Crysler 91 Fifth Avenue- Fuel Pump

I would say he was on the high side of normal but I wouldn't say he ripped her off. The pigtail seems a bit overpriced. It isn't any easy job to replace an in tank electric fuel pump. The mark up on parts is pretty much standard across the board.

Steve B.

thank you Steve. Makes me feel a little better.

It's high but just consider this - if the replacement pump fails, the mechanic is going to do it over for free since he sold her the pump.

Basically your paying for an insurance policy. You could have speced a rebuilt fuel pump to the mechanic and while not all would do it, many would. But then if the rebuilt pump fails you are stuck paying out another $500 or so for getting the failed rebuild out, and replacing it, in which case the only thing the rebuild house is going to hand out is another rebuilt pump in which case you may not want (by then) to use a rebuilt pump.

So in this case, if the new pump fails, your not out anything, but you pay more money initially.

You might also consider that for an 80 year old grandmother to handle this herself without involving you or your dh she sounds like she is pretty independent anyway. For her own mental health you would be a lot better off praising her for handling it rather than making her feel like she couldn't take care of something this simple.

Ted

For free? You know this because you're his boss?

A what?

Umm...no, not necessarily. Service work warranty policies vary from shop to shop and job to job.

The lady didn't go in search of an insurance policy. She went in search of a repaired car.

A "rebuilt fuel pump". Sure, right. For a 1991 Chrysler. Indeed.

Ted, could you please put a smidgen more effort into your attempts to look as though you know what you're talking about? Even just a *small* smidgen?

DS

I agree that except for the pigtail $$,not really over charged. Have you tried to do this work at all? You would understand the work involved.

It takes TIME to do a diagnosis and he should be paid for it.

Greetings, Mrs Bing 357.

And what is a dh?

This is absolutely appropriate. You expect him to work for $0.00/hr to figure out why the car is dead? Or perhaps you'd prefer a clairvoyant mechanic who knows what's wrong with your car when you're still half a mile from the shop. Or hey, how 'bout one who just randomly guesses and throws parts at the problem, all of which you pay for?

No. A diagnostic charge is utterly appropriate.

Don't know where grandma's located. Let's assume a $75/hr shop labor rate, which is about the middle of the scale these days. That's 2.6 hours. Maybe a *tetch* poky, but not horrendously out of line. Especially if it's not a California/Florida/other-nice-climate car. Elsewhere in the world, undercar fasteners are gunked up with undercoating and/or rust and have to be hacked at and fought with.

Well, it is full retail for a first-quality pump. It would only be outrageous if the actual pump installed were not a first-quality item. Can you find a pump cheaper? Surely. Is it worth having to do the job again because you used a halfassedly-built part? No. Can you find the first-line pump cheaper? Sure. Can you install it yourself?

Not out of line.

This is an expensive part.

Not out of line.

Retail customers pay retail prices.

I would squawk about this. I don't want anyone adding anything called "lifter kleen" to my car's crankcase!

DS

Oh yes, I can see this now. 80 year old Grandma takes her car in for a new fuel pump, a week later the car dies. The shop then attempts to charge her another $822.74 for another fuel pump. The papers would have a field day with that one. The negative publicity for the shop would be far more damage than the $822.

And even better is if she's paid for this with a credit card. Wanna guess what the card company is going to do when she calls them? Ever heard of consumer protection laws?

Ted

That may be but if an 80 year old Grandma comes into your shop a week later and the brand new fuel pump you put into her car has died, I think you would be very foolish to attempt to charge her another $800.

I also believe most states (if not all) define any product as having an implied warranty of at least 30 days. So even if you can get away with legally charging her for more labor (politically stupid as it would be) you would have the right to return the fuel pump to your supplier for a replacement. And even if they didn't warranty it, and pulled the old line that you improperly installed the pump (this is usually the basis that people use for denying warranty on electrical parts) if your buying $10K worth of parts from them every month for your garage, they would be really stupid to argue over it with you.

How do you define a repaired car? Most people would define it as a car that has a repair done to it that will last 30 days at least. A warranty IS an insurance policy.

Ted

I would think that it depends on the circumstances of why the pump fails. Could be a failed ASD relay. Could be a blown fusible link. Could be it's out of gas. Could be a defective pump. Could be she backed over something and caved the fuel tank in. If the mechanic screwed up the install, then he gets to eat the labor and parts, if it's from another cause, she gets to pay diagnostic and repair, if it's a defective pump, it would depend on the shops warranty policy. No shop is obligated to warranty any part -for- their supplier. Many shops have a disclaimer that states; "all parts warranties are by and thru the manufacturer."

Yeah, BIG headlines. "Fuel pump burns out."

Sure Ted. The human attention span rivals that of a goldfish. i.e., Marion Barry as mayor of Washington D.C.

I don't need to guess. The procedure is pretty well established. They ask -her- questions, they ask -the shop- questions. What they won't do is go around giving shit away for free just because she's a little old lady. If they refuse to credit the shops account for services rendered, they had better have a pretty good reason (another thing which wasn't specified in your original premise).

I have, you on the other hand have apperently subscribed to a bunch of myths.

No, Ted, that simply *is*.

Not on this planet.

DS

Sorry Daniel, I hit the wrong REPLY button. You and I usually agree pretty much on here. I ALWAYS enjoy reading your replies, especially because you pull no punches and call it like you see it.

Actually, your right. The states don't the Federal government does. It's called an implied warranty. A fuel pump that was properly constructed would be expected to last more than a week if there were no extenuating circumstances, that is implied when it's sold. And it is true the time period isn't 30 days, it's longer, depending on circumstances.

And as for auto service work, while I don't have the energy to dig up all the state laws for all the states, a quick search shows that in Ontario Canada that by law a shop must warranty repair work, for cars, the warranty must be for at least 90 days or 5,000 km, whichever comes first. This must cover all parts and labor. So at least yes, on this planet. Undoubtedly there are states with similar laws. Perhaps Michigan residents should consider getting their sleds fixed across the border. ;-)

Ted