I was recently charged 11 (ELEVEN) hours of labor for changing the exhaust manifold gasket on my 87 Volvo 740 Turbo.
They told me 3 studs broke, and that this is the kind of job that you don't want to rush.
With 192,000 miles under my car's belt, I feel I was robbed.
The damage is done (i.e., I paid because I needed my car), but what do you think about the 11 hours of labor for this job?
Thanks.
Best.
Who performed the repair for you A Volvo Dealer or a independent repair shop. As a Volvo technician this sounds excessive even with three broken studs Glenn
If three studs broke I'm surprised it didn't take longer than that. With no breakage it's an hour or two to replace the gaskets, but broken studs are damn near impossible to get out without removing the head and even then you have to be very careful not to damage the aluminum casting.
Glenn,
The repair was performed by an independent repair shop (exhaust & radiator specialists).
Thank you for reply> ojgd wrote:
Now perhaps you will learn a valuable lesson. Only take your Volvo to someone who works on Volvos all the time. They will know the issues and tricks. I cannot imagine an experienced Volvo tech spending 11 hours on that job, but I can imagine someone who doesn't often work on Volvos doing so.
John
An equally important lesson is "never have work done without an estimate." I don't hold them to a precise number unless I get it in writing or they quote a precise amount, but if they say two hours and try to charge for 5, they don't get it.
Yes, always have them tell you beforehand how many studs they plan on breaking! Maybe they usually do it by just breaking two studs, but they saw you coming alone naively without an estimate, so they thought they'd bill you for breaking another one. Robbers!
I see that you somehow forgot to include the part where I wrote that I don't hold them to exact figures when they give a rough estimate. I'm sure it had nothing to do with that negating your point. ;-)
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