Opinions on repair bill...

[fasterthanlight]

Hi everyone!

Yesterday my 2007 Expy gave me a super rough idle when I pushed the accelerator.

I was able to get it to a shop and they diagnosed it with a left bank solenoid failure - intermittent.

I talked to the shop owner and he said that it's best to do both banks at the same time because of the difficulty with getting to them. Doitg them at a different time would actually cost MORE in labor. I tend to agree with this philosophy.

Well, after the diagnosis and the estimated 6 hours to install the 2 new, it will be about $925 for the work.

Can you all let me know if you have seen this, or agree/disagree with any of this.

PS, the Expy has 97k on it.

 

[SkyJumper]

Well that seems ridiculously high. The going labor rate here is $45.00-$50.00 a hour. So at 6 hrs and $50.00 a hr, that comes to $300.00 in labor. So with that said, the parts are going to cost an additional $625.00 to come out to $925.00. Something does not add up.

 

[GAINMOB]

doesnt add at all

 

[JUST4FUN]

Well that seems ridiculously high. The going labor rate here is $45.00-$50.00 a hour. So at 6 hrs and $50.00 a hr, that comes to $300.00 in labor. So with that said, the parts are going to cost an additional $625.00 to come out to $925.00. Something does not add up.

going shop rate here is over 100 an hour in Chicago (dealership)

 

[SkyJumper]

going shop rate here is over 100 an hour in Chicago (dealership)

Well even at the Stealerships here, the rate is right at $65.00 and most of that goes to the Stealership and the tech gets half for the most part or is at a company hourly rate. And most stealership mechanics that I have ever met are book conscience and diagnostically dumb. Meaning as a stealership mechanic, without a book to follow by, they are lost, technical experience and diagnostic experience is non-existant, and if they can not hook it up to a computer and have the computer tell them what is wrong, Stealership techs are lost and throw parts at a vehicle at the expense of the owner. I hear about it all the time on the forums and friends. Not to offend anyone here that may be a stealership mechanic, but that is my personal experience. There are plenty of reputable shops out there to be had, and the most of the experienced mechanics with dianostic skills are at those shops and making good money and not the Stealership taking all the credit and collecting the monies. Stealerships are the last resort for me as to only using them if it is a specialty item that can not be had at a parts store or warranty or TBI issues. But then again I do all my own work for the most part.

Best advice I can tell the OP is to seek out a few shops and get a few quotes to see where the commonarity is. Usually if I have to send someone to a shop I refer or give advice, I say this "Get 3 quotes, take the high one and throw it out, take the low one and do the same, and go with the middle man". That does not always hold true, but for the most part it does for the average mechanic shop. But once you locate a shop you can feel comfortable with, stick with em. And you will find that the pricing is better and more fair as a repeat customer needing assistance. Not a repeat customer for the same fault.

 

[Canadian Expy]

It depends on the shop rate. the rates here start around $85 hr to over $110 at the dealer. So what was the hourly rate?

 

[fasterthanlight]

The rate is $85 an hour and could be up to $100, by what the sign says.

Bad part was that I could not even drive the thing very far at all. The engine shake was so bad it felt like it was going to rip off the engine mounts.

On the bill, it listed 1 diagnosis hour and 5 work hours.

 

[CARO'S98EB]

That job call for about 6 hrs to do it by the book 4.6 for valve covers 1.0 for diag and .4 to install the vct solenoids. at $90 that is $540 labor + 385 ro the solenoids and gaskets. that is real close to what we would charge at the dealer. the solenoids are 135 each.

 

[fasterthanlight]

Thanks Caro. That is what I was looking for.