06 coil brand?

[johnboneske]

I know but the way most shops work is they get all defensive and combative if you walk in and ask them to chance number 8 plug coil. Then when you tell them you have the coil....THEIR head spins around!!!

Some small individual owned shops will work with you but not many.

They want you to play their way. Quit rocking the boat!!!

Take car in say its running poorly missing or something.
Let them charge you 40-80.00 to "diagnose" it.
Tell you it needs a major tune up service since it has original plugs and stuff and over 150K miles and that the:

8 new plugs
8 new electronic coil on plug ignition modules
8 new insulated spark boot (yes all coils come with them but lets mention them anyway)
Throttle body cleaning/service
Mass air flow sensor cleaning
New air filter
Oil change and filter (might as well be ready to hit the road right??)

Will only be 1128.00!
We take credit cards or you can apply with this brochure here for a credit line.

of course they will tell you to change your oil every 3000 miles too, plugs will list price plus 20% do you pay double, coil packs will be about $45/each and they put the cheap ones in anyways, MAF sensor cleaning(which is simple and takes less than 3 or 4 minutes) and throttle body cleaning which is another simple job since you have the intake tube mostly off since you did the MAF and air filter.

Better to find a shop that will let you use your parts...

 

[1955moose]

It's all about money, and more money. Most large shops here in Bay area charge a minimum of $150.00 just for the diagnostic part, some more. Their not looking for bargain hunters like us. They want the man or woman that's clueless, with more money than brains. At least when it comes to cars. Dealerships have customers lined up round the block. Out of all the repair shops near me, around 20, only 1 or 2 let you bring in your own parts. Their in business to make money. Besides when you bring in third party parts, if the part fails, then you have a whole new situation. Every shop I ever worked at, car or motorcycle, we never allowed customer supplied parts. Too much to go wrong with fitment or quality.

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[TobyU]

Yes, it's near impossible to find a shop that will let you provide the parts. Normally it's probably only ones for the owner is there working on stuff everyday. Even some of those will not because they use the excuse that is something brakes there's a warranty it doesn't work out. You just have to work out an agreement. There is no warranty you're just paying them to install the part. If you're fails the next day the next year or doesn't even fix the problem then you can pay them for additional stuff if you choose.
Problem is as we mentioned, they don't want to talk to you about this. The claws come out and you become the enemy because they want that clueless customer that falls into line and it does what they want them to do.
I literally got into a short argument at Midas one time because he was quoting tailpipes with resonators for an 89 Town Car and I was there with the owner of the vehicle telling him that we could get the standard tailpipes without the resonators to save a little bit of money. The Midas guy said that those pipes were the ones the vehicle called for and that's the only pipes they would install. I sternly told him that he could put the car down on the ground then because we wouldn't be getting any work done there.
This is why I have to fix everything myself because I refuse to get ripped off and when they know you know what you're talking about there is a fine fine line of people skills can make it work or it goes the wrong way quickly. I typically don't have those people skills.
On a related note I still have never had any work done at that Midas and there's another muffler shop up the road who I've known the guys for years at who have done several little makeshift pipe weld jobs for me over the years and they will install whatever Parts I take them. Now, who's doing better business and making more money?

 

[1955moose]

When I used to do mobile mechanic work years back, I rarely would want to put on customer supplied parts. But when I did, I'd usually pump the labor a bit to make up for the extra I made on parts. Unless it was a close friend, I made 30 percent or more on the parts. It was my livelihood, I wasn't about to give away $20.00 to $100.00 extra on a repair, if I could avoid it. It's just business. Individuals that are in business, want to keep the doors open. Some take it to an extreme.

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[Trainmaster]

Can't fault a guy for making a living. In many places the overhead's just not paid with $100/hour labor. But there's no excuse for dishonesty and little excuse for incompetence. It's unfortunate the both are in good supply.

 

[TobyU]

When I used to do mobile mechanic work years back, I rarely would want to put on customer supplied parts. But when I did, I'd usually pump the labor a bit to make up for the extra I made on parts. Unless it was a close friend, I made 30 percent or more on the parts. It was my livelihood, I wasn't about to give away $20.00 to $100.00 extra on a repair, if I could avoid it. It's just business. Individuals that are in business, want to keep the doors open. Some take it to an extreme.

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Everyone has their own opinion on it but the reason they started marking up parts in the old days was so they could show it lower hourly rate for labor or a lower price for labor. I'm also in the repair industry for outdoor power equipment in one of my businesses. I never mark up parts. I simply charge fairly ala carte for each thing I do.

 

[1955moose]

Trainmaster, very few shops here near San Francisco charge less than $125.00 per. The crazy real estate prices here is why. I've seen so many shops that have to close up when their lease is up. Their rent goes from $4,000 a month to $10,000 in one jump. The owners have no loyalty, they figure if its vacant for a year, oh well. They rent it to someone a year later at the 10k price. The small shops here are going away at an alarming rate. The Asians here are one of the few with the cash supply to keep going. That and huge conglomerates like Serramonte Ford, owned now by Warren Buffet, and his Berkshire Hathaway. Yeah it's a crying shame how the little mom and pop setups are all but gone.

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