Local mechanic : rip off or not? You decide

I wanted to share with you guys some of the maintenance items that I declined when I brought in my 2006 Odyssey for the sliding door repair. They charged me $500 to change the rollers, which didn’t even fix the problem. I ended up fixing it myself.

I’m all for supporting local but only to a certain extent. They wanted $65 to change some bulbs for my license plate! Pretty ridiculous IMO.

Anyhow, check out these prices and let me know what you guys think.

 

I think you're getting bent over a barrel with those prices.

 

OMG that is bad.

 

Dude at midas wed sell those bulbs for $10 and install them for free!!
$110 for coolant? Did that include a new cap?
DONT MATTER!!
That is a $28 radiator cap and that is thru the TRD store. A gal of genuine toyota coolant is $19... Does your truck hold 4 and a half gallons of coolant? If so that adds up. Id hand the guy a condom and a glass a wine... " get me drunk and wrap it up before you fuck me"

 

These quotes are for my 06 Honda Odyssey. But yeah, I’ll never go back to them! I have other mechanics that I can go to and support.

 

They are in business, trying to sell! Had a similar experience taking my truck for state inspection. Got a recommended services of almost $800 for a bunch on unneeded crap.

 

Same year Odyssey....we could replace all the coils for less than that. And have spares...

 

Having worked the auto repair industry for many years in many positions, this is normal and to be expected.
Actually those prices are rather low for today's situation.

BG flushes are usually around $200+ in these parts.
Pricey stuff that BG.

Markup on filters, bulbs, and other parts plus labor, helps keep the lights on for small business owners.

Us do it yourself types are always offended by these prices because we know what is easy and what is not.
We also take for granted things like lifts and pits and big air compressors and air tools for doing jobs fast and efficiently.
Also the machines that run most of the fluid flushes.

Personally I am getting to the point now that I don't want to work on anything anymore and my body is worn out and sore for days after doing things like my front brakes 3 weeks or so ago.
But paying for things I know how to do and have the tools for really chaps my ass.
If I had a house with a driveway and a garage/shop/shed I would still do most things myself, but in my situation it's not worth the hassle anymore with the body aches.

 

Perhaps the air filter had flecks of real gold in it? I know some of the high flow drop in filters can get pricey, but I doubt that's what it is in this scenario.....

 

Not sure what BG is but if the brake service and power steering service are full fluid replacement, those rates aren't too bad. The rest looks fairly rapey to me.




Speaking of rapey, I looked for a vtech solenoid at a Honda online retailer. $135 plus $30 shipping, so let's call it $165. The problem is there is a 10 day shipping expected.

Called dealer #1 and he said its in stock, $265. I asked whats the list price, you're way high. He said best he can do is $230. Later bro.

Called dealer #2 and he said in stock, $199. I asked if he can shake some off, he said only if my car is serviced there, otherwise $199 is all he can do.

I'm gonna go ahead and buy off #2, the $30 beats waiting on shipping. Dealer #1 must mention rape twice.

 

For the heavier maintenance that requires lifts and specialty tools, I totally understand. However, it’s hard to get over the fact that they want $64 to change out a pair of $5 bulbs.

 

Those are Jiffy Lube prices

 

No able bodied person should be paying to have someone else put in a light bulb, air filter, remove a radiator cap, or tell them to tighten the gas cap. Any auto parts store will read the codes free of charge and you can tighten (or replace) your own gas cap.

 

Yeah those prices are horrible. I would run away from that mechanic. They are definitely bending you over. And for sure aren’t using genuine Toyota fluids. I wouldn’t give them the time of day