Update on truck repair costs

I went to the place on a guys acreage to have them look at it. I don't need all the parts the tire shop said. All I really need is ball joints and one wheel bearing. The alignment there is $129.00 compared to $99.00 at the tire shop. However, he said, that's how they get you. By offering a cheaper alignment, people might think the other work is cheaper. Wrong! Just on the pitman arm that I don't really need, he could have saved me $102! The wheel bearing, he quoted $494.00. That's a lot cheaper than $611.00. For what I need to have done right away, I was quoted $707.00 for labour and $860.00 or so for parts. His book rate for one of the repairs was .8 hrs. and the tire shops was 1.4 to give a comparison. His shop rate is $84/hr. compared to $105/hr. He says the shops in the city have to charge so much because of the rent they have to pay. A cost saving from $3742.00 to around $1600.00 with tax! For $2000 cheaper, I told him to go ahead. The owners had his ticket since 1971 and his other mechanic has been with him for over 20 years. Really nice guys and it's not a crime to go into the shop to see what they're doing. I was quite impressed. It might even be all finished by tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for all your input. I think I've finally found a good honest shop if I need other work done. Dave

Its hard to find a shop anymore that has mechanic thats been there that long. I used to work at a heavy truck shop here in Salem, Il until the senior tech with 32 year at this place and me with 6 year also got laid off cause of lack of work. They kept the lower 3 guys with combined employment at the shop 4.5 years. I asked why use two instead of the lack of experience. Basically its all about the dollars. Since then They lost Caterpillar dealers licence and several customers that they only want us to work on their trucks. I noticed in the last 2 years they wanted to get you in for a cheap oil change and so we can comb the truck over for every little thing wrong so they could try to rake you over the counter before they let you have you truck back.
If you been with that shop that long you better stay with them for your trust! It doesn't matter how much it would cost as long it reasonable.

I don't normally need a lot of vehicle repairs, so I don't have a regular shop I go to. Dave

That sounds a lot more in line with what it should cost...

Rod

That still sounds awful high for the wheel bearing. For your truck, It would be no more that $250-300 for the "hub assembly. Other than that, the labor rates are pretty close to average.

I just had a wheel bearing and the upper ball joints put in my 2000 K2500 for $708. $352 for the bearing and $75 a piece for the ball joints and the rest was labor and tax. Lee

It is a 4x4. I'm in Alberta, so that's probably why the prices are a little higher. Apparently the shop rates for cars and trucks is now higher than for heavy equipment. I think it would be hard to find a good shop for much less than $84/hr that has all the equipment. The owner were I went said he's had people go somewhere where they charge by the hour at $50/hr. but when it's all said and done it ended up costing more than his rates, because it took longer to do than the book rates. Dave

Cuz you drive a Chevy Right

Shops with lower labor rates seem to take longer to do the same job.Friend is going to pay 150.00 for rear brakes on a Chevy Prism.Last brake shoes I picked up for a friends Jeep cost 10.00 one axle.Bought front pads for my F150 in July for 22.00.Im too busy with fire wood to do the Chevy.

The 129 alignment is fiarly high. Its been many years since I worked doing alignments but back then 35 bucks for cars and 50 bucks for trucks. The thing that made the money was the inspection and replacing parts you found while under the front end. Wheel bearings on 4x4 trucks are not much fun. With the typical labor rate above 60 bucks an hour, it doesn't take long to wrap up alot of cash. The trick to making parts last is getting replacements that have grease fittings for servicing. NAPA always had good parts with fittings. I'd suggest getting a parts list and getting the parts for the shop. Most will allow you to do that. Simply tell them you will supply parts. If they ask why, simply tell them you have a friend that works in a parts store and gets a discount. They may even drop the parts cost slightly.

Bring your own parts ? Do you bring your own meat to a restraunt to cook for you? Repair shops make a % of profit off the sale of parts. If they don't they charge more for labor . I don't let customers bring own parts unless it is something I cannot source . I have no control over warranty issues with customer supplied parts . If part fails ,customer pays same labor to have it replaced again ! If I supply the part , make my profit , part is warrantied,and so is labor .
Ther are lots of places to find cheaper parts out there . Your better off establishing a good workign relationship with an Independant shop and knowing up front what their policies, warranties etc are . They are in business to make a profit too. The days of 20 hr repair shops are gone. The equipment ,tool,training and overhead today requires making a decent profit on parts and labor . If not ,,those shops are not usually around long .

I just replaced the RH hub assy. on my 02 2500. The assy. cost me $254.00, I did the labor. it was a piece of cake.
Tim

I just looked up on AllData and come up with 8.3 for labor on all of the steering and suspension parts. What did they say 13.8? You're getting overcharged on the labor. Done here at the Chevy dealer I work for it would be that 8.3 @$90/hr. Plus $89 for alignment. Our alignment machine is only a few months old.
The days of the dealership always being higher are gone. We have found that especially when we need parts for Chrysler vehicles. The Chrysler dealer is almost always lower than Napa, O'Reilly, etc.
I can't say for sure on the aftermarket parts, but with O.E. GM idler's and pitmans, they changed them so the new ones are not compatible with the old. The steering geometry changes if you mix them. That said, ask for MOOG brand steering and suspension parts. I find their quality to be superior to anything else.
A front wheel bearing would be 1.3 hrs labor.

There aren't too many shops that will install your parts. For one thing, they lose the markup on the parts, which is part of their profit on the job. If they do install your parts, there will be no warranty; when you're out the door you're on your own. And they'll just juggle labor or something else around to make up the lost parts markup.

Wrong. I bought the Chev cause I needed a 3/4 ton at the time and the price was right. I bought a new Ford Ranger in 1987 and it required a lot less repairs. It just got tired but still had the original starter and alternator in it. Dave

I thought he was a rapist when Ford still made heavy trucks benn in that shop a few times .but usually hit cross roads in Spfld for service decent guys .

Believe it or not we have one of our guys that did just that tonight. I couldn't figure out why he carried in one of those collapsable coolers until we sat down. He said his cholesterol was high enough that he had to "carry" his lunch. As far as the warranty on customer purchased parts, most places provide a 90 day warranty on parts. If you are working with front end parts, its going to take an alignment and downtime anyway. Shops around here do allow customers to bring in their own new parts. Its either that, or they wouldn't get alot of the biz that they do. Its a penny pinching world we live in now, adjust and collect what you can when the wallet is open. Its the difference of staying alive or starving.