So tell me if I got screwed over at the auto-repair shop...(alternator)

[grwhitefan]

I'm sure I'll catch some flack from some of you on this.....

 

My Ford F150 broke down on the interstate last night, (new) battery just drained as I was driving. I'd suspected it was my alternator, had replaced the battery the day before - battery light still staye on though. I was a mile away from this reputable auto shop, so I called them & had them tow to their shop. It's below zero here & not interested in trial-and-error myself.

 

I was thinking bill would come to ~$275.00.....($125 - refurbished alternator, $100 labor, $50 -towing). Picked the truck up today, bill was $450!! Here was the breakdown:

 

$166 - Alternator

$55 - Serpentine Belt (I'm not sure it was bad, but could not dispute it)

$8 - Shop/hazard disposal

$153 - Labor (2 hrs) - incl. diagnose electrical, repl. alternator, move idler to right side of engine (I guess it was on wrong side? I had no idea)

$69 - Towing

 

I questioned the guy, but he took his time to explain things & seemed honest enough. It's been years since I've had to replace an alternator.......& costs are not cheap anymore. Opinions??

[Ovid9]

Give me a bit more info and I can give you an idea.

 

What year and engine is your F150? 4x4? Probably has A/C I would guess?

 

Also, he should have called you to ask about the Belt. Its not a bad idea to replace it since it has to come off anyway, but it still would've been nice to know.

[syscrusher]

 

I'm sure I'll catch some flack from some of you on this..... My Ford F150 broke down on the interstate last night, (new) battery just drained as I was driving. I'd suspected it was my alternator, had replaced the battery the day before - battery light still staye on though. I was a mile away from this reputable auto shop, so I called them & had them tow to their shop. It's below zero here & not interested in trial-and-error myself. I was thinking bill would come to ~$275.00.....($125 - refurbished alternator, $100 labor, $50 -towing). Picked the truck up today, bill was $450!! Here was the breakdown: $166 - Alternator $55 - Serpentine Belt (I'm not sure it was bad, but could not dispute it) $8 - Shop/hazard disposal $153 - Labor (2 hrs) - incl. diagnose electrical, repl. alternator, move idler to right side of engine (I guess it was on wrong side? I had no idea) $69 - Towing I questioned the guy, but he took his time to explain things & seemed honest enough. It's been years since I've had to replace an alternator.......& costs are not cheap anymore. Opinions??

 

 

Honestly, that's sounds good. 2 hours of labor seems a little much but I'm sure they got some over head. I spent $300 doing it myself for a top of the line alternator and new battery. Did it in about than 30 minutes.

[82camaro355]

It sounds to me like he got the best of you. F150 alternators are for the most part right on top of the motor, and usually take about 30 minutes at most to change.

[DEADBYDAWN]

It depends what brand alt. he put in but yeah the other stuff seems close to what a shop will bang you for when you aren't a regular and in desperate need.

[Ovid9]

Wow, yeah, he about doubled the labor time all data quotes unless you have something weird. The average standard time (sampling 5 years, 6 engines) is .8 hours, with .1 hour to do the pulley. Even tacking on a bit of a matrix time, still shouldn't have been more than 1.2-1.3 hours.

 

Again, unless you have something different than what I looked at.

 

$166 for the alternator isn't bad. The belt, he really should have called about it. Its...passable he did it without asking, but....not really good practice. As I said its not a bad idea to replace it at the same time though.

[maggotspawn]

Time to get a service manual and some wrenches.

[cap'n'crunch]

I would definately be looking into why the idler pulley had to be moved. That seems rather odd.

[DEADBYDAWN]

I had this happen before. Best thing to do is just buy a new battery just to get home (I made it 60 miles at night). Take the battery back the next day and use the refund as credit towards the new alt. and fix yourself. If it never happens again.

[Ovid9]

 

I would definately be looking into why the idler pulley had to be moved. That seems rather odd.

 

 

Yeah, at first this didn't click since I saw the "transfer pulley" bit in the labor book. But that would just mean the alternator pulley.

 

WTF would you have to move an idler pulley?

 

I'm not a tech though, so I can't say for sure. Just seems...odd.

[grwhitefan]

The guy did call me & told me "one of your idler pulleys is mounted on the wrong side of the engine". Master Lube mentioned to me awhile back something about it looking odd, but truck has been running fine for years, do didn't worry about it.

 

My truck is a 99 Ford F150, 4x4.....5.4l, V8. 140,000 miles on it.....not surprised the alternator went out.

[Sixtonoize]

If it had been mentioned before by an unrelated source, then I'd say that it's probably legit.

If the pulley did in fact need to be moved, then 2 hours seems a bit long on labor, but not ridiculously so.

 

Honestly, I don't think that the prices you quoted are that out of line.

It would take me longer than 2 hours and more than a 6 pack to complete the job.

[Ovid9]

The guy did call me & told me "one of your idler pulleys is mounted on the wrong side of the engine". Master Lube mentioned to me awhile back something about it looking odd, but truck has been running fine for years, do didn't worry about it. My truck is a 99 Ford F150, 4x4.....5.4l, V8. 140,000 miles on it.....not surprised the alternator went out.

 

Weird. That could also explain the new belt though, moving it might have changed the length of belt you needed. Still weird.

 

He does seem to have charged you a bit of a premium on the labor as it looks like it should've been about a .8 job book time but as Sixtonoize points out moving the pulley would add some, so it isn't as much extra as it might seem.

[FastRedPonyCar]

 

Time to get a service manual and some wrenches.

 

 

geez SO this. unless you have a heater core failure or internal engine issues, there are very few things in or on that truck you can't fix yourself or with the help of a buddy in a day's time.

 

My old roomate had an F150 that I swapped the alternator for a higher output one in about 25 minutes.

 

 

then again, if you've got the money, paying someone to do it and you not having to worry about it also has it's advantages.

[DEADBYDAWN]

 

geez SO this. unless you have a heater core failure or internal engine issues, there are very few things in or on that truck you can't fix yourself or with the help of a buddy in a day's time. My old roomate had an F150 that I swapped the alternator for a higher output one in about 25 minutes. then again, if you've got the money, paying someone to do it and you not having to worry about it also has it's advantages.

 

 

Sometimes paying to get work done can be more aggrivation than doing it yourself. Believe that.

[HKSblade1]

That's the service industry. You have to pay for all the overhead expenses, then pay for your car repair. Then they add charges to throw your stuff out since you are not permitted to. Most likely you paid FULL retail on the parts. Have to remember, they charge more on simple jobs to make up what they can't recover on tougher jobs.

 

Think that's bad, you'd have to see warranty claims!! They call them claims because that what the service company claimed was wrong or replaced.

[Ovid9]

That's the service industry. You have to pay for all the overhead expenses, then pay for your car repair. Then they add charges to throw your stuff out since you are not permitted to. Most likely you paid FULL retail on the parts. Have to remember, they charge more on simple jobs to make up what they can't recover on tougher jobs. Think that's bad, you'd have to see warranty claims!! They call them claims because that what the service company claimed was wrong or replaced.

 

Out of curiousity, why wouldn't he have?

 

Oh, are you saying in comparison to buying the part himself and doing it? That makes sense.

[knucklefux]

they should have called you with what they found and what they planned to do BEFORE doing it, period.

 

if it were me, i'd have demanded that they put the old belt on and put the pulley back where i had it.

 

then again, i'd have changed my own alternator

[Crunchtime]

It seems he milked you on the labor and kept your core charge from the old alternator. He should have called you on the belt or at least kept the old one so you could use it as an emergency spare. On the bright side I think the towing was fairly priced. Around here it's a flat $100 anywhere in town.

 

Also, not to be a dick but, if you don't know what condition your belt is in you had it coming, some would think.

[HKSblade1]

Out of curiousity, why wouldn't he have? Oh, are you saying in comparison to buying the part himself and doing it? That makes sense.

 

You are always going to pay full retail on parts at those shops. The warranties are as good as fixing it yourself too. 50 feet or 50 seconds, whichever comes first.

 

If you can DIY car repairs etc try it. If you can't, you are at their mercy. I'm not saying the OP price was inflated, its just DIYing has no overhead expenses like a shop would.

 

My wife took the car in for CHECK ENGINE problem. Mass air flow sensor was bad. The part was $188 and the labor was $170. They found a bad door latch sensor too. That was $155 and the extra labor for that was $130.

 

I think they sprayed the MAF sensor and cleaned it. Never got the old part even though we asked for it. The door thing was supposedly a motor and sensor, but we didn't get those parts either. ONline the parts are available individually. Sensor is about $8 and the motor assy $52. We got ripped off, or we just paid their overhead for a few days.

[Ovid9]

You are always going to pay full retail on parts at those shops. The warranties are as good as fixing it yourself too. 50 feet or 50 seconds, whichever comes first. If you can DIY car repairs etc try it. If you can't, you are at their mercy. I'm not saying the OP price was inflated, its just DIYing has no overhead expenses like a shop would. My wife took the car in for CHECK ENGINE problem. Mass air flow sensor was bad. The part was $188 and the labor was $170. They found a bad door latch sensor too. That was $155 and the extra labor for that was $130. I think they sprayed the MAF sensor and cleaned it. Never got the old part even though we asked for it. The door thing was supposedly a motor and sensor, but we didn't get those parts either. ONline the parts are available individually. Sensor is about $8 and the motor assy $52. We got ripped off, or we just paid their overhead for a few days.

 

Yeah, that's seriously not cool. If you didn't ask beforehand, there's the possibility the parts were already trashed, but if you had, and they still didn't produce them.

 

I hate stuff like that, makes my whole industry look bad. (I'm in parts, but I make 95% of my living selling to our service department.)

 

Its gotten harder to make good money as a tech or writer as it was 20-25 years ago, cars just don't need as much maintenance. (And by extension in parts. I'm a relative newcomer with 5 years in the business, but all the guys in my department have been in it at least 25 years.)

 

But the tactics some places (too many places, and sadly my place sometimes) have taken to attempt to recoup the difference are very short sighted and going to hurt them in the long run as they drive customers to places that won't rip them off with stuff they don't need or "magically" discover problems.

 

Sometimes stuff just goes wrong and breaks or wears out etc. Other times "well, we need 3 more hours to hit bonus..."

 

I won't start ranting on the various "flushes" and assorted "services" they sell.

 

/rant

[knucklefux]

back when i was a service manager, i sold the {censored} out of some brake flushes

[HKSblade1]

Yeah, that's seriously not cool. If you didn't ask beforehand, there's the possibility the parts were already trashed, but if you had, and they still didn't produce them. I hate stuff like that, makes my whole industry look bad. (I'm in parts, but I make 95% of my living selling to our service department.) Its gotten harder to make good money as a tech or writer as it was 20-25 years ago, cars just don't need as much maintenance. (And by extension in parts. I'm a relative newcomer with 5 years in the business, but all the guys in my department have been in it at least 25 years.) But the tactics some places (too many places, and sadly my place sometimes) have taken to attempt to recoup the difference are very short sighted and going to hurt them in the long run as they drive customers to places that won't rip them off with stuff they don't need or "magically" discover problems. Sometimes stuff just goes wrong and breaks or wears out etc. Other times "well, we need 3 more hours to hit bonus..." I won't start ranting on the various "flushes" and assorted "services" they sell. /rant

 

One of those things. If I could have fixed it myself I would have. I wasn't there when my wife approved the work so it is what it is. I don't think they ripped us off, I just think we paid the overhead expenses too. I keep in mind other businesses have employees, pay benefits/op expenses. Gas is $3.00 or more/ gallon so again, its charging what the market will bear. Service companies must do the same.

 

Cars do break a lot. {censored} they have sensors for everything and that is most of what keeps me from fixing them. I used to work on all my older cars. Now if the idiot light is on and the door is closed, {censored} it... it stays that way.

 

I know a ton of people that say {censored} the ABS light and its retarded sensor. Brakes work fine.... so they won't pay $200/ wheel to fix the sensors just to shut the gatt damn idiot light off. My buddy has an old Nissan Ultima and he has black tape on a few of the dash lights.

[grwhitefan]

I agree with trying to fix things yourself......assist the help of a friend, research the internet, etc..... but like I said - it was below zero, I was broke down just off the Interstate - I threw caution to the wind & hoped for the best. Definitely a learning experience!

 

Thanks for the opinions - I think the bill was legit, although a bit high on the labor side.

[Ovid9]

back when i was a service manager, i sold the {censored} out of some brake flushes

 

 

Lucrative ain't they?

 

I try not to let my irrational hatred of all things related to service departments cloud my vision too badly. Apparently in my short time in the business I've only worked at places where the service managers are completely and utterly useless, or worse than useless. So, I try and keep an open mind as people gotta eat.

 

But good god, selling $800 worth of "maintenance" on a car still under factory warranty? That's pure robbery and a damn shortsighted way to do business.