Well if that's the case, I wonder what kind of extras they tacked on for their houses?

 

Yesterday (Friday) the shop that I took the truck to - no, not the tire shop, this a shop that has done work for me in the past and I think has always been pretty fair with me - called with a long list of things they found wrong with the truck, the first of which was leaking shocks. I went ahead and OK'd the things they said needed done. So the tab has now gone from $700 to over $1700. I know this is one of the worst screwings I've ever taken but I'm getting old and crawling under the truck isn't as easy as it was 30 years ago. I try to justify it by telling myself that it is not a daily driver (I probably only need it 7 or 8 times a year-but when I need it nothing else will do) and that even $1700 is a lot less than a new truck. I guess I could babble on but what's done is done. Obviously the biggest mistake I made was paying them to do what I could have probably done myself - inconvenient as it may be. But I definitely could not have done the king pin thing. Anyway, today is Saturday and they're closed. I pick it up Monday morning and pay the bill. I'll repost then and tell what I got for over $1700.

 

Cool, do that. :)

I'm not going to kick you around for what you decided to do (because you'd
prob'ly kick me back) I got my 360FE overhauled by a guy that would do a
better job of it than me.

---------------------

I turned in 8 shocks (from the Sword) under warranty and in ear shot of the
other customers the manager was giving me a hard time because I didn't
have all the receipts. He was doing a good job of making me sound like an
unreasonable customer, no kidding. :) I told him, "back when I bought those
shocks Sword didn't require receipts". Didn't work. Had to talk to customer
relations in Chicago and get them to ok the swap, I walked out with 4 brand
new Rancho 5000's and money credited to my Discover card to boot. :)

That's when I went from dual shocks to single Ranchos. :)
The single Rancho 5000's do a pretty good job of keeping the truck from
dancing sideways on dirt roads, duals were needed before, no kidding.

The gal at the counter said...
"it's got to go back on your credit card :("
Real grumpy like ...because I was such a bad person and all, see? ;)
I said...
"I knowed that already:)"
"you know why it needs to go back on the credit card? :)"
"no :/"
"Do you want to know? :)"
"no :/"
"oh, ok, sorry :/"

I walked out happy. LOL :)

I wonder if she still doesn't know that the bank (that owns the credit card)
only pays the business like 98 cents on the dollar you pay? {shrug}

Alvin in AZ

 

thats a sad story and literally makes me want to cry. but dont beat yourself up too much over it. everythings a learning experience. as long as a lesson comes with it then its not a total loss. and a valuable lesson is valuable.

 

Yeah, definately shop around for a better price, $700 bucks is crazy. Even if you don't have the space or tools or desire to do the job yourself there's no way you should be held hostage by paying that amount. Later.

 

Here's my bill....
Labor:
Replace king pin and bushings 399.56
Replace shocks 159.82
Replace drag link 99.89
Front end alignment 59.95
Replace Valve cover gaskets 99.89

Parts:
King pin kit 180.96
2 KYB shock 155.92
2 KYB shock 139.96
1 draglink assembly 275.56
1 VC gaskets 21.94

......and with various surcharges the total was 1737.67. So, like I said, it'll go down as one of my worst screwings but I can't blame the shop. I took it there, they told me up front what the price would be, and I OK'd it, so I can only blame myself. I just should have done my homework and been a smarter consumer. Looking back I should have had the king pin thing done and stopped there. I could have easily done the rest myself. As a side note, I was looking on Craig's list under services and there are literally hundreds of "mechanics" who say they are willing to work on your stuff for a fraction of what a shop would charge. Kind of makes me wonder if I should have gone that route. Anyway..... next time I'll be sure to check in with you guys before I commit to something.

 

Well, you didn't get it across the chin too bad, sorta.

$159 to replace the shocks, and then $300 for the shocks? Wow. $159 for 30 seconds worth of cutting torch gas? They can knock those old ones off lickity split. They definitely made money on that deal(let alone the mark up on the parts).

$100 to unbolt a drag link(another 10 min job with air tools). The draglink seems a bit pricey, but was it all three pieces? Right and two pieces on left side? Then not too bad.

$100 to put on valve cover gaskets? Wow. They sure do rack up the hours doing these jobs. Some of the "new" cars I can see taking alot of time to get the rear one off a FWD car, but an old truck?

The whole thing is if you feel better about getting it all done and out of the way, then the money isn't an issue. Not everyone can work on their cars(or feel comfortable doing it, or have the tools to), but unfortunately alot of shops really hurt you on pricing.

My buddy has his own shop and is always broke cause he can't bring himself to charge what other places do. Sometemes he will and then feels bad about it. We tell him to do what he needs to do to survive. Can't give everything away.

 

Well what's done is done, and if this helps you in the future then lesson learned.