Service ripp-off?

When you R&R the alternator, the book allows for belt removal. They double charged you, and should credit the labor amount back to you.

Spdloader

I find alot of the dealers are the same now. I try and do most of the work on my truck myself, but we also have an

02 Caravan. Every time that we go to the dealer for our "free" oil changes that are included in the extended warranty plan there is always some extras. 6 months ago I went, and they quoted 575 for new brakes all around, at 45,000 kms. I changed the front rotors and pads, the rear pads that they wanted to change still had over 50% left on them. My total cost ended up being $155. They have suggested rad flush, tranny flush, all of these things well before it is even recommended in the manual. If a person followed all of their recommendations I don't see how someone could possibly afford a new vehicle. Just my two cents. Chad

Spdloader wrote:

window wiper

remains

change...exactly the

Take the battery out and put the walmart one back in and return the new one and at the same time demand a refund for the belt installation fee. Don't ask nice and demand it. I would even by pass the service manager and go to the head guys, like the owner.

Friend of mine is a dealer mechanic (European brand). Their salary is entirely on commission of repairs, no hourly rate. The manufacturer pays a reduced rate for warrany so they need to make it up elsewhere. You've discovered where but you need to know how to avoid this in the future. Interesting too as to how they can bill 16 hours labor in an eight hour shift. They often beat the flat rate manual since they do it day in and out. My Ford dealer's shop rate used to be around $65/hour but it wasn't uncommon for a repair to be $900 (labor only) when I picked it up by 5 p.m. the same day. Go figger. Oh, complaining to the BAR (Bureau of Automotive Rapair) was futile. Once you agree to the verbal or written quote you're suck with it. If mechanic finished in one hour you're still out the quoted price be it $900. Ethical? No. Legal? Yes.

We since moved on from owning Ford's.

B~

Along with the other answers that you have...I bet that they tested your Wal-wart battery *BEFORE* they changed the alternator and the belt. Not after the change and allowing the new alternator to charge the battery... I once had a service department (not Ford, in this case) tell me that my alternator wasn't charging and I needed a new one. The reason for the service was to replace the broken (and now missing) alternator belt. DUH!

The rate is most always figured as 'man hours'. If 2 men are working on the car for an hour, then it's 2 x shop rate ( 2 x $65 = $130). Some jobs just don't 'add up'. It's not brand specific by any means.

Technically, no. To replace the belt, you have to snake it around the fan, maybe take a minute to do, then route it back around the pulleys, maybe another minute or so. In any event, they shouldn't have charged you an hour of labor to do this. Hell, they didn't need to replace the belt at 40k, I just changed mine at 183k! OE belts are fairly durable, IMHO. I would contact a FoMoCo arbitrator about this one.

John Cairns

Yeah, but two mechanics working on the same job should get done in half the time - or somewhat faster. So what you're telling me is that if 10 mechanics are fumbling around with my car it is 10 x $65 or $650 an hour? Sorry, I don't buy it.

Not all dealerships are crooked. There might be one honest one out there....somewhere.

B~

On the wild chance YOU work..... Your hourly billable rate is $10.00 an hour Let's say your boss puts 10 people on the same project. With your line of "logic", he cannot bill the customer for 10 people at $10/hr...just $10 hr total.

What color is the sun in your world?

Never said it was right, just said that is the way man hours are billed. Very common practice for field service reps as well.

Buy it or not.

Check the sun when you pull your head out. It is 'billed man hours'. Logic that as common practice. If you check out standard service rates, some will give this in small print, some don't.

BTW, I do work for a living. I've done industrial service/maintenance for over 26 years. What does that have to do with sharing info?

That's awful to be treated that way. I stopped taking my Bronco to the local dealer. They were terribly expensive, couldn't fix the pull to the left, and broke something else while they had it. I've started taking my truck to a local Fletcher's.

I'm just about ready to dump Sears. They have a new appliance repair scam. Pluse, I've been waiting a week for them to come out and repair my 4 year old $2000 fridge.

Good luck.

NES

Poor analogy and laughable at best. This isn't the way quotes are done in automotive repair. Look at the Chilton Flat rate manual. It's based on the job, not the number of mechanics involved.

Maybe in your dream shop. Ten people should get the job done faster, no?

What a laugh!

B~

I did the same thing, printed the entire thread. Took it to the Ford dealer and they ignored it. Wouldn't do the work. I'd already paid them $1100, the work detailed in the thread was minimal so I did it myself. I ended up fixing my own problem after I'd shelled out big bucks to the dealer.

NES

Just out of curiosity, what was that problem?

Caveat

2000 Ranger

Makes perfect sense. If the book says it is a 16 hour job, they are not basing this on an expert mechanic with 20 years experience. The best mechanics may indeed be able to do the job in 8 hours and with very high repair quality.

Would you prefer to have a new mechanic with no experience take the 16 hours and make you wait 2 days to get your vehicle back? There is also the fact that the inexperienced mechanic may not do as good a job as the expert.