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F car repair shops

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Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
WTF? You've been charged $250 for a second hand alternator (rebuilt)? PLUS $190 to install it (a 1 hour job)? $12 to charge a battery? That can be done while other work is underway, and isn't even necessary if they run the car for a few minutes with the new alternator. $100 for transmission fluid is a fucking major WTF. $53 for a cabin filter that was almost certainly unnecessary, and a further $43 to install? These have have fucked you right up the ass dude, don't sit down and take this.

Did you ask for the struts? Or a transmissionn service? Or for your tyres to be balanced? Or an alignment? Or a cabin filter (WTF?!)?

Edit - didn't notice, $83 in labour to replace the transmission fluid? That's fucking retarded. And that's on top of the absolutely insanely ridiculous $190 for the fluid itself.
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My dealer quoted me $175 for a tranny flush or $80 for a simple drain/refill. Might get a better price at an independent shop. It's always a good idea to charge a battery when installing a new alt., these are designed to supply the cars electrical needs and keep a battery charged, not to charge a dead battery as this tends to tax the shit out of the alt. Guy at autozone told me the #1 reason alt's. come back is folks not charging the battery w/a charger after installing a new alt. All that said they seen this guy coming and really socked it o him. A cabin filter for an 11 year old car? gimme a break!.
 
Originally posted by: bctbct
The charges are not that out of line, you just shouldnt have authorized so many repairs.
rebuilt alternators do have a high failure rate.
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You must not have read the whole sheet; the alternator price is high but not outrageous, but what car takes $101 in ATF, and who the hell is going to put $350 into a pair of struts for a Ford Detour? Not to mention they're rear struts, which calls into question $200 in installation labor, plus an $80 alignment. IIRC, that alignment's only necessary when you replace front struts. They're also hitting him for $43 to check the electrical system, a charge they should have waived when he authorized the alternator replacement - which shouldn't have taken $189 in labor.

Poor OP got ripped big time. I'd be talking to the shop about my state's consumer protection agency and their fraud investigation unit...
 
Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
WTF? You've been charged $250 for a second hand alternator (rebuilt)? PLUS $190 to install it (a 1 hour job)? $12 to charge a battery? That can be done while other work is underway, and isn't even necessary if they run the car for a few minutes with the new alternator. $100 for transmission fluid is a fucking major WTF. $53 for a cabin filter that was almost certainly unnecessary, and a further $43 to install? These have have fucked you right up the ass dude, don't sit down and take this.

Did you ask for the struts? Or a transmissionn service? Or for your tyres to be balanced? Or an alignment? Or a cabin filter (WTF?!)?

Edit - didn't notice, $83 in labour to replace the transmission fluid? That's fucking retarded. And that's on top of the absolutely insanely ridiculous $190 for the fluid itself.
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Not to mention, almost $50 for the tire balance/rotation. Many tire shops include free rotation for the life of the tires and many more sell that for a small additional cost at the time of purchase. $46 is a rip.
 
Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Originally posted by: KK
I would not doubt that the remanufactured alternator could be the issue. I had to change the alternator on my windstar 2 weeks ago, it ran $200 for a remanufactured one. After I changed it out, which was very simple, I looked online and found a thread that was about people having to go through a handful of alternators before getting on that worked.
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Alternators are very simple. I have rebuilt dozens of them and they're easy to test. There's no good reason you should get a bunch of duds.
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we got a bunch of duds for 99 grand am. must be pretty common for these to be duds.
 
Originally posted by: weflyhigh
Text

there's a "scan" of the costs sheet I was given by the shop after they finished last time

Before I even took the car in, I looked online a new alternator was only $150.. definitely not $250+, but I ignored and figured as long it worked I wouldn't be mad

There first quote also wasn't anywhere near what it ended up to be

and yes, they did call me and basically said "your car needs this this and this" and said that the repairs were definitely worth it because of the good condition of the car (even though, yes, the car is only "kelly blue booked" at less than $2000)

so I just thought w/e repair all you can now so there wouldn't be any future problems/I wouldn't have to worry (at least for another few months)


WHAT THE FUCK

anyone know any good repair shops near the suburbs of Philadelphia? If these fucking pricks try to charge me something ridiculous again I'm going to shit on their faces. $200 to replace an alternator that probably took them <30 minutes+$100 more for the alternator than it should cost... fuck that
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$250 for alternator PLUS $200 to replace/install it?!
$350 for struts plus $200 to install?!
Why did u need a transmission flush?


holy.. $100 for transmission fluid, PLUS $86 to do the acutal transmssion flush?

$50 for cabin filter PLUS $43 to actually replace it?! JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you got raped with no lube, and barb wire!

take your car to the dealership next time.

sorry to hear about your problem.

btw- how can a guiy delivering pizza afford a $1700 bill?!
 
Obviously they should fix it again for free. If they do not.. well, prepare for a fight.

Are you sure it's not the battery? Make them charge it up and load test it.

I've got no idea how much an alternator job is on a Contour, but if you can open the engine bay and see it.. 1700$ is completely outrageous! What is the breakdown of the bill? 300$ for the alternator and 1400$ for the struts? lol...

The only way it should be more than that is if you have to practically pull the engine to replace the alternator, which believe it or not happens....
 
Originally posted by: JEDI
btw- how can a guiy delivering pizza afford a $1700 bill?!
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Do you have any idea how much money pizza delivery people can pull in? 🙂

Like he said, 150$+/day in lost wages.. which usually comes in the form of cash.

My girlfriend delivered pizzas for a number of years. Being a girl with big boobs and purposely wearing a skirt brought her 150-200$/day, and 300+ on Fridays and Saturdays. 800+ during Superbowl. :Q

Of course, being in a college town helped... But they can make some damn nice money for the job.
 
Originally posted by: bababooey
Your first mistake was this .....................


1998 ford contour SE


Live and learn.....
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nah, not true at all. My wife bought a first year contour and its been through her, my parents, my sister, back to my parents, and still going strong at 216k miles. Its had a tranny replaced, but that was done at home for approx $600.00 and a few timing belts.

Other than that, it just keeps on going.
 
Originally posted by: KK
Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Originally posted by: KK
I would not doubt that the remanufactured alternator could be the issue. I had to change the alternator on my windstar 2 weeks ago, it ran $200 for a remanufactured one. After I changed it out, which was very simple, I looked online and found a thread that was about people having to go through a handful of alternators before getting on that worked.
Click to expand...

Alternators are very simple. I have rebuilt dozens of them and they're easy to test. There's no good reason you should get a bunch of duds.
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How do you rebuild them, replace the voltage regulator?
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probably simple stuff like unsoldering and replacing each diode, removing and replacing the bearings, rewinding the entire alternator.. you know.. easy stuff everyone should know

lol
 
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

Id suggest you start learning to work on cars.

I'm pretty much self taught and I can do most anything. Ive even rebuilt a few engines and done at least 5 engine swaps.

Fair warning though. Keep it to yourself or everyone will want you to fix thier stuff for free.
 
They probably charged the battery so it would not kill the diodes in a shoddy alternator build. The fusible link should also heat up nice after a hot shot so the alternator isn't hit too hard with a load but if it's got a lot of miles on it the diodes can break loose. The brushes will be sparking nice too all worn out and all. Tune to 535AM to listen. 😉
 
Originally posted by: slag
Originally posted by: KK
Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Originally posted by: KK
I would not doubt that the remanufactured alternator could be the issue. I had to change the alternator on my windstar 2 weeks ago, it ran $200 for a remanufactured one. After I changed it out, which was very simple, I looked online and found a thread that was about people having to go through a handful of alternators before getting on that worked.
Click to expand...

Alternators are very simple. I have rebuilt dozens of them and they're easy to test. There's no good reason you should get a bunch of duds.
Click to expand...

How do you rebuild them, replace the voltage regulator?
Click to expand...

probably simple stuff like unsoldering and replacing each diode, removing and replacing the bearings, rewinding the entire alternator.. you know.. easy stuff everyone should know

lol
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Modern alternators contain all of the diodes on a single, cheap replaceable rectifier unit, there would be no point in replacing individual diodes.
 
Originally posted by: Rubycon
They probably charged the battery so it would not kill the diodes in a shoddy alternator build. The fusible link should also heat up nice after a hot shot so the alternator isn't hit too hard with a load but if it's got a lot of miles on it the diodes can break loose. The brushes will be sparking nice too all worn out and all. Tune to 535AM to listen. 😉
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Brushes are the first thing to be replaced in a remanufactured alternator, I doubt they're worn unless the OP has not only been overcharged but is the victim of fraud too.
 
Originally posted by: Rubycon
I thought F cars were Camaros and Firebirds. 😉 Shouldn't you be talking to Mr. Goodwrench? :laugh:
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LOL I thought the same too. Actually I first thought he was looking for a garage that fixed formula 1 cars.
 
Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Everytime I've used a repair shop, they call me and suggest to me what needs to be replaced and/or repaired. They then tell me the price. I then have to give an 'okay' for them to proceed with the work. What happened with your situation?
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Same here.
 
I think most of you are forgetting that they called the OP and he approved all the stuff they did to the car. Sorry but I have no sympathy for him. He approved it all and now doesn't want to pay.

Originally posted by: weflyhigh

and yes, they did call me and basically said "your car needs this this and this" and said that the repairs were definitely worth it because of the good condition of the car (even though, yes, the car is only "kelly blue booked" at less than $2000)

so I just thought w/e repair all you can now so there wouldn't be any future problems/I wouldn't have to worry (at least for another few months)


WHAT THE FUCK
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No sympathy at all
 

This is why I do all my own maitenance and only take a vehicle in for major stuff.

I have found best results with independent mechanic shops that specialize/are certified by your vehicle's manufacturer. These guys want to build business and have an interest in doing the job right...they aren't fed a constant stream of business from the dealer, allowing them to be lazy.

Don't take your vehicle to a "general" car repair shop, especially not a chain. There's just too much variance in models these days.
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
I think most of you are forgetting that they called the OP and he approved all the stuff they did to the car. Sorry but I have no sympathy for him. He approved it all and now doesn't want to pay.

Originally posted by: weflyhigh

and yes, they did call me and basically said "your car needs this this and this" and said that the repairs were definitely worth it because of the good condition of the car (even though, yes, the car is only "kelly blue booked" at less than $2000)

so I just thought w/e repair all you can now so there wouldn't be any future problems/I wouldn't have to worry (at least for another few months)


WHAT THE FUCK
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No sympathy at all
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I agree with this, but the fact that the battery is still losing charge after the $1700 bill sucks. He should get it fixed up for free.
 
A proper flush can take 17 liters/quarts of tranny fluid.
Nothing is particualrly outrageous on the repair bill, just expensive.

That being said, I fix my own stuff and would have had that done for less than $500 🙂
 
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