I'm sure this topic has been beaten to death, but I have to rant for a moment! Now, I know there is honest shops out there, so I don't want to dog on them all, but DANG they are hard to find!!

My alternator went out on my 99 Accord on Friday and I barely made it to local shop (I won't name names), but they called me after checking the car and said it would be $550 for the repair.....I was like....WTH!!!!! I then asked how much for the alt and belt. They said $280 + $40 for the belt.

Long story short, I called around and got a alt for $130 and a belt for $15 the next day. I took them the parts and they installed it and it runs like a champ.

Why do these places think they need to mark stuff up 100%?? They still screwed me on labor, but at least they put my parts in. I hope there is not a next time, but if there is, I will be doing it myself!

 

don't take it personal. this is my understanding of how most shops operate (though i've never worked as a mechanic):

shops have to make a profit, they have overhead to cover and empoyees like benefits, raises, etc. they choose to mark up the parts (consider it a "finders fee") and the labor fee has overhead in as well as mechanic pay. also, if you need a fast turn around, markup may be higher than if they can take their time.

if you are capable of finding the parts yourself (not many people are) and want to give them the parts, most are willing to use them. however, they may not warranty the part (i.e. installation of the part) if it fails since you bought it elsewhere. if your new alt fails, you'll have to pay them to remove it, take it back to whereever you got it, and pay them to reinstall it. you can't expect the shop to give away labor because someone else's part failed. quickly, you're paying a lot more than if you had just let them do it. maybe, if you're lucky, you can get the part manufacturer to cover the install costs (good luck with that).

if you find a smaller shop with one or a few mechanics that is/are skilled, you can save money as they have less overhead and have a smaller profit margin on parts and lower labor costs.

that doesn't mean shops are out there making more than they should, or taking advantage of unsuspecting people. if you have the option of shopping around and comparing prices, you can sometimes negotiate markup on parts and actual labor time (labor rates are usually fixed).

 

at the shop i'm at, we mark up our parts 30%. So if you need a part that costs us $100, you pay $130. Our labor rate is fixed per hour, and we base our hours on the times that alldata.com gives us... I'm not saying there aren't shady people/shops out there (i've worked for a couple, its sickening, tbh) but most repair facilities have set guidlines for what they charge to avoid problems. i'll agree w/ you on this situation though, labor at the first place seems pretty high...

 

sorry dude, hope you didnt take it to the stealership.

i needed to get my brakes put on, weather wouldnt allow me to do it, long story short called 4 small shops, and a popular northwest tire chain, and they all wanted 100-130 to install my front brakes and since i had the rotors and pads some wouldnt do it, the only performance shop in town quoted me at 70 bucks, i get them installed tomorrow ill post if they up the price.

 

most of my work is done by my dealership. they use Honda parts, they are trained and experienced in Honda, and they are honest. they are more expensive, for good reason. quality costs more.

brakes, tires, exhaust, basic stuff that is common to all vehicles can easily be performed by a competent mechanic not associated with a dealership. i'm not saying everything should be done by a dealership, but if that is your choice it is probably the safest one. good mechanics are usually not the cheapest. if you always go with the cheapest parts/labor, you're betting on failure.

price shopping includes working a deal with the mechanic who you want touching your car, not trusting your life to the lowest bid.

 

This has been a good thread, all of you guys are doing a great job answering these questions...Thank You all for the help..

Hope-Alive your not bad in here..Later Guy