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How not to get taken or how a shop can over charge.

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My Wife has a 2006 Pony. The alternator died Thursday and was towed to a shop in Fresno, Friday they call me to tell me it was going to be $690.22 for a alternator, battery and labor. I almost hit the ground. I called the wife told her to have it towed home. We order a Alt thru Amazon. $95.00 free shipping. It shows up today. I pull the little beastie into the garage and pop the hood. Low and behold! The Alt is right on top. (Never really looked at it before, it is only a V6.) Unbolted the neg battery cable, I swing the belt out of the way, unplug 1 plug, remove the power nut and remove the cable, removed two bolts and a nut. Removed the Alt, Install was the reverse. Time spent, 9 min. Can anyone tell me how that would equal $260.00 labor ? The battery holds a charge and will not need to be replaced for now. WOW ! That would have been a total RIP!
 
Good save and I wished you lived closer to wrench on my car!
 
Stealing is another word for that...
If their hourly rate is around $120 or so, with their assumption of 2-2.5hours of work, total will be around $260.

Glad you didn't fall for their BS. Sometimes they try to take advantage of you knowing it's inconvenient for you to tow the car back or to another shop.
 
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NFSBOSS said:
Good save and I wished you lived closer to wrench on my car!

Would be happy to if you lived closer. I do most of all my own wrenching, the only thing I farm out right now is Motor pulls and Trans rebuilds.

F.D. Sako said:
Stealing is another word for that...
If their hourly rate is around $120 or so, with their assumption of 2-2.5hours of work, total will be around $260.

Glad you didn't fall for their BS. Sometimes they try to take advantage of you knowing it's inconvenient for you to tow the car back or to another shop.

I know right ! Wife thinks he didn't have time to do it, so he bombed us on the price.
 
Sounds a little high. At my shop we would have charged $55.00 for diagnostic, $55.00 to replace the alternator, and roughly $365.00 for a Motorcraft alternator. That's a total of $475.00. Almost $300 for a battery seems high. We would have charged the original and rechecked after the alternator was replaced.
 
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I've got a better one for a 2006 Mazdaspeed6 - which has the Mazda 2.3 DI Turbo, basically the same engine Ford puts in the 2015+ Mustang.

In the intake they put a "swirl valve" that is designed to disrupt air flow a little at certain RPMS to improve torque. They all stick after a few years because the idiots put it downstream of the PCV system. When they stick, you get a CEL. We ignored the CEL for five years, because it didn't affect ANYTHING about the way the car drives.

Guess what. The &^$*%^ Colorado legislature passed a bill last year that said you can't pass emissions if you have a CEL, regardless of the reason. The car passes the tailpipe test with FLYING colors, but they wouldn't give me a sticker.

So, I make an appointment with the dealer. Turns out there was a recall on this, and it was actually done to the car in 2007, but of course, it happened again, and now I'm on my own. OK, how much to take care of it?

$2200 for the parts, $600 for labor! They said since the flap is stuck, they have to replace the entire intake, plus the little valve, which is extra.

Right. You bast***s .

I went on the internet, and in five minutes I found a hundred posts from people with the same problem. Spray carb cleaner in the intake to free up the flap, and replace the $48 actuator, which took all of 60 minutes.

I'm not kidding. They wanted $2800 to fix an issue that I fixed in one hour with a $48 part.
 

576

As with any industry, there will always be those who try to take advantage. Theifs exist in dealers AND independents. Be careful to lump everyone into a bunch of amoral crooks. And yes, I do wrench for a living... at a dealer. Some of us are not so bad!
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
7,530
5,247
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Illinois
576 said:
As with any industry, there will always be those who try to take advantage. Theifs exist in dealers AND independents. Be careful to lump everyone into a bunch of amoral crooks. And yes, I do wrench for a living... at a dealer. Some of us are not so bad!

I hear you brother!!!

I worked at a dealer back in the day. Mechanics can run hot and cold just like a dealer.

Our local shop has 3 mechanics and does a great job with what they do. The shop I bought my Boss from and works on my Boss has outstanding technicians also.

The Local dealership near VIR has a Mustang tech who is on his game also. I had my car go into limp mode at the end of second morning run. Checked codes found a 0315. Had to redo a relearn. Called the dealer, they were heading to lunch. Service writer said to bring it in and their man would be on it by 1:00PM. By 1:45 I was in the car, relearn done and a they made a quick call to Ford to ensure the fix was correct. And I Was a Walk in. I missed only one session. I was impressed.

A dealer in Tacoma mis-diagnosed a head gasket leak and I ended up buying a set of heads. Stuff happens.

There are good dealers and bad. When you find the good ones, pass the word and we can all benefit.
 

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