I have a 92 F150 with a 302 engine that was running somewhat sluggish after I replaced the cap,rotor, spark plugs and wires. The 'check engine' light was on. I had to take it to the garage because I just moved and had all my tools in the back of the storage unit.

A mechanic had done some good work for me before so I took it to him. The bill was $700 to replace the ERG and Position Control Sensor - parts plus labor.

Did I get taken? And how hard would it have been to do it myself? Hate spending money when I'm not working.

Regards,
Larry

 

Yes you got had. That is insane! It can be done in an hour or less and probably less than $150 in parts.

 

You got raped! This job probably took the guy 15 minutes and the parts don't exceed $75.

Standard Motor Products EGV263 EGR Valve | eBay

SMP/STANDARD VP1T EGR Valve Position Sensor | eBay

 

Boulderbronco, that's too bad. I will never go back there again. I needed my truck to go to job interviews and stuff and I am living in housing where they don't let you work on your truck, plus the fact my tools are all in storage.

Damn, I should of consulted here first and done some research. Mechanics/people are doing all kinds of unethical things in this economy. Really can't trust anybody anymore.

Regards,
Larry

 

Now, I feel worse for being a sucker. What happened to ethics?!! I haven't seen an honest mechanic is decades.

Regards,
Larry

 

The thing is that the mechanic gave me a good deal on the first job I gave him a month ago and then hammered me on the second. I have had that experience before. Seems like mechanics and lawyers have a license to steal.

Regards,
Larry

 

People get away with this stuff because people like you don't stand up for yourself. Why do you just take it and not ask questions or fight back? Go back there and raise hell. Start out nicely asking what the deal is and see if there is something you missed. If it still doesn't make sense then let him have it and demand your money back. Take him to small claims court if you have to but dont' let him just stick it to you and say, oh well "I've had that experience before."

 

Are you sure? What ws the first job?

I'll add that the guy probably ran diagnostics on the truck before changing the parts and also cleared codes after and they often charge $75 or so just for that, and he may have had to wrestle with the EGR tube because they often rust tight, but still... that's awful steep for what is an hours work worst case.

 

Yeah, go back there and ask why it cost $700 to replace the. EGR valve.

The valve is just to the left of the red box.


Two bolts, one vacuum hose, and one nut. ~15 minute job, 45 minutes - 1 hr at the absolute worst.

 

Boulderbronco, I didn't realize how little work was involved, if I knew how little work was involved I never would let him get away with it. In fact, I would of done the job myself. I will speak to him tomorrow.

The thing is that I have been the route of small claims court on a mechanic who tightened the transmission pan bolts too tight after I warned him not to use a pneumatic wrench to tighten them and he stripped the threads on this same truck just last year. I took my truck back to him several times for him to correct the problem and and he kept charging me extra to fix the problem and the damn thing still leaked !!!! I finally took him to court and I won the case, then I got a court order to collect the money, but the guy just folded shop, moved to a different town and opened another garage under his son's name.

Now, what the guy will say is he did a diagnostic test- which cost $110 and he did, but the remaining $600 was just for the ERG valve and sensor, position control sensor plus labor.

I see so many unscrupulous people nowadays, doing the same type of thing.
What bothers me is the guy knows I have been unemployed for 4 years and he was still trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip. Can anybody need money that bad? This nation is in a sad state of affairs and getting worse by the minute, but what do you expect when the country is rotten from the top down and has been for the last 100 years or so.

Regards,
Larry

 

Lead Head, thanks for the picture. I didn't do my due diligence because of time constraints and was taken to the cleaners. Hate when that happens. Really, you can't fix this system or try to work in it. Basically criminals have the run of the place. Regime change is the only way out. You can spend your whole life chasing the symtoms- the small crooks, courts, etc, but getting to the root of the disease is the only way out.

Regards,
Larry

 

Well said. Sounds like maybe your a fellow RP supporter?
I haven't heard you say what exactly was on the invoice. Was it broken down at all? Like you said he could have charged as much as $110 for the diagnosis (still pretty damn high for just plugging in his computer and checking codes). That would put parts and labor at $600 which I still think is a bending you over. I don't think many mechanics would charge more than $300 to do this, parts and labor.

 

The invoice was 3 charges: 1)the diagnostic test, the ERG valve and sensor plus 2)throttle position control sensor 3)plus labor. So it was about $350 parts and $350 labor.

boulderbronco, yeah I will vote for Ron Paul, but I can pretty well predict the powers the be- the ones we can't name...the ones who got us involved in Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. and the ones pushing for this new war against Syria/Lebanon/Iran etc. will not let him get elected and maybe that's a good thing since it proves working in the system will not change anything. Hopefully, people will see how badly Ron Paul is marginalized in the media while sycophants like Gingrich get a 5 million dollar bailout from a casino schiester billionaire and Israeli hardliner, Sheldon Adelson. Corporate shills, Mitt Romney, Insanitorium, etc. are just clones.


Regards,
Larry

 

Parts costs are about double the current going rate for those items, and labor is about 3x too much.

I'd just print out a list of the parts costs from Autozone, and go to the shop and just ask them whats up. Even AutoMD.com estimates a job cost of only ~$350, and that's still way on the high side.

Worst that can happen is the shop refuses to do anything. When/if that happens, just kindly let them know you'll never be using them again, and that you will be sure to tell everyone you meet to stay clear.

 

There's a few things you can do. Get a parts cost from the dealer (they will be the highest for most things), and look up the labor time on Mitchell or Alldata. Multiply the labor rate by hours, and add parts in. That should get you in the ballpark. $700 is astronomical. If there is management higher than him I'd consult them, and also file a claim with the Better Business Bureau. The diagnostics couldn't have been too bad to do, although I've had some that made me want to tear my hair out.

Hate to break it to you, but a lot of shops charge more for parts than what you can buy them for. Let's say a sensor is $49.99 at Autozone. The shop has an Autozone Commercial account, and can get the same part for $25. They then mark the part up to $89.99 in order to hit their gross margin percentage (usually 80% at most shops). When I was service writing at a shop I would have to mark parts up 4-6x what we paid just to hit numbers. It's not fun for anyone except the big bosses who collect. The worst one I had to do was mark up a $350 part (our cost) to $1,600 to hit numbers. Can't remember what it was for sure, I do know it was a dealer-only part.