2012 F150 5.0 STX Had my check engine light coming on intermittently, and then a "check fuel filler inlet" message came on with each startup. Took it to dealer, diagnosed canister vent valve and pigtail needed replacing. Was given an estimate just short of $500. I did some research (I admit up front that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing) and found that the valve itself can be purchased for $30+/-; did not price the pigtail. Also saw a video of the actual replacement, and the part is easily accessible and it did not appear to be a difficult procedure (I am NOT a mechanic in any sense of the word). I made the assumption that the estimate was one of those over-estimates, in case the process ends up being more complicated on an individual vehicle (like the time I got an estimate of $400 to replace the spark plugs on a Corolla; ended up coming in under $150). But no, when they did the service, it came in as estimated, with ~$70 for the solenoid assembly, ~$50 for the pigtail, and $320 for labor (truck was in at 8am, back on the road at 9:30am), $48 haz mat. Is there a way that this can be justified? I really like my dealership, the service people have taken good care of me for *years* (like, 17 years with my 7.3 PSD, in a small town with few diesel mechanics). I am not angry (yet ... ) just discourage and disappointed that it has come to this. Would much rather hear that there is some good reason for this service to be so bloody expensive. (sorry for the run-on paragraph, the wp on this site does not seem to agree with my laptop)

 

Hi folwtruck,

I'd recommend reaching out to your service manager directly; they'll be in the best position to explain the charges to you. Our dealerships are independently owned and operated, so they can set their own prices for service. Additionally, I can document your feedback about this. PM me your full name, best daytime phone number, dealer info, and any specifics you'd like me to include. I'll make sure it gets entered.

Crystal

 

Sadly and regrettably the days are upon us where it's cheaper to buy the Ford ESP coverage for the longest period possible than it is to take a risk on having no issues at all. For those who trade frequently it's a no brainer.

On a similar note of cost, I recently took my 2004 Expy to the dealer for it's annual state inspection. My dealer does the inspections for free. No issues what so ever with the truck and yet the inspection tech said the wiper blades needed replacing. They tried to bend my wife over for $60.00 for blades!!!!!!!!!!!

She called me, then I called them. The service writer said it would be easier just to pay the $60.00 then to have to bring it back. I told him that I would gladly bring it back and take up another 60 minute block of his time for a free re-inspection. He arguably agreed to change the blades for $32.00 and then bitched about not making any money. Too fricken bad. They've made plenty of money off of me and all of the dozens of referrals that I send them.

 

Yeah, I had a non-Ford place try to charge me $55 to change a front blinker bulb once (long time ago). I missed it being out before going in for the inspection, so it was my fault. But I drove down the street to an AutoZoo, borrowed a screwdriver, had the bulb changed, and was back in like 15 mins.

55 friggin' dollars for a light bulb.....

 

Did you pay separately for the original diagnostic fee. If not then that is in the labor. They quoted you $500. You didn't actually think they were going to come back and say, "Hey, we are only going to charge you $300 since the tech took less time than what the job was quoted." Yeah, that isn't going to happen.

 

I can't imagine the overhead that a dealership would have in 2015, to have everything pencil out means high labor rates there's just no way around it. Can't see this getting any better.

Fast, Cheap, Good. <--- Pick two.

 

Gouging is gouging......I wouldn't blame it on "overhead" ........and don't put it on diagnostic either they probably spent less than 15 minutes figuring it out......and I doubt the fix took em more than half hour 45 minutes

 

In fact, they did not end up itemizing a charge for the diagnostic. Would the diagnostic normally be included in the quoted estimate for the fix?


Even subtracting out the diagnostic fee, that still works out to $166/hour for labor. I guess a sizeable chunk of that is overhead for running the whole operation.



Well, in fact, that actually has happened a couple of times with these folks.


Again, I'm not so much angry at them, as I am disappointed that it has come to this in the dealer service industry. And I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt about how simple this fix actually is. The place is pretty hopping, but they did a great job in terms of getting it in and out quickly.

 

Diagnostic is a minimum $100. It may not be itemized. If a job takes 5 minutes an hour minimum is billed.

 

Gouge.......I'd never take out of warranty repair to a Ford dealer

 

Many dealerships work by book hours. The mechanic gets paid a set amount to do the job regardless of how long it takes. I've had some luck negotiating dealer service prices down in the past. I would talk to the service manager.
The dealer I worked at listed all the fees per job including hazmat, shop rags ... It was just their way of breaking out costs.
Diagnostic fees are thee tough one. Many times it takes loner to diagnose a problem than to fix it. I would hope this fee gets waived if the dealer does the work.

 

I will say that if the part cost you found were not motorcraft that can be a big difference. There are many times Ford has a patent on their part and many aftermarket parts seem to work, but don't fully perform. Diesel oil filters are a big one that comes to mind. Not sure about this particular part. Also, when you buy the parts online you're often paying wholesale prices. When you go into the service department you will be paying retail prices. Anyone can give stuff away online to pad their sales figures.

 

And that is part of the reason I do go to the dealer for service. I don't expect the prices to be as low as even one of the big parts places (AutoZone is what I explored). Honestly, the parts are not the issue, I expect those to be a bit spendy coming from a dealer service shop. It's the $320 for less than two hours labor that has me the most puzzled.

 

While every shop can be a little different, most jobs are given a set amount of time. If the tech does it right quicker he can make a little more money by getting more jobs done in a day. If he takes his time, or goes quick and screws it up so it comes back in, he makes the same amount for the job, but has less time to do other jobs. It sounds like it was charged about 3 hours based on typical labor rates. I don't know if this is a fair figure or not (I suppose that's the real question), but lets assume it is. Would you rather they had it sit around for the full three hours so you felt you got your monies worth, or would you rather a seasoned tech get the job done quickly so you could be on your way? That's the perspective you'd have to prove or disprove to know if they treated you right I would think. You could call another Ford shop and ask how many hours they would charge for the job if you wanted to cross shop. If you find several that are significantly less (say 2 hours), that's the data to bring to the service manager. It may have been an accidental oversight or misreading a labor chart or it might just be scheduled for three hours. Or someone was simply trying to make an unethical buck.

Edit: There might be one charge for the harness and one for the valve and they combined them (as is normal to do) even though much of the prep work is overlapped.

 

Reminds me of when the stealership tried to gouge me 50 dollars to reattach the shift **** on my bronco. Last time I checked, I didn't have a unibrow or a club, and wasn't wearing a sabertooth cat as a robe. Never have I ever left any establishment faster.