Too late... already agreed to the work this morning...
They are definately more expensive then usual, but in my area of Mass. labor
averages $65/hr for a gas station mechnic to well over $80/hr for a dealer...
(hell an average 2000sq-ft house in my town is $475,000+!)
The final quote is $980, but they still have to finish up the sway bar bushings
and align it... hmm, an alignment at 5pm on a Thursday... that's only slightly
better then an alignment at 5pm on a Friday... hopefully they'll keep in mind
that they're getting $1k from me and do it right.
As for the shocks, $300 isn't that unreasonable... remember, they're only doing
one side for the ball joints, so they still have to disassemble the other, and
the rears (although straight forward) still involve labor.
I don't have the time or the place (live in a condo) to fix the truck myself
right now, so my choices are mechanics that over charge (but do the work) or
mechanics that give you a deal (but often don't do the work or do a shoddy
job).
Unfortunately I don't know any mechanics and most of my friends and co-workers
either drive new Audi's and Acura's, or have enough trouble dealing with their
own mechanics, let alone recommending one to me...
-Ethan
In article <NBEBICAOBMAGJMFKKIDEAEGNCEAA.gcouriel@bellsouth.net>,
gcouriel@bellsouth.net ("Gabriel A. Couriel") writes:
>
>
> dude, they're raping you up the asshole with that estimate.
>
> here are the prices i got when i did mine
> when i did the lower driver's side ball joint, total cost was $147 with a
> moog ball joint.
> when i did the remaining three ball joints, the total cost was $507 (keep in
> mind, that includes the cost of COMPLETELY disassembling both the driver's
> and passenger's side suspension, and replacing all the bushings, ball
> joints, and shocks).
>
> the price of the shocks should not be $300. i picked up a set of monroe
> reflex shocks for $44.88 each ($96 total, including tax). also, there
> shouldn't be a labor charge for doing the shocks, because the shocks have to
> come out anyways when they do the upper ball joints.
>
> just for your calculations, my total labor cost for the front-end rebuild
> was $348, and that was with an ASE Master Mechanic doing the work, not some
> fly-by-night mechanic. the balance of the $507 ($159) went into buying 3
> ball joints, and both of the sway bar links.
>
> take the truck back and tell him to shove that estimate!
>
> Gabe Couriel
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
> [mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net]On Behalf Of
> ethan@ethanschwartz.com
> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 10:26 AM
> To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
> Subject: Re: DML: Re: Balljoints - CBS story
>
>
>
> My car is across the street from work at Sullivan Tire... just got a call
> with
> the estimate:
>
> Upper & Lower ball joints on the "right" side (guess that's pass?), ~$550,
> (they use Moog parts and will tap a fitting for the upper if it's not
> already
> there)
>
> (4) Shocks, ~$300, the truck had a lot of bounce in the front end, and he
> said
> that they were definately toast...
>
> Front Sway bar links are dead (I could hear the jingling, didn't say
> anything
> when I left it off, but they found them), ~$150...
>
> Their estimate is $1050 when all is said and done including an alignment and
> adjusting the rear brakes (ebrake is weak as hell, and the brakes generally
> feel kinda weak, but he says pads and shoes are fine)...
>
> Good thing I get that 1% cash back from Discover :)
>
> The original place that did the Mass inspection probably took one look at
> the
> exterior (nearly perfect) and figured it was all fine underneath, but it was
> way to clunky on rough roads to be ok.
>
> Of course I'm sure as soon as they saw me they knew I was a mark anyway...
> "EE
> for Analog Devices wearing a shirt & tie? He needs new shocks all around
> and
> his tail lights lubed up!"
>
> In article <B00817FA-0AA7-11D8-B7DE-000A277E09C8@tepidcola.com>,
> mike-lists@tepidcola.com (Michael Maskalans) writes:
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wednesday, October 29, 2003, at 09:54 AM, Josh Battles wrote:
> >
> > > "andy levy" <andy-dml@levyclan.us> wrote in message
> >
> > >> But it'd be nice to get reimbursed for them, wouldn't it?
> > >>
> > >
> > > i don't care anymore...if it was $500 like gabe paid then i'd be a
> > > little
> > > upset, but it was just about $180 for the whole thing - joints, tierod
> > > ends,
> > > and alignment.
> >
> > wow. I was in for over $400 for all four joints and an alignment. I
> > spent $70 over the summer for another replacement that I haven't put in
> > yet too... (bad boot)
> > --
> > Michael Maskalans '98 Dakota SLT CC 4x4 318
> > details here: <http://mike.tepidcola.com/dak/>
> > mobile.612.618.4652 campus.585.274.2246 fax.954.697.0487
> >
>
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