Scary service estimate

[Westfalia]

I bought my first Ford almost 30 years ago, and since that I have had almost 10 Fords. I started my Expedition era in May, when I bought 2013 EL. The "service engine" light turned on last week and I booked a service time for local Ford dealer, as well the emergency brake was not working at all. Before service date the idling went rough, high idling at cold and low at warm. Well, when the service date came, the first diagnose was really scary. The cost estimate was over $5000, which was about 1/3 of the purchase price. The most expensive was leaking vacuum hose to brake booster (almost $2000), then spark plugs $975, windscreen washer (which wasn't broken but they wanted to fix it) almost $1000 and something else. The fault code reading cost was $150. So I came home, without $150 and basically without any information about fault. Then I ordered a new air flow sensor and new spark plugs from eBay, total cost with shipping was $52. The air flow sensor fixed the problem, and emergency brake needed only adjusting. So far so good, everything works now. But the service diagnose was really scary, over 5 grand estimate and they didn't find actual root causes! Now my cost were only about 1/100 of the estimate and the most important, faults were fixed...

 

[Trainmaster]

Where are you? Those are New York prices.

 

[JExpedition07]

Who is your Ford dealer? I will personally email them to tell them what a JOKE their service department is and bolden their name to avoid. $975 for spark plug change is a joke. They are scammers. It’s a 30 minute job max with about $70 in parts and no special tools needed. Try a different mechanic who is competent and knows about cars, and who will tell you the trouble code.

The brake booster hose or MAF could cause your high idle, but that’s a very cheap job. Not even 1/4 of that quote. Don’t worry about these quotes. Did the “service techs” have chips in their teeth? Probably on crystal meth.

 

[07navi]

Don't forget to tip them every time you go there.

 

[Plati]

I bought my first Ford almost 30 years ago, and since that I have had almost 10 Fords. I started my Expedition era in May, when I bought 2013 EL. The "service engine" light turned on last week and I booked a service time for local Ford dealer, as well the emergency brake was not working at all. Before service date the idling went rough, high idling at cold and low at warm. Well, when the service date came, the first diagnose was really scary. The cost estimate was over $5000, which was about 1/3 of the purchase price. The most expensive was leaking vacuum hose to brake booster (almost $2000), then spark plugs $975, windscreen washer (which wasn't broken but they wanted to fix it) almost $1000 and something else. The fault code reading cost was $150. So I came home, without $150 and basically without any information about fault. Then I ordered a new air flow sensor and new spark plugs from eBay, total cost with shipping was $52. The air flow sensor fixed the problem, and emergency brake needed only adjusting. So far so good, everything works now. But the service diagnose was really scary, over 5 grand estimate and they didn't find actual root causes! Now my cost were only about 1/100 of the estimate and the most important, faults were fixed...

I don't believe it. Can you post the estimate sheet?
I've been wrong before .... in the 70's once.

how did you do the parking brake adjustment?
any pictures?

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

I believe it. The vast majority of dealer techs just throw parts at any problem they encounter and charge an above-market rate to do it. (Virtually every independent shop here charges $75-100/hour, but the 2 Ford dealers charge $125+/hour.)

 

[Westfalia]

I am at the West Coast area, far away from metropol so prices shouldn't be so expensive. I am not native, maybe the add some foreign penalty... I agree that the booster vacuum hose might cause the problem, but I didn't see anything in the hose, it looks perfect. And the fault was fixed just by replacing the air flow sensor.

I don't have any photos of emergency brake adjustment. I thought that shoes are gone, so I took wheel and the brake disk away. Adjustment was very easy, I just measured shoe and drum diameter, and adjusted shoes slightly smaller, about 0.01". There is not adjust possibility in the cable.

I still have the offer letter from the Ford dealer. I can copy it here. Price was high, but the most amazing was that they claimed totally wrong root causes for both faults

 

[kallsop]

I would suggest if you have an iPhone or Android phone, go to Amazon and find an ELM 327 OBD II bluetooth scanner, and download Torque or Torque Pro for your phone or tablet so you can scan the diagnostics. You can get the device for ~$30.00 and the app is $4.99. But make sure the scanner device works with Android or iPhone because the two work differently. I've been using one on a Miata for about five years, and it has saved me quite a bit for a less than $50.00 investment.

Edit to add: It saved me on my first road trip. Was driving from Phoenix AZ to Coos Bay OR and when I got north of Redding CA it developed a misfire on cylinder 4 going through the mountain passes, read the code and it was a P0304. When I got to Coos Bay, I couldn't get into a shop, but was able to get a coil pack and a spark plug from a NAPA store, and changed both in the parking lot and the rest of the trip was fine.

 

[Munkiebunz3]

My brake pedal was going stiff after a few hours. I bring it in under extended warranty. 3 weeks later & they want me to pay for additional diagnostic time because they did the full gamut including testing calipers for leaks..... What idiots. They refused to do further testing. I paid for a $20 brake booster check valve, replaced it myself and sent them a letter. Haven't heard from them. The valve fixed the problem.

 

[Msport]

I know in the East coast, you can check the CEL codes with Autozone for free. In the future, you can at least check the codes and research the code on the internet.