just for shits and giggles - lets take a poll on service charges

[la_scanner]

Will start with my recent replacement of spark plugs and labor.
whats everyone think

[AlexNet0]

Originally Posted by la_scanner

Will start with my recent replacement of spark plugs and labor.
whats everyone think

OMG you got spanked. I did it myself for price of plugs and no labor charges, lol, its very painless.

kinda like my recent quote for a service charge to paint my new bumper $400!!

[Solid T D]

Yep, "spanked" hard! My mech is good to me and I to him. He would have thrown that last "service" in.... You should tell your mechanic to pull his head out.

[eTiMaGo]

I just went for a pretty thorough checkup and tuneup: wheel balancing and rotation, brake pad thickness checking, check all fluid levels, all new lug nuts (old cheap ones had become stripped), done in less than 2 hours, all for just about $50

[jambo101]

If you cant change your own plugs then you are going to be giving your dealer basically a license to print money at your expense. Mechanical basics like filters,plugs and plug wires,fluid changes and some rudimentary diagnostic ability should be a given when it comes to car ownership,ultimately the money you save will probably buy you a car in the future.
$130 to change 4 plugs

[la_scanner]

Originally Posted by jambo101

If you cant change your own plugs then you are going to be giving your dealer basically a license to print money at your expense. Mechanical basics like filters,plugs and plug wires,fluid changes and some rudimentary diagnostic ability should be a given when it comes to car ownership,ultimately the money you save will probably buy you a car in the future.
$130 to change 4 plugs

It's a damn good thing i know how to perform this oh so simple task!

[aca72]

Why the spark plug change? Did your Yaris hit 100K+ miles already?

[YarisSedan]

You got charged pretty fair in my opinion. Spark plugs were sold to you below list price with little markup. And 65 dollars is maybe slightly high but the spark plugs list i think at 24.95 a piece or 26 something like that for iridiums. So you saved around 30 bucks right there. So if you think about it he changed your plugs for 35 dollars. Give the technician a break he is only making maybe a 75 dollar profit for the work being performed. You are not paying by how easy the job is but the time. Which is covering the expense of the rent, expensive of the mechanics salary, expense of the parts, taxes fees etc. When it all comes down to it the same mechanic could be doing something else that was more profitable to him but stopped to perform a basic tune up. I mean if you really wanted to you could do what many people do is go out spend the money to purchase the tools. Spend time reading online how to perform a tune up. And then possibly stripping the head cause you didnt let engine cool down first. Breaking a spark plug because you overtightend it because you dont have the feel of how tight to make it since you ahve never had experience doing it before. Or leaving the spark plug too loose so now the compression of the engine shoots the plug out and strips the head.

Just to save yourself some money. If the mechanic damages any components he has to warrenty the job. If any of the parts are defective he has to warrenty the job.

All those factors should be considered. I have had MANY cars to into my shop from people trying to fix thier own cars. And the cost to repair thier attempt to repair thier vehicle exceeded what the original estimate would have been if they had just brought it to us in the first place.

I am sure any skilled tradesman any other fields would agree with me. Just like how some people try to do thier own pluming and break something in the process.

Sure you could probally get a lower price but you werent majorly overcharged. I would reccomend in the future to find a personal mechanic usually a 1 or 2 bay shop someone that will take care of you and can givey ou better pricing since they have little overhead but still be able to offer you warrenty on the work performed.

[Yaris Hilton]

When I was riding a bicycle all over the place (many pounds ago), I noticed that there are a lot of spark plugs lying in the streets. I've often wondered if those were plugs dropped in the engine well at plug change that hung up and later fell out, or plugs that had blown out as mentioned above. If you look down at the pavement along the streets, though, you'll see them pretty often.

[ChinoCharles]

$65 labor for 10 minutes of work? YarisSedan, I understand that you work in the industry and you're fighting for your people, but that right there is nothing short of highway robbery.

[AlexNet0]

I am sure any skilled tradesman any other fields would agree with me. Just like how some people try to do thier own pluming and break something in the process.

^ that IS true, I know that when people bring computers in that they have tried to "fix" have been more expensive in labor to UNdo whatever they did or tried to do than it would have been otherwise.

[Yaris Hilton]

And YarisSedan is absolutely right about the pitfalls of DIY. I used to be very heavily into this stuff, and I took on some mighty ambitious repair jobs myself. Unfortunately, I often tore something up doing it the first time. I'd make more trips to the parts store for new parts and tools to fix my mistakes. Usually didn't end up dumping it on a professional, but made extra work and expense for myself. By the time I was finished, I knew how to do it right the first time, the NEXT time. Now, I take it to a pro the first time. Life's too short.

Not to mention that I've built a few hotrodded engines. Upgraded cams, manifolds, carburetors, headers, ignition systems and such. I've ended up with some good running engines, but it takes a long time to get everything dialed in to work right together when you get away from the stock configuration. Even with a chassis dyno available, which is nearly a necessity to do it right. The car makers have unbelievably great resources and spend LOTS of money and energy on getting it all worked out. They do an amazing job! I remember when a 1.5 liter engine putting out 106 net horsepower was a race ready job that was noisy, rough and intractable, and would foul spark plugs when driven slowly around town. And you could smell the fumes from the breather and exhaust. Needed premium gas, too. I'm VERY impressed that these little engines run like they do!

[Arkhangel]

Originally Posted by ChinoCharles

$65 labor for 10 minutes of work? YarisSedan, I understand that you work in the industry and you're fighting for your people, but that right there is nothing short of highway robbery.

i would have to agree with YarisSedan, I get paid that for just doing Routine virus, malware scans and installing already downloaded Microsoft updates. You charge for your preparation. If Everything was overly easy there would be no mechanic nor tech support

[jambo101]

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...=0&pageSize=20

Nuff said

[YarisSedan]

You go to the doctor and he spends like what 5 seconds looking at you. And if you didnt have insurance im sure it would be well over 100 dollars. And even if you do have insurance its still atleast 10-25 dollars.

If you came to my shop i would probally charge anywhere from 30-45 for the same service. But you would get the oem spark plugs. Then gapped to spec. Then installed with antisieze to ensure ease of removal next time. A professional job done cost money. What would you thing is a fair price to pay then? If you walked into any shop right now and asked to change thier spark plugs for you for less than 20 bucks they would just laugh at you. To them theres more liability to do the job than its worth it.

[la_scanner]

Originally Posted by YarisSedan

You got charged pretty fair in my opinion. Spark plugs were sold to you below list price with little markup. And 65 dollars is maybe slightly high but the spark plugs list i think at 24.95 a piece or 26 something like that for iridiums. So you saved around 30 bucks right there. So if you think about it he changed your plugs for 35 dollars. Give the technician a break he is only making maybe a 75 dollar profit for the work being performed. You are not paying by how easy the job is but the time. Which is covering the expense of the rent, expensive of the mechanics salary, expense of the parts, taxes fees etc. When it all comes down to it the same mechanic could be doing something else that was more profitable to him but stopped to perform a basic tune up. I mean if you really wanted to you could do what many people do is go out spend the money to purchase the tools. Spend time reading online how to perform a tune up. And then possibly stripping the head cause you didnt let engine cool down first. Breaking a spark plug because you overtightend it because you dont have the feel of how tight to make it since you ahve never had experience doing it before. Or leaving the spark plug too loose so now the compression of the engine shoots the plug out and strips the head.

Just to save yourself some money. If the mechanic damages any components he has to warrenty the job. If any of the parts are defective he has to warrenty the job.

All those factors should be considered. I have had MANY cars to into my shop from people trying to fix thier own cars. And the cost to repair thier attempt to repair thier vehicle exceeded what the original estimate would have been if they had just brought it to us in the first place.

I am sure any skilled tradesman any other fields would agree with me. Just like how some people try to do thier own pluming and break something in the process.

Sure you could probally get a lower price but you werent majorly overcharged. I would reccomend in the future to find a personal mechanic usually a 1 or 2 bay shop someone that will take care of you and can givey ou better pricing since they have little overhead but still be able to offer you warrenty on the work performed.

im simply asking for opinions here.

[la_scanner]

Originally Posted by aca72

Why the spark plug change? Did your Yaris hit 100K+ miles already?

diesel put into car. replaced plugs with cheapy autolite. even though car ran fine my grandma didn't want her warrant to be void. understandable.

[molinee]

It's a total rip.... no matter how you try to justify it.