Not Sure What Happened

Finding a trustworthy mechanic isn't that hard. Ask your friends/family, look on sites like yelp, etc.

Maybe I do have more common sense that you, maybe I don't. But your truck wasn't dead, it was able to drive out of there to go and get another estimate. I've worked hard for my money and I'm not about to fork it over unless I absolutely have to. I've got kids to feed, mine not theirs.

Glad you are happy with the results.

 

Just so you know for future reference they didn't even replace the inner seal so hopefully it wasn't allowing water in or it'll do it again. They also replaced the hubs versus removing them from the old bearing and reusing them. I'm not trying to beat you up just giving you my 2cents.

 

This is a good and evil thing. The reason for the Flat Rate Labor manual is to protect you from a slow mechanic that charges you for the actual hours it takes him to do a job. Compare that with a really good mechanic that can do a good job in half the time.... See where this is going?

The Flat Labor Rates are established by doing the job several times and finding a good average time for doing a certain job and then charge based on that time regardless of how much time it actually takes.

It evens the field and if you get a slower mechanic it helps you. where a good mechanic that is faster can make more money.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/auto_repair_costs

http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2289815/flat-rate-manual

 

Flat rate times are not easy to establish...but you have to assume that ALL special tools are available, including lifts, pullers, chemicals. They you have to use an experienced mechanic who has done the job a number of times, enough times to get good at it. Now you start timing a number of these jobs and removing time for rounded bolt heads, rust, secondary damage, slow parts department.

And the flat rate really only applies in dealer shops and shops that do routine work, like brakes, tuneup, oil changes and the like. And once the vehicle gets more than 10 years old, all bets are off

If a mechanic can beat the flat rate by 1/2, I suspect short cuts and not factory procedures are being used.

 

Well, like I said, if nothing else it was a learning experience and something to level-set my expectations in the future. It's funny you mention "short cuts", but I sort of used that term with the Tech Writer.

I told him that if he quoted the job to take 3-hours for one side and they actually complete both sides in less than 3-hours, that doesn't make me feel confident that the job wasn't rushed and/or short cuts being taken. He grinned and said that he held the truck for the full 6-hours, I'd be pissed about that too.

I just saying there's gotta be a happy medium somewhere. I'm all for making sure there's some fluff in there, but damn, this was really over estimated. Someone in an earlier post mentioned about having an experience Tech vs a not so experienced Tech doing the job, thus not being able to do the job as quickly or take longer. I can understand that being the case, but I don't feel there's going to be that large of a time swing between the new guy and the experienced guy. I can't see the experience guy doing the job more than twice as fast, especially when we're only talking hours here, not days.

At any rate, it's done and over. For now, I'm happy with the result and I certainly learned from the experience and I now know what to expect and ask for the next time.

 

" He grinned and said that he held the truck for the full 6-hours, I'd be pissed about that too. "

I would have grinned right back and said if I only pay for the work you performed (3 hrs) why should HE be pissed about that !!

 

I agree. It was a heated exchange on my part. It's the same guy I've used since getting the truck there in 2007, so he and I go back and forth somewhat differently than if we were two people that did have a past together.

 

I'll give you an example of why I don't get service performed at a dealership. My last truck was a Titan. I was down in Moab camping. I developed a pretty good leak at the t-case at the front drive shaft. On the way home stopped at Nissan dealer in Salt Lake for service. The writer came back with estimate for $16xx.xx. New seal, axle assembly and labor. It seemed way high. I called my mechanic back home and said it seemed high to him too. He said it didn't sound severe and to drive it home and he would look at it. On Monday when I got home he put it on the lift and said driveshaft assembly was fine, just needed a yoke and a new seal. He ordered Nissan oem parts while I was there. Next day I brought it in, waited 1 1/2 hours and truck was ready. Total bill was $275.00.

Next time you go into a dealership, look around. Who pays the overhead of the prime real estate location, the fancy showroom, the waiting area, the 12 bays in the service dept? You do every time you get service. The service dept and parts dept are the meat and potatoes of every dealership.

My mechanic is located in the warehouse district, has 3 bays with 2 lifts. I bring coffee and donuts for the crew. He has the same tools & equipment and certificates as the dealerships. The difference is overhead and quality service.

While I was there, an older woman came in. He had ordered a tail light assembly for her vehicle a few days earlier. His mechanic went out and put it on, no charge on labor just charged her for the part. Try getting that done at a dealership, they would have charged labor "by the book".

OP: I would look around for a good wrench. They are out there.

 

I agree. I'll have to invest the time to find a local shop that can adequately perform most service. I want to stay away from the chain stores (Firestone, Pep Boys, Sears, etc) as I don't find them to be any cheaper or better than what I have now. The problem I always had in finding a local shop is that they don't have the high-end diagnostic equipment for today's modern vehicles. They may not matter for a job like I just had, but it does for other work.

A good example. Many years ago, I thought I was doing myself a favor taking my '67 Buick LeSabre to "the local guy", only to find out that he didn't have an electronic spin balancing machine. He relied on a bubble level based thing that wasn't work its weight for being able to accurate balance a tire. Another local guy would do you front-end work, whatever you needed, but then had to sub out the alignment to another shop that had the proper equipment.

 

Find your local Snap On dealer and ask him. He sells tools. He knows what shops have good equipment. Ask him where he'd take his vehicle for service.

 

At those prices, I can do wheel bearings all day long...

Howard