$6974 quote for two engines mounts, transmission mount, tires, upper shock mount, tie rods and ball joints....

I just got the engine and tranny mounts and upper shock bushings for $250...

God I hate the dealer... Will be taking pics of this job though..

 

That really is a comical quote

When my Bentley blew it's head gaskets the repair cost at garages was around £5000 GBP. Got the required gaskets myself for around £300 GBP & did the job myself-although it took me 3 weeks & several skinned knuckles.

Yes, I hate the dealers too

 

Don't hate them. The big buildings, showrooms, vast staff, and all that costs a LOT of money. Car sales are down accross the board, and most of them survive only on the profits generated by the service department. And the industry needs dealers. Without them, selling cars would be VERY different.

Also, there is a LARGE segment of the population that does not know anything about repairing the car, and doesn't want to learn either. Most people know how to put gas in the tank, some (rare!) check their tire pressure by themselves, and that's it. These people NEED service departments, and my take on this is a little different than most. One can take a car to a "Indy" (and some are VERY good and reputable), but most are just hacks. They diagnose the problem based on their limited experience with a particular brand, and start throwing the parts and money at it, untill the problem goes away (even some dealers do that).

Servicing the car at the dealer gives one the comfort of knowing that the "factory trained" mechanics are working on it, and IF there is a big problem with the work they performed down the line, there is some recourse. Dealerships carry BIG liability insurance, and one can recoup some expenses if something goes wrong. Most "Indy" shops don't have that kind of coverage.

Your quote is rediculous (to you and me!), because we know that we can fix this for 10% of the quoted price. But you WILL have black grease and dirt under your fingernails by the time you're done, you will not drive around in a "loaner" while your car is been worked on, and there will be no "free" coffee and beverages!

In my circle of friends, I am the only one that DIY on my vehicles. They think there is something wrong with me ("too cheap to pay someone" they say behind my back). Few of them play golf for relaxation. Playing golf is as relaxing and fullfilling to me, as watching the paint dry (no offence to anybody!).

And with me, there is also the matter of trust. I don't trust dealerships, I don't trust Indys, and I even supervise my own mechanic when he is doing something I don't want to tackle. When I do something on my vehicles, I take my destiny in my own hands (just the way I like it!), and perform every repair/maintenance with outmost precission. Everything is perfect, I feel the sense of accomplishment, and the money I save, I spend on other vices.

Good luck with your project.

 

It would cost me a damn sight less than nearly $7000 to clean my fingernails with Swarfega, buy some bleedin' tea bags or coffee, boil a kettle of water & negotiate a hire car

 

Good post, Danielsand

We're enthusiasts and most of us are DIYers so we naturally have a different perspective. In the aggregate I'll wager that less than 5% of Jaguar owners are people like "us". Jaguar dealers are probably more interested in the 95% who are not like us :-).

I spent most of my adult life managing dealership parts and service departments so I could spend hours on the subject of repair pricing philosophies and rationale. But I'll show some mercy to the group :-).

In the end, if the dealership service department is busy every day, the employees are productive and not standing around, and good profits are being made, there's little incentive, and certainly no obligation, to reduce pricing to what 5% of the Jaguar population feels comfortable with.

OTOH, if the service department is struggling to keep all their mechanics busy and the shop looks like a ghost town....well....something is very wrong and pricing could be a major part of it.

In other words....pretty much like ANY other business :-)

Cheers
DD

 

What I've found is that service departments will quote each "part" of the job as a separate job and quote the book charge for each one and add them up. If you know better, you can usually get a much better price -- in other words, the quote could involve taking the wheels off and putting them back on, for each part of the job. If you say, hey you only have to do that once, they might, just might, agree with you and re-quote the job. I had a Mazda dealer agree (many moons ago) to replace a water pump for the price of the pump (no extra labor) when they did my timing belt because they had to take the water pump off to do the timing belt -- they argued with me a lot, but in the end they said, oh yeah, you're right, we can take the old one off, do the timing belt, and put a new water pump on, with no extra labor -- duh!!!!

I was quoted $240 labor to replace the front door speakers on my XJ8 -- not including parts (they wanted somewhere around that same amount for the cheap-*** speakers they were going to use). Two hours at $120 per hour. Did it myself in 1/2 hour.

I also got an 8 hour quote for valve cover gasket replacement from an independent mechanic -- with parts, he wanted about $1,200. I laughed at him and left. So it's not just dealerships.

Maybe someone can explain to me why mechanics think it's okay to over-charge for something just because they think the customer doesn't know better! BTW I feel the same way about contractors -- but that's a different discussion!

 

Thank you. I am showing mercy too. After I got out of the uniform (back in 1995), I owned two dealerships (new and used) for six years. Knowing the industry inside out, I work on all my vehicles myself. If I can not diagnose the problem (rare) with the help of the board like this one, I will take it to the dealer for diagnostics. Once they tell me what's wrong, and what needs to be replaced (and after I confirm it with other sources), I will source the parts myself, and replace them on my own time. Example: My S430 goes in for a recall. They change the voltage regulator as a part of the recall, and tell me that I "need" tranny service, tranny mount replaced, tranny electrical connector, and the front brakes (they were at 10% at the time). Quote: $1750.- IF I don't need the new rotors (I know rotors are throw away item on the Benz, so they will come back with "needing rotors", and over a $1000 more!). Long story short, ....I thanked them, sourced the parts, did the brakes and rotors myself, didn't want to get soaked with tranny fluid, so I gave it to my mechanic to do it. Total cost with new rotors: $450.-

And as you said,.....MAYBE 5% of the population that owns "high end cars" is capable of doing this. Crap,....I just remembered the day in Colorado when I was changing the timing belt on my Porche, on the side of the road! Cop pulled over asking what I'm doing (I was still in the military at the time). I told him, and he was shocked that I had a timing belt with me. I knew it will go, so I carried it with me for couple of weeks.

But we ARE a different breed.

 

"Over-charge" is is a somewhat loaded term, as it may be used to imply dishonesty, but it pretty much comes down to what the market will bear.

Or, occasionally, what the mechanic will bear. Some jobs are just miserable stinkers. If a very high price is quoted what the mechanic is saying, essentially, is "I hate replacing Jaguar heater cores. That's my price, take it or leave it". Can't say as I blame 'em in some cases.

And, in other cases, crazy-high quotes are used as a method of saying "I don't want to do the job". The wisdom of this method is questionable.

Anyhow....at the end of the day.....

If the shops in your examples are starving for business and struggling to say afloat they may well have a serious pricing problem.....or quality/service problem. If their service lots are always full and they're booking appointments a week out, then their pricing is probably perceived as reasonable enough ....and/or the quality of service justifies the pricing. They have no particular reason to charge less.

Cheers
DD

 

If you read enough threads on car forums, you will see that there is a relationship based on ability.

Those who can't or won't do the work are the most likely to rant and rave about quoted prices while those who have the ability either shrug and get out the tools, or at least understand the components of the quote.

 

I will do it for $4K ;-)

 

Just ordered all the parts for the Upper shock bushings($45), Engine Mounts($77 each), and Transmission Mount($75)... Mechanic I use if I'm unwilling to do it myself is charging me 3.5 hours at $55/per hour.... beat that ...

I'll do the rotors and Brakes myself(i actually put up the guide to do it).. does anyone know where I can get a detailed spec of our rotors? Hi Spec will make me lightweight ones if i can send them a spec.

 

plums -- there's a third category...those who don't mind paying a professional to do the work if the price is right. When the price isn't right, I'll do the work myself. There's a fourth category that Sandy mentioned -- those who don't have the space or the tools but could do the work if they had the space and tools.

 

Find the Ebay seller "Cbrakes" from CA. I installed a set of drilled/slotted rotors and pads from them on my VDP. I am very happy with the product/service.

 

I have cross drilled and slotted rotors now. They weight the same as oem at 21.5 lbs each... Hi spec rotors weight 13 lbs each... 4 lbs for the rear... Unsprung weight savings is huge.

 

I will help and we split 50/50....

 

Buying an old high-end car without either the funds to have it maintained, or the tools & ability to maintain it yourself, is what's technically known as 'gambling'.

Dealer repair quotes for old high-end cars are always going to be pricey, as although the car may have depreciated in value, the parts & servicing costs will have generally risen with inflation.

However, in this case you do occasionally get a quote which is more than just expensive, it's comically unbelievable & provides a huge amount of mirth & entertainment just to work out how they managed to get it so high...

At the end of the day though, the price is what the market will bear. I've had my XJR or over 4 years now & have never even been to a Jag dealership.

 

I believe it's called 'human nature' & goes back to our caveman (or cavewoman!) instincts. We don't have any guarantees over where our next meal will come from, so we maximise every opportunity that comes our way to increase the profit margin & 'keep the wolf from the door' a bit longer...

It's all in the psychology

 

I think someone here hit the nail on the head -- dealerships aren't interested in maintaining older cars, period. If they were, they'd be competitive and they simply are not.

What has always cracked me up is when I'm told that the bench rate is what it is, they can't do anything about it, as if it's carved in stone. Although, I'd rather get a quote than not get one -- I had an Acura a year or so ago that had a failing transmission, I stopped at the local shop that advertises that they do all kinds of transmission work, the guy drove it into the shop and immediately came into the waiting room to tell me that the transmission is fried and needed to be replaced. I asked for a quote, he said he was too busy to do it right then but he'd call tomorrow with the numbers. I said okay, and took my car home (it ran fine, just didn't shift so good!). I stopped by the next day, still no quote. I called the next day, still no quote. I asked him to call me the next Monday with a quote, he never did. In the meantime the transmission went out on me and I donated the car to charity. Happy ending, but what the hell is wrong with these places? Are they just too busy to need any more business? I doubt it, since both times that I stopped by they had empty bays and very few cars in the parking area. There were lots of mechanics hanging around smoking in the back. I'm going to guess the owner wasn't there!

Oh well, glad I can to most of the work myself. However, I'm still searching for an honest mechanic -- have been on this search for 20 years, and every time I think I've found one, I get some stupidly high quote for some simple work -- that means to me "You're stupid, I'm going to quote you a high price so I can steal your money!" I never mind paying someone an honest fee for their labor, and I always expect to pay for the parts (duh), but don't fleece me!

 

I used to do work for people a up to a few years ago....mainly welding repairs for MoT failures (don't see that so much these days), but other odd jobs as well....

I stopped doing it because I found myself under a car for a full weekend, covered in crap, using gas, electricity and materials and my own freetime - although I did enjoy the work....

I found when I charged £50 for 16 hours works (and about £25 consumables within the price), some people looked as if I had just urinated in their kettle!

£1.5 ($2?) an hour labour rate....pretty competitive I thought (!)...just enough to earn me some beer money, and I enjoyed the work....but I think people wanted it for free?

Although I agree that dealers/independants can be a bit over the top....

 

I agree. I always tell my friends that anyone can buy my car, but not many can actually afford to maintain it. Concerning this quote... I find it comical because if it was an insurance bill, it would have been totaled since the cost is nearly equal to what you could buy one now. I have no issues going to the dealer for complicated things that I want to bitch about in case its not fully resolved, but this is just maintenance things here and there...