For a more informed opinion....

Dealers charge an average of about $75 an hour for labor. The mechanic only sees about $20 of that, if he's lucky.

Its an interesting note, but MANY ford mechanics are rather unhappy with ford as well. Ford has taken a new "scrooge" approach to paying mechanics. Some of the more extreme examples are mechanics who will work for 4-5 days and not get paid at all. I've had several ford mechanics flat out tell me to never buy a ford.

For more info on all that, check out...

http://www.flatratetech.com/

 

I just CAN'T understand why 96splash is mad. I can gaurantee he was aware of the price before your left your truck there.

Also why did you want to shorten you 4x4 shifter?? Sounds pretty stupid to me. WHat are you a little fat Midget!?

 

maybe he just wants to bitch at all of us

 

I just assume the dealership is expensive. The wifes Taurus developed an intermitant problem that could have been caused by anything from a MAF senser to a dirty fuel tank. I took a couple days to check EVERYTHING out, and still couldn't find the problem. We were going on vacation and the wife convinced me to take the car to the Ford dealership to have it worked on. It was a sad day, for I've NEVER used a mechanic. I had to drive the car for an hour and a half in the heat for it to act up and then spent 5 minutes convincing the Serv. Mngr. to let me give the Mech a drive. First thing he said was, "MAF senser." I told him he was wrong, gave him a list of things I checked, told him I'd be back in a week - fix it. Open ticket.

A week later picked up the car. The Mech. said he was suprised when every piece of test equipment they had said the car was fine. He found the problem in the main wiring harness, where it makes a bend at the firewall. Tore the harness apart and fixed 3 wires.

Total bill - $200.00

Money well spent.

 

Hey man this may be rude but if you can't afford to pay the repair costs on a newer vechile don't buy one, i have worked hard to pay off my vechile and will continue to and if your problem is with fixing them for the cost they charge, sell it and buy a old truck that you can work on....

 

MotorHead is an affectionate term i call my Mechanic Car Junkie Friends.. its not a Diss...

any thoughts on a good company to Buy a manual for my Truck From ? nexttime ill read the manual...
Mabey i'll be able to do the job myself and save my self the Stress and the Coin If possible..


96Splash

ya live ya learn...

 

I think Ken sells them on Motorhaven.

 

Buy a book. Then if you have a question, this site is probably the best place in the world to ask it. I bet there's at least a few thousand years experience lurking around here. It can save you hours under the hood. They can get kind of sensitive though. Keep all loose clothing tucked in and never feed them people food..

 

every one got a good point about this subject,,even you got a really good point about the subject.

you are right about vent your .

remember nothing is cheap any more. ford trucks are

 

Wolfy, your back!!!, welcome home.

I have been on both sides of this fence. A six pac of beer sure wouldn't pay any overhead at a dealership. Also you wouldn't believe the number of screwed up cars, that well meaning neighbors tried to fix, which end up at the dealers. I have ran my own shop too and the .5 hour minimum doesn't even cover the cost of writing you up a W.O. so it is actually a bargain. On the other hand some technicians get a little pencil heavy and charge .5 for leaning on the fender. I have had to pay for several of these charges on one work order when all the time consumed would not have been .5 and it was in addition to other flat rate work being done. Even on warranty work they always like to weasel in some customer pay because warranty pay is about 60% of what customer pay is. Savvy techs. just quote work that doesn't need done on warranty and then chuck the parts under their bench and the customer is none the wiser because he didn't have to pay for it.
Also often times the service dept. has to carry the burden of paying all the bills for the whole facility.
In closing, Always know what the repairs will cost and never give any inclination to just fix it. And if the service is really bad and the service manager won't deal with it, then find a different dealership. Your warranty is only as good as the dealer that you go to.

 

Im sorry.. you spent $41.00 and want a free oil change????
Do you have any idea wha it costs to keep the doors open on shop? Wake up.It amazes me that people will spend 10-20-30k or more on a vehicle and whine that they have to maintain it!

 

Yup, see it all the time. People have no qualms about paying several times what a new car should cost and then snivel about what dealer maintainece and repairs cost.

 

LOL, this reminds me of the first time I ever went to a dealer. I drove a Volvo that had bearings that kept busting. Cost me $4 for a stud, that nobody else had. Never did that again.

A dealership is mainly for selling cars. Dealership repairs is like a convenient store. You pay more at a gas station for cereal, than at a grocery store.

Question though, why would you take your vehicle to a dealership that does warranty type work? That's like if I took my 4x4 to a dealership to re arc my springs. LOL.

 

My parents had a marine repair business and the labor rate was derived by a myriad of factors from pay for the mechanic, parts, electrical, and INSURANCE. This was the biggest factor and caused my parents to give up that part of the business. They would take in small items and either my father or I (during the summer) would fix it for a very low rate.

Dealerships are expensive, but they often save money in the long run. In my 99 F-150 I had my A/C start blowing hot two years ago. I took it to a local service store and they charge me $135 for the A/C work and I was fine with it, but it kept blowing warm. I went back and they said it was normal and that I needed to get used to it. I knew it was not and went back to the dealer. There was a blown seal and they fixed it for the deductible on the extended service $50. Now in hindsight I could of saved $135 by not do the local thing, but I tried.

Chevy, HA mother-in-law took her 2001 Malibu into the dealer on a Monday for a A/C/ problem and back again on Wednesday, because they messed it up and blew the core up. They charged her the deductible both time and hers is $100.

 

Nobody gets rich in the auto repair business, that should tell you something.
I also wanted to comment on the price of oem parts. While I will agree that they are overpriced, I would still rather pay twice as much for a Motorfraft Autilite or Ford part. Case in point; I had the vlotage regulator go out on my 72. I put on a NAPA one. It lasted a few weeks and full fielded. I put on another NAPA. Same thing. I went to a Stsndard and it didn't last so I went to a Blue Streak heavy duty and it was good for about a month. I finally went to Ford and bought an oem, it's been working fine for 15 years.