Now I know why it's called the stealership...

[TannerW]

So here is a pretty good story about a local Toyota dealership... Since I bought my 1996 4Runner the end cap on the blinker and headlight leaver fell of every time I touched it. My Dad being the great Dad he is tried to help and super glue that cap on.. Wasn't the best idea... So Valentines night I went to get in my Runner to take my girlfriend out on a date tried to turn my headlights on and nothing.. The super glue had gotten in between the connection not allowing it to turn on. I ended up having to drive my Mom's Ford Edge that thing is about the size of a damn tank. I hate driving it. So anyways the next morning we got up early and headed to the dealership to see if we could get it replaced. We though it wouldn't be that much. Man were we wrong. They were wanting $500 for the cost of the part and labor. The part was $218 and labor was $282. So I hopped on Google and found the part for $70 at JC Whitney with 10, 5 Star reviews. And there was NO labor to replace the part a damn monkey could have done it! There are 4 bolts, 5 screws and 1 connector you have to take out and slide the new part into. So thats what we are going to do. I just thought I would share this little story about our local STEALERship. Hope you enjoyed!

Here is the part at JC Whitney:

 

[LittleCaesar]

I just replaced the upstream and downstream o2 sensors on a 2000 2wd Limited non CA for a coworker's son for $375. It took me 20 minutes. They stealership wanted $725.

Nice job!

 

[Yotacollector]

Also remember you would be getting an oem part WITH a parts and labor warranty for a year. Dealerships only charge how long the book calls for. Some people agree with it and some don't. Myself, I would rather buy the oem part bc there's a chance if there was a flaw with the part toyota would of already improvised it and also any part you buy from Toyota carries the warranty. Granted a lot of aftermarket parts are great quality but to each their own..

 

[Nelsonmd]

Also remember you would be getting an oem part WITH a parts and labor warranty for a year. Dealerships only charge how long the book calls for. Some people agree with it and some don't. Myself, I would rather buy the oem part bc there's a chance if there was a flaw with the part toyota would of already improvised it and also any part you buy from Toyota carries the warranty. Granted a lot of aftermarket parts are great quality but to each their own..

I don't think that fly's here... 282 for labor at a dealership is probably 2-2.5 hrs, and I highly doubt that is book time for this repair.

Same goes for the O2 sensors, 725 for 2 O2 sensors is robbery. Each one can't be more than 1 hour as a minimum default for book time.

I usually agree on OEM parts, but for random little bits like the shifter arm, don't worry about OEM. Safety critical components, yes, but stuff like this, definitely not. And with the warranty, you still often have to fight the dealership to get them to admit the fault was in the part itself or their install, and not that you broke it.

 

[hrt4me]

There are 4 bolts, 5 screws and 1 connector you have to take out and slide the new part into.

please take and post photos when you install the your new turn signal stalk...

 

[nissanh]

As far as I remember you remove the bottom steering column cover by removing 2 or 3 bolts underneath. Then you can see the switch and the lower bolt of the switch is easily visible. The top bolt is kind of hidden under the top-steering-column cover. You can carefully lift it but it tends to break.

To access the two bolts in the top steering column cover, you have to remove the steering wheel. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Drcoffee]

Also remember you would be getting an oem part WITH a parts and labor warranty for a year. Dealerships only charge how long the book calls for. Some people agree with it and some don't. Myself, I would rather buy the oem part bc there's a chance if there was a flaw with the part toyota would of already improvised it and also any part you buy from Toyota carries the warranty. Granted a lot of aftermarket parts are great quality but to each their own..

And at that price, he can change it 6 times before it comes close to the dealership. If you need oem parts, contact toyota of dallas. They have very fair prices.

 

[TheDurk]

I just replaced the upstream and downstream o2 sensors on a 2000 2wd Limited non CA for a coworker's son for $375. It took me 20 minutes. They stealership wanted $725.

Nice job!

I hate to rain on your parade, but you could have bought the identical Denso OEM sensors on Amazon for less than one-third that cost, unless there is something in there besides just the sensors. Assuming Auto trans and 3.4L V6, a 2000 non-CA RWD uses Denso 234-4162 front and back, $48.37 each, Prime eligible. There is ZERO difference between the sensor below and what you get at the stealer except the red box.

Denso 234-4162 Oxygen Sensor : Amazon.com : Automotive

 

[pluton]

I prefer OEM parts, but my local dealer---where the stars buy their Priuses---charges something like $130/hour labor.
Yes, they do offer a one year parts/labor warranty on the repair, and give you a ride home after dropoff.
But they also do things like charge for PS fluid changes on vehicles that don't have power steering.
Recently I had them do the leaking rear axle seals. Five redos on the original repair later, I'm not sure I'd take that job to them again.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I did Durk. I had some noodles left on the stove that needed more attention than the post, so the previous post had to be quick and concise.

I have been running Denso o2s for six years on my 99 4wd. No CEL yet.

Why stealerships have such an aversion for changing simple items at a decent, non highway robbery cost is beyond me.

 

[TheDurk]

I did Durk. I had some noodles left on the stove that needed more attention than the post, so the previous post had to be quick and concise.

I have been running Denso o2s for six years on my 99 4wd. No CEL yet.

Why stealerships have such an aversion for changing simple items at a decent, non highway robbery cost is beyond me.

Yeah, I thought you knew better. Hope the noodles were good....

 

[TannerW]

I'll post pictures when I'm doing the install. I never had to remove my steering wheel.. Just turn it to the right and left to get two screws behind it.

 

[Net4n6]

Different car... Dealer wanted $250 to fix the oil leak on my wife Mercedes. I googled and it costs me $10 + 5 min of my labor.

 

[So Many Roads]

Dealerships only charge how long the book calls for.

I hate book rates! Shops use this as an excuse to screw you, like there is no other option than bill at book rates. Idea - how about you charge me for the actual time required to complete a repair?

Example. I needed a new ignition coil on a Pathfinder a few years back. An independent shop couldn't figure out which coil was bad, so they wanted to replace all six, and charge book labor hours for EACH coil. So book labor times six. Sorry, replacing six coils does not take 9 hours. GFY.

That makes no sense at all, other than acknowledgement that they like to screw their customers. Obviously I didn't have them do the work, but it is an example of how shops use book rates as an excuse to charge excessively high labor rates.

 

[BlackCat914]

I hate book rates! Shops use this as an excuse to screw you, like there is no other option than bill at book rates. Idea - how about you charge me for the actual time required to complete a repair?

Example. I needed a new ignition coil on a Pathfinder a few years back. An independent shop couldn't figure out which coil was bad, so they wanted to replace all six, and charge book labor hours for EACH coil. So book labor times six. Sorry, replacing six coils does not take 9 hours. GFY.

That makes no sense at all, other than acknowledgement that they like to screw their customers. Obviously I didn't have them do the work, but it is an example of how shops use book rates as an excuse to charge excessively high labor rates.

here's another example to counter yours. I was doing a 4-wheel alignment on an Infiniti QX56 last week. The rear camber was way out of spec. I get 2 hours for a 4 wheel alignment. The rear camber bolts were seized and I needed to bust out the torch and heat them. I messed with JUST the rear for nearly 2 hours. The client still was charged 2 hours for the alignment, even though I had more than 2 hours in it. He wasn't charged more. Not all dealerships are out to rob you.

Do you have any idea how many times someone comes in to our store and complains about a diagnosis charge? We're talking $80,000 SUV's, not $13,000 chevy Aveo's here. Happens all the time. Should I not get paid the time I have in properly diagnosing a problem?

Do you also know how many times I've replaced parts that a customer said their vehicle needed after diagnosing it themselves, and it didn't fix it? Happens all the time too. The street goes both ways, my friend.

 

[Mike&Ike]

I hate book rates! Shops use this as an excuse to screw you, like there is no other option than bill at book rates. Idea - how about you charge me for the actual time required to complete a repair?

Example. I needed a new ignition coil on a Pathfinder a few years back. An independent shop couldn't figure out which coil was bad, so they wanted to replace all six, and charge book labor hours for EACH coil. So book labor times six. Sorry, replacing six coils does not take 9 hours. GFY.

That makes no sense at all, other than acknowledgement that they like to screw their customers. Obviously I didn't have them do the work, but it is an example of how shops use book rates as an excuse to charge excessively high labor rates.

It would be asinine to charge the customer the amount of time the tech is actually working on the car. If that was so the tech would milk the whole job and the customer would get screwed. Flat rate is a good system, just because a tech becomes good at what they do doesn't mean they should be payed less. You do know that mechanics are only payed on what they do as far as labor hours right?

 

[02SE]

Do you also know how many times I've replaced parts that a customer said their vehicle needed after diagnosing it themselves, and it didn't fix it? Happens all the time too. The street goes both ways, my friend.

Back in the day when I worked on consumer cars, we had a sign posted that stated how much the rate increased, if the customer tried to fix it first, made a mess of it, and then wanted us to fix their mistake(s).

 

[Yotacollector]

here's another example to counter yours. I was doing a 4-wheel alignment on an Infiniti QX56 last week. The rear camber was way out of spec. I get 2 hours for a 4 wheel alignment. The rear camber bolts were seized and I needed to bust out the torch and heat them. I messed with JUST the rear for nearly 2 hours. The client still was charged 2 hours for the alignment, even though I had more than 2 hours in it. He wasn't charged more. Not all dealerships are out to rob you.

Do you have any idea how many times someone comes in to our store and complains about a diagnosis charge? We're talking $80,000 SUV's, not $13,000 chevy Aveo's here. Happens all the time. Should I not get paid the time I have in properly diagnosing a problem?

Do you also know how many times I've replaced parts that a customer said their vehicle needed after diagnosing it themselves, and it didn't fix it? Happens all the time too. The street goes both ways, my friend.

Well said!! Couldn't agree more. Living in the rust belt, you 50% of the time lose your ass on the labor rate due to rust, seized bolts etc. Scanners cost money and people want free diagnosis so they can go home and fix it themselves when you just used your $30k scanner to diagnose their problem for FREE..

 

[Brique]

I'm a total novice and it took me 20 minutes to replace my o2 sensor last week.

Honestly, I don't begrudge techs their rate, nor the flat rate, as long as the shop is fair.

And although I'm not going to do anything too deep, I'm feeling more confident with every repair I make using the write-ups I'm finding here and elsewhere. I also like the challenge and chest-beating aspect of pulling off a repair myself. That said, there's a big difference between fixing something and figuring out what the problem was in the first place. I agree that techs should be payed for diagnosis time, especially when the customer wants to try to fix it themselves. I won't have any problem paying that fee when the time comes.

 

[RussToy]

[MENTION=99529]TannerW[/MENTION] dude you were at a "Stealership"!!! I purchased my turn stalk at my local Toyota dealership...and paid $75 for it. Either they looked up the wrong part number or he was being very dishonest.

Heck, when I take my Toyota in to the dealership, they always gives me the Toyota price and aftermarket price for parts. Maybe I'm just luck that I have a good Dealership and not a "Stealership"!! Wow!