Repair Fraud?

Hi,

Recently I went for a car service and the mechanic replaced CV Shaft and Front Engine Mount for my 95 Camry. He charged $200 and $300 for parts respectively. And the CV shaft is a remanufactured part. When I verified the prices on NAPA website they are charging far less. For example $85 for Front engine mount. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks

Reply to
basva
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welcome to the mechanic world on makin $$$ and quit your bitchin and deal with it!!!! and next time do it your self .

Reply to
tudysmuck

I fail to see any fraud. If you don't like what service techs charge, then do the repairs yourself - like I do.

Reply to
« Paul »

Nope.. It isn't fraud to mark up parts. Did he promise something that he didn't do?

Anyone would be foolish to leave a car at any garage or with any mechanic without getting some estimates on parts and labor, and without setting some limits.

Reply to
<HLS

"basva" wrote in news:1128229358.003110.282090 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

NAPA isnt paying rent and utilities, shop maint., and tool costs for the shop YOU picked to perform the work. i cant say if he is honest or not but i do know that a hefty parts markup is warranted to keep a shop going....im always happy to install customer suppied parts as long as they realize i will charge them %35 markup on labor quoted and wont warranty the part, just the labor...ive ran into many a situation where i replaced customer supplied bottom of the barrel rebuilts only to redo it at there labor expense. no one is happy in those situations...im always happiest when customers walk off after they hear the terms because ive found that the folks that want a $19.95 alt. installed will probably be back bitchin about every other problem they have like i caused it with 3 bolts and a battery charge.........kjun

Reply to
KjunRaven

While I certainly understand all the overhead costs of running a shop and having employees, what I don't like is having that cost arbitrarily applied as a markup on parts. Particularly if I'm just ordering one particular part from a dealer and they aren't providing any labor or shop time.

I'd really like to see basically three charges:

  1. Parts and consumables at essentially fair market cost.
  2. Shop time i.e. use of shop/lift/tools/etc.
  3. Labor

Would just seem to be a more honest way of accounting for the actual costs to me. I'd still expect the labor cost to be fairly high since it would be the cost to the employer, not what the mechanic is actually paid (benefits, etc.).

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

I would agree. The problem is that when you do this sort of breakdown, you find the labor cost and the shop cost cause customers to balk. Nobody out there wants to be charging $100/hr. for labour, because the customer won't pay it. So they juggle costs.

Some folks out there will also spend some bench time checking out rebuilt parts before installing them. I think it's fair to add this cost to the part cost, because it's time that needs to be spent because of the origin of the part.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I was pricing out new transmission mounts and I found them from $40.00 to $265.00 for the same freaking mount!

The only thing you can do is learn the lesson and do your homework 'first'.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

basva wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

Yes. The problem is that sometimes the lesson you learn is that $40 mounts cost you more than $265 ones.

Sometimes you get cheap parts and they fail prematurely. Sometimes you get cheap parts and they are poorly machined, making them much more difficult to install (especially in the case of transmission and engine mounts). Sometimes you get cheap parts and they are just fine.

And sometimes you don't know until you actually open the box and see what you've got. Sometimes you don't know until you try to put them on.

Sometimes you spend an outrageous amount of money for the dealer part, to discover that it's more poorly made than the cheap aftermarket one.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

In my opinion you got ripped off. Twenty percent is a fair markup for auto parts at a repari shop, but often they don't buy from the lowest cost parts supplier. They buy from the supplier with the best credit terms, etc. When I call around for parts I get the same results you do, about

100% difference in price. Hereabouts labour costs are pretty standard except for the dealerships where they are 50% higher. All shop costs should be included in the labour cost, not the parts. That's because they know how much labour they hire but not how much parts they will need. Just good business planning.

To avoid getting ripped off by repair shops people tend to buy more reliable cars, which is playing hell with the North Amercian car maufacturers' sales. If you have the time and inclination to do as many of your own repairs as possible then you can save considerable money buying less reliable cars for lower prices. Often the parts are cheaper and more readily available. You can get this info from car buyers guides and consumer surveys.

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Reply to
William R. Watt

Then again you can get the original maufacturer's part from an auto wrecker for less cost than any new part supplier. :)

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Reply to
William R. Watt

I will agree. I have gone through 4 or 5 aftermarket engine mounts on my CJ7 because my local Jeep dealer couldn't be bothered to carry them and then when they did bring them in the brain dead parts bozo didn't know how to look them up and when you need a mount, you need it now usually.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Reply to
Mike Romain

going....im

If you are operating in Texas and do this, an unhappy customer may well have the legal machinery to come after you. The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act can trip up the unsuspecting.

While I am not saying that what you are doing is morally or ethically wrong, if done incorrectly it could be legally wrong. You would have to check to be sure you are within legal bounds.

For example, in this state, for example, you cannot charge a surcharge for use of a credit card. You may offer a discount for cash payments, but you may never charge a surcharge for the credit card. (If a lawyer has told you differently, you had better get a competent lawyer)

Reply to
<HLS

Sometimes this is true. But, sometimes it isn't either. You have to be careful with anything you buy to be sure it is up to the quality you need.

You can expect dealership parts to be several times more expensive than aftermarket parts. Sometimes they are better, sometimes they are the same, and sometimes they are inferior.

Reply to
<HLS

William, I agree and have saved a fortune over the years buying parts from wrecking yards; however, I believe you'll agree, there are some parts that don't hold true to our premise: for ex., ever tried to buy a set of hood hinges from a salvage yard? I made that mistake ONCE about 35 years ago--blew my mind when I needed another set, which the yard was out of, and I bought them new from GM for much less than the used ones. Found the same to hold true buying used scrap metal where certain sized channel was actually less new than paying for salvage-weight. s

Reply to
sdlomi2

That's why I'd like to see the shop time separate. If the labor cost is just labor, it shouldn't be $100/hr unless you only work on exotics. I'd expect $40-$60/hr would be about right for most labor which should equate to $20-$30/hr for the mechanic. Shop time would be perhaps $20-$40/hr for shop bay, lift, diagnostic gear, tools, etc.

I balk at $20 for what I know is a $5 part, I don't balk at reasonable shop and labor costs. It's really a customer education issue. Perhaps a big sign in the waiting area with a industry average breakdown of costs so that the customers can see the real numbers. I've seen similar stickers on gas pumps showing the cost breakdown with the wholesale gas cost, taxes, more taxes, still more taxes and then the few cents/gal the retailer makes.

Perfectly valid time, although it should apply to all parts, not just rebuilt. New in box name brand parts have been known to be DOA before and a quick bench test / inspection as applicable can save a lot of headaches.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

After reading all the replies I find I am lucky to have a good honest mechanic. He charges $60 per hour labor. I purchased a used vehicle with 41 K miles. When it got to 50K miles Belt(s) would screech on first start up of day. Ok after that. Not knowing previous repairs done before, I asked to have belts replaced and replace whatever is needed on brakes. Picked up vehicle and charges were $30. Belts were in good condition just needed tightning. He pulled wheels and found brakes were OK. I hope this shop is around as long as I need it.WW

Reply to
Warren Weber

. I hope this shop is

A good shop and mechanic are worth supporting. Give them some of the gravy, and not just the shit.

The client and the mechanic need., IMHO, to have a good line of communication. Lots of the problems discussed here that have caused hard feelings could have been avoided had the client and the mechanic been clear about the problems, the expectations, the time frame, and the costs involved.

Reply to
<HLS

Somebody once gave me a Ford Escort with blown valves. I called every junkyard in town, and everybody had a bunch of 1982 Escorts, but none of them had an intact cylinder head....

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

And actually, you have it even nicer with a mechanic - most of them will let you bring your own parts that you can buy from whatever bargain bin you want, as long as they aren't going to be warranting them against failure. I've never been to a restaurant where you could bring your own food to be cooked...

Reply to
Ryan Underwood

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