Repair Fraud?

Hi,

Recently I went for a car service and the mechanic replaced CV Shaft
and Front Engine Mount for my 95 Camry. He charged $200 and $300 for
parts respectively. And the CV shaft is a remanufactured part. When I
verified the prices on NAPA website they are charging far less. For
example $85 for Front engine mount. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks

welcome to the mechanic world on makin
$$$ and quit your bitchin and deal with it!!!!
and next time do it your self .

basva wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Recently I went for a car service and the mechanic replaced CV Shaft
> and Front Engine Mount for my 95 Camry. He charged $200 and $300 for
> parts respectively. And the CV shaft is a remanufactured part. When I
> verified the prices on NAPA website they are charging far less. For
> example $85 for Front engine mount. Is there anything I can do?
>
> Thanks

I fail to see any fraud. If you don't like what service techs charge,
then do the repairs yourself - like I do.

"basva" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi,
>
> Recently I went for a car service and the mechanic replaced CV Shaft
> and Front Engine Mount for my 95 Camry. He charged $200 and $300 for
> parts respectively. And the CV shaft is a remanufactured part. When I
> verified the prices on NAPA website they are charging far less. For
> example $85 for Front engine mount. Is there anything I can do?
>
> Thanks

Nope.. It isn't fraud to mark up parts. Did he promise something that he
didn't do?

Anyone would be foolish to leave a car at any garage or with any mechanic
without getting some estimates on parts and labor, and without setting
some limits.

"basva" > wrote in news:1128229358.003110.282090
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

> Hi,
>
> Recently I went for a car service and the mechanic replaced CV Shaft
> and Front Engine Mount for my 95 Camry. He charged $200 and $300 for
> parts respectively. And the CV shaft is a remanufactured part. When I
> verified the prices on NAPA website they are charging far less. For
> example $85 for Front engine mount. Is there anything I can do?
>
> Thanks
>

NAPA isnt paying rent and utilities, shop maint., and tool costs for the
shop YOU picked to perform the work. i cant say if he is honest or not but
i do know that a hefty parts markup is warranted to keep a shop going....im
always happy to install customer suppied parts as long as they realize i
will charge them %35 markup on labor quoted and wont warranty the part,
just the labor...ive ran into many a situation where i replaced customer
supplied bottom of the barrel rebuilts only to redo it at there labor
expense. no one is happy in those situations...im always happiest when
customers walk off after they hear the terms because ive found that the
folks that want a $19.95 alt. installed will probably be back bitchin about
every other problem they have like i caused it with 3 bolts and a battery
charge.........kjun

KjunRaven wrote:
>
> "basva" > wrote in news:1128229358.003110.282090
> @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Recently I went for a car service and the mechanic replaced CV Shaft
> > and Front Engine Mount for my 95 Camry. He charged $200 and $300 for
> > parts respectively. And the CV shaft is a remanufactured part. When I
> > verified the prices on NAPA website they are charging far less. For
> > example $85 for Front engine mount. Is there anything I can do?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
>
> NAPA isnt paying rent and utilities, shop maint., and tool costs for the
> shop YOU picked to perform the work. i cant say if he is honest or not but
> i do know that a hefty parts markup is warranted to keep a shop going....im
> always happy to install customer suppied parts as long as they realize i
> will charge them %35 markup on labor quoted and wont warranty the part,
> just the labor...ive ran into many a situation where i replaced customer
> supplied bottom of the barrel rebuilts only to redo it at there labor
> expense. no one is happy in those situations...im always happiest when
> customers walk off after they hear the terms because ive found that the
> folks that want a $19.95 alt. installed will probably be back bitchin about
> every other problem they have like i caused it with 3 bolts and a battery
> charge.........kjun

While I certainly understand all the overhead costs of running a shop
and having employees, what I don't like is having that cost arbitrarily
applied as a markup on parts. Particularly if I'm just ordering one
particular part from a dealer and they aren't providing any labor or
shop time.

I'd really like to see basically three charges:

1. Parts and consumables at essentially fair market cost.
2. Shop time i.e. use of shop/lift/tools/etc.
3. Labor

Would just seem to be a more honest way of accounting for the actual
costs to me. I'd still expect the labor cost to be fairly high since it
would be the cost to the employer, not what the mechanic is actually
paid (benefits, etc.).

Pete C.

In article >, Pete C. > wrote:
>
>I'd really like to see basically three charges:
>
>1. Parts and consumables at essentially fair market cost.
>2. Shop time i.e. use of shop/lift/tools/etc.
>3. Labor
>
>Would just seem to be a more honest way of accounting for the actual
>costs to me. I'd still expect the labor cost to be fairly high since it
>would be the cost to the employer, not what the mechanic is actually
>paid (benefits, etc.).

I would agree. The problem is that when you do this sort of breakdown,
you find the labor cost and the shop cost cause customers to balk. Nobody
out there wants to be charging $100/hr. for labour, because the customer
won't pay it. So they juggle costs.

Some folks out there will also spend some bench time checking out rebuilt
parts before installing them. I think it's fair to add this cost to the
part cost, because it's time that needs to be spent because of the origin
of the part.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I was pricing out new transmission mounts and I found them from $40.00
to $265.00 for the same freaking mount!

The only thing you can do is learn the lesson and do your homework
'first'.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

basva wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> Recently I went for a car service and the mechanic replaced CV Shaft
> and Front Engine Mount for my 95 Camry. He charged $200 and $300 for
> parts respectively. And the CV shaft is a remanufactured part. When I
> verified the prices on NAPA website they are charging far less. For
> example $85 for Front engine mount. Is there anything I can do?
>
> Thanks

Mike Romain > wrote:
>I was pricing out new transmission mounts and I found them from $40.00
>to $265.00 for the same freaking mount!
>
>The only thing you can do is learn the lesson and do your homework
>'first'.

Yes. The problem is that sometimes the lesson you learn is that $40
mounts cost you more than $265 ones.

Sometimes you get cheap parts and they fail prematurely. Sometimes you
get cheap parts and they are poorly machined, making them much more
difficult to install (especially in the case of transmission and engine
mounts). Sometimes you get cheap parts and they are just fine.

And sometimes you don't know until you actually open the box and see what
you've got. Sometimes you don't know until you try to put them on.

Sometimes you spend an outrageous amount of money for the dealer part, to
discover that it's more poorly made than the cheap aftermarket one.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In my opinion you got ripped off. Twenty percent is a fair markup for auto
parts at a repari shop, but often they don't buy from the lowest cost
parts supplier. They buy from the supplier with the best credit terms,
etc. When I call around for parts I get the same results you do, about
100% difference in price. Hereabouts labour costs are pretty standard
except for the dealerships where they are 50% higher. All shop costs
should be included in the labour cost, not the parts. That's because they
know how much labour they hire but not how much parts they will need. Just
good business planning.

To avoid getting ripped off by repair shops people tend to buy more
reliable cars, which is playing hell with the North Amercian car
maufacturers' sales. If you have the time and inclination to do as many of
your own repairs as possible then you can save considerable money buying
less reliable cars for lower prices. Often the parts are cheaper and more
readily available. You can get this info from car buyers guides and
consumer surveys.

--
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