don't do our own mechanical work and are not professional mechanics. Just trying to share our experiences.

And you missed my point.

I do a BUNCH of my own vehicle work. I look to other people's experience, videos, insights, etc. all the time. I do NOT, however, complain about how dealers are trying to rip me off. If I think I can do the job cheaper and safely, I do it. If not, I take it to trained service centers, be it dealers or trusted mechanics and pay them for their time, experience, and costs.

I just felt like the repair shop was taking advantage of the fact I had my truck dropped off there, and I was going to blindly accept whatever number they asked of me; then got nasty when I took my truck elsewhere.

I had a verbal quote of about $1000 from the local Chevy dealer.

Yes, maybe the subject line should have been "Don't get testy with me because I didn't accept your over-inflated quote".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mindustrial,

Didn't a couple of people come in to say that the quote was about the going rate at a big shop for this job?

But this is all confirming Otto Pilot's observation.

It doesn't help that they have to dismantle half the goddamn engine anymore to get to something.

Just putting new headlight bulbs in my Honda Civic is a complete and utter pain in the balls!

It would be great if there were an access panel in these truck beds, or if more cars would have them under the rear seat or trunk floor. Some do.

The owner of a 2004 Ford Explorer should have come to me first. It wouldn't start, and he threw several parts at it, including a fuel pump, not an easy job on this vehicle even with a lift and transmission jack, let alone on the ground. It had a spider in the mass air flow sensor. Cleaning the sensor and replacing the air filter (it was damaged from improper installation, leaving a gap for the spider to crawl up through and get stuck) fixed it. The bill was about $120, but that would still be a ripoff in the OP's mind, I suppose.

I guess it goes both ways.
Back in December, the alternator in my wife's RAV4 failed. I bought a replacement unit at Auto Zone for about $200, and spent the better part of the weekend replacing it. That is a miserable job.
Failed again over the weekend.
Picked it up yesterday from the local garage and didn't bitch too much at the $775 charge.
And before you ask - no, I didn't screw it up when I did the initial swap. I blame the premature failure on the reman process. It was good and dead when I brought it back for the refund.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Didn't a couple of people come in to say that the quote was about the going rate at a big shop for this job?

But this is all confirming Otto Pilot's observation.

First off yes that seems like an appropriate amount to pay, since I have been quoted in the $1,000-1,200, range and I understand that employees need to be paid, buildings and land aren't free, and computers/phones/diagnostic equipment/internet/lifts/etc are also not free.

Second off Otto, that was about one of the funniest things I have read on here in a bit. You summed up how the entire thread (and ones like it) always go.

If you have the skills AND free time AND equipment to do it yourself, yes you can save a ton of money. If you think you have the above, but don't you can cost yourself a lot of time/money and still pay the mechanic for your fuck up.

I can work on cars, I choose not to. I rather pay the $1,200 and just work a little overtime than deal with the mess and cursing.

quote:

Originally posted by mindustrial:
I just felt like the repair shop was taking advantage of the fact I had my truck dropped off there, and I was going to blindly accept whatever number they asked of me; then got nasty when I took my truck elsewhere.

I had a verbal quote of about $1000 from the local Chevy dealer.

Yes, maybe the subject line should have been "Don't get testy with me because I didn't accept your over-inflated quote".

Well, the chevy dealer has a mechanic that probably has done 100s of them and has it down to a science. It's easy to know the little tricks when you only work on one brand and even special tools you've made for making that job faster because you do a lot of them. A general automotive shop is going to have a learning curve on something they haven't seen before or don't do very often.

I was taking my vehicle to a local automotive shop that's highly recommended, but they open the same time book the dealer does and charge me X book hours to do this job and the same price on parts, and I just decided I'd rather take it to the dealer who charges $10 or $20 an hour more, but runs specials that bring down the price to the same as the regular place and well, I know the factory fluids are used etc.

quote:

Originally posted by motor59:
I guess it goes both ways.
Back in December, the alternator in my wife's RAV4 failed. I bought a replacement unit at Auto Zone for about $200, and spent the better part of the weekend replacing it. That is a miserable job.
Failed again over the weekend.
Picked it up yesterday from the local garage and didn't bitch too much at the $775 charge.
And before you ask - no, I didn't screw it up when I did the initial swap. I blame the premature failure on the reman process. It was good and dead when I brought it back for the refund.

Yup, I went through two DOA or infant mortality alternators for the V-Tail before getting the third one, that was actually a good rebuild.

This, in spite of a ton of regulations, paper trail, etc. as mandated by the FAA for anything that gets installed on an airplane with a standard airworthiness certificate.

The alternator is a standard type Delco, with a huge mark-up over the identical automotive-use Delco, the mark-up "justified" because it's for aviation use.

quote:

Originally posted by motor59:
I guess it goes both ways.
Back in December, the alternator in my wife's RAV4 failed. I bought a replacement unit at Auto Zone for about $200, and spent the better part of the weekend replacing it. That is a miserable job.
Failed again over the weekend.
Picked it up yesterday from the local garage and didn't bitch too much at the $775 charge.
And before you ask - no, I didn't screw it up when I did the initial swap. I blame the premature failure on the reman process. It was good and dead when I brought it back for the refund.

Never buy Reman parts from Auto zone.

quote:

I know the factory fluids are used etc

This is a myth as well, the dealers most likely buy the same oil and fluids as the small shops, try shopping around for mass quantities of lubrication products and you will find your choices are limited. They keep factory stuff on hand in the parts department in bottles, but your oil change or transmission flush service is getting a factory equivalent from a 55gallon drum or huge tank behind the shop.

Anyone bitching about a 500 dollar fuel pump has not had to replace one in a Volvo or BMW.

quote:

Originally posted by Jaywendland1981:

quote:

I know the factory fluids are used etc

This is a myth as well, the dealers most likely buy the same oil and fluids as the small shops, try shopping around for mass quantities of lubrication products and you will find your choices are limited. They keep factory stuff on hand in the parts department in bottles, but your oil change or transmission flush service is getting a factory equivalent from a 55gallon drum or huge tank behind the shop.

I know my Ford dealer gets 55 gallon drums of oil, coolant, etc. all motorcraft from Ford. I don't know who else manufactures/sells gold colored antifreeze for example. The dealership franchise has to use factory fluids per most all of the manufacturers. Any dealership that tells you they can't is cutting corners to save cost and not following the terms of their franchise agreement.

I'm in the marine business, I can get 55 gallon drums of Yamaha's oil (2 cycle and 4 cycle) same with Mercury's oiln(2stroke and 4 stroke), Caterpillars, MTUs etc. It's available and easily ordered and all of the factory Marine dealers use ONLY the manufacturers oil.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by motor59:
I guess it goes both ways.
Back in December, the alternator in my wife's RAV4 failed. I bought a replacement unit at Auto Zone for about $200, and spent the better part of the weekend replacing it. That is a miserable job.
Failed again over the weekend.
Picked it up yesterday from the local garage and didn't bitch too much at the $775 charge.
And before you ask - no, I didn't screw it up when I did the initial swap. I blame the premature failure on the reman process. It was good and dead when I brought it back for the refund.

Yup, I went through two DOA or infant mortality alternators for the V-Tail before getting the third one, that was actually a good rebuild.

This, in spite of a ton of regulations, paper trail, etc. as mandated by the FAA for anything that gets installed on an airplane with a standard airworthiness certificate.

The alternator is a standard type Delco, with a huge mark-up over the identical automotive-use Delco, the mark-up "justified" because it's for aviation use.

LOLOLOLOL YUP
If it's in a box labeled marine it's double the auto price. If it's in a box labeled aircraft, it's triple the auto price.

As I have stated, I grew up working in our Family garage/tire store. Some of the funniest times at the shop would be when a car would come in with some kind of miss, we would pop the hood and see that practically every part was new, wires, plugs, cap, 02 sensors etc..

Usually we would find out that the customer had actually "fixed" it but screwed up something in his own work, but it would takes us twice the time because we would have to check first everything this genius did under his tree.

The list is endless. Yes, we have to go through everything you did first before we can get to the real problem.

quote:

"Really? I told you what is [sic] was"

quote:

"I'm 95% sure it's a fuel pump ...

Sure, to use your figures, 95% of the time it's the fuel pump, but what about the other 5%? No power to the fuel pump (various causes) will stop it from running, with the same symptoms. I don't care what anybody tells me, that truck is getting its fuel pressure checked and the circuit for juice and earth, as well as a scan for other codes, whether related to the fuel pump or not.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
With all due respect, NO reputable auto repair shop is going to order a part off of Amazon or Ebay and put it in a customers vehicle. It could have been sitting on a shelf for 8 years, or a chinese knock off or who knows. Also, who is going to warranty it with free labor when it fails a week later.

So if the price is $500 for a factory fuel pump, $1000 seems about right for that job, they have a building, insurance, electricity, the cost of equipment, employees, etc. and what mechanic wants to play with gasoline?

The ONLY times you NEED a factory part is for warranty repair, or if there is no aftermarket support for the vehicle for whatever the reason. I use independent shops for all the automotive work I can't do myself. I only use a dealership for waranty work. I've NEVER paid stealership prices for a factory part. All the indy shops use wholesale distributors so I can't see a reason t I spend the extra dough.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
With all due respect, NO reputable auto repair shop is going to order a part off of Amazon or Ebay and put it in a customers vehicle. It could have been sitting on a shelf for 8 years, or a chinese knock off or who knows. Also, who is going to warranty it with free labor when it fails a week later.

So if the price is $500 for a factory fuel pump, $1000 seems about right for that job, they have a building, insurance, electricity, the cost of equipment, employees, etc. and what mechanic wants to play with gasoline?

The ONLY times you NEED a factory part is for warranty repair, or if there is no aftermarket support for the vehicle for whatever the reason. I use independent shops for all the automotive work I can't do myself. I only use a dealership for waranty work. I've NEVER paid stealership prices for a factory part. All the indy shops use wholesale distributors so I can't see a reason t I spend the extra dough.

Yes, independant shops a lot of times will go with a quality aftermarket brand instead of OEM, but they sure as heck don't get it from EBAY. Usually they go through NAPA or a reliable wholesale distributor. But honestly, on Fords anyways the wholesale cost on an OEM part really isn't much if any than the quality aftermarket wholesale price on most items.