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I just paid $685 for an alternator

J

JaketheSnake

New CEG'er
Joined
Jul 1, 2000
Messages
29
Location
Farmington, Connecticut
Okay, here's the story:

My 99 duratec SE with 162k miles has never been to a garage (except for tires). I've always prided myself on getting by as a shadetree mech. Well, we bought our first house last week, and during one of many Home Depot runs the voltage light started flickering. Since the battery is relatively new, I suspected the alternator. Sure enough, the car died 20 miles later.

With my hands full with the new house, I had the contour towed to an old garage I used to work at, thinking I'd get a decent "friends and family" rate. Well I picked up the car the next night, and the two mechanics were gone, so I couldn't confront them. But this is what I was presented with:

Labor:
.7 hours -- Hook vehicle to scope & check charging system (I freaking told them it was the alternator!!!) x $92/hr = $64.60
3 hours -- Remove and replace alternator assembly x $92/hr = $276

Parts
1 Alternator Assembly (130 amp alternator) $295.20

Shop Supplies
$10.20

Tax
$38.75

TOTAL
$684.56

I'm fine with the labor rate (I knew that ahead of time, even though it's high), but am I getting soaked here or what???? Anyone know what the book says the job should take? What stings even more is that I've always considered these two guys old friends of mine.
 
the labor rate is a little high yes ,but you said that.I feel they did burn you on the scan charge and on the shop Supplies
 
Too much $ for the alt IMO. They didn't pay that $ for it. Labor should be around $70/hr too. The time involved is spot on.
 
You can get remanned alt anywhere for $175, new for $200. Lifetime warranty both. I generally rebuild mine myself at substantially reduced cost, my last one was for regulator only, cost $35. I did all the rest. Highest I'll ever get paid in life.............
 
I don't know what the book time is but it shouldn't take the slowest mechanic (especially ones good enough to charge $92 an hour) more than 2 hours to replace the alternator.
 
Book is 2.6 according to ARRC. Oh and .5 for testing, which the OP got hosed on anyway being that he already knew what the problem was.
 
yeah ... a shop isn't just going to take a persons word on what is wrong. they are going to inspect themselves ....

also labor rates are going to change by the area one is located in ....
 
Another C.E.G. member has a posting....He just got an alternator for $117. And where I live Auto Zone ,Advanced and Oreilly auto parts will check your charging system for free.I can't believe they charged over $600 it change an alternator :nonono:.
 
People always say...well it costs 160 at the store..and the labour rate is 60.0. Why is it more.....:blackeye:

Well you guys have to understand a few things. First thing..the alternator was purchased from an outside source. They ordered it from an auto store or online. They paid $150-200. they also charged $20-50 for someone to get it...(pay the employee) or have it shipped. Then they have to charge for the shops store (to stay open) while paying for insurance to run business related work. Keeping the gas in the vehicles so they may do their running a rounds. Then taxes for all other things needed to get this part. Plus some extra cash for the owner to put into his pocket for the headache of having the place.

These are all important pieces to keeping a business alive. They over charge in many cases because hell obviously they are not 24 hours a day open..so they need the extra money to cover all areas where they are falling behind in.
 
Some shops do free estimates and will not charge to diagnose especially if they are going to do the work. Every place has their own "book" and if they do it in less time, they will not tell you that and still over charge you. They could have gone without the shop supplies and diagnostic.
 
Harrry said:
People always say...well it costs 160 at the store..and the labour rate is 60.0. Why is it more.....:blackeye:

Well you guys have to understand a few things. First thing..the alternator was purchased from an outside source. They ordered it from an auto store or online. They paid $150-200. they also charged $20-50 for someone to get it...(pay the employee) or have it shipped. Then they have to charge for the shops store (to stay open) while paying for insurance to run business related work. Keeping the gas in the vehicles so they may do their running a rounds. Then taxes for all other things needed to get this part. Plus some extra cash for the owner to put into his pocket for the headache of having the place.

These are all important pieces to keeping a business alive. They over charge in many cases because hell obviously they are not 24 hours a day open..so they need the extra money to cover all areas where they are falling behind in.
Click to expand...

+1

Also, a shop doesn't want to enter direct competition with their vendors for parts. Therefore, a parts store sells X part however much under list, the shop buys it for an even lower price, but sells at a higher markup, (usually list price). Otherwise, people could just go to the shop and buy the parts they get a discount instead of going directly to O'Reilly's. Plus the higher markup helps cover the cost of things like operating costs like harrry said.

Furthermore, shop supplies covers things like hand cleaner, paper towels, plastic covers for your seats, paper mats for your floor. It is a lot of work working on customers cars, and not getting them dirty.

It isnt really cheap to keep a shop open. You gotta figure, if a shop is charging $40-$60 an hour for labor, even if they are busy all the time, depending on location, that could only mean $15-$25 an hour for wages. Try stocking a toolbox with all the latest tools on $15 an hour, it just doesn't work.
 
BrApple said:
yeah ... a shop isn't just going to take a persons word on what is wrong. they are going to inspect themselves ....

also labor rates are going to change by the area one is located in ....
Click to expand...


Yes they will. If you bring it in and say change my alternator, they don't need to test to see if your right. A customer wants what they want. If they say find out why my car died, I think it's the alternator, then yes, they need to test. But if you specifically say change my alternator, that is what they need to do.

Alldata has labor at 2.2 hours.

You should have just bought the part yourself. Of course hind-sight is twenty-twenty but in all honesty you shouldn't have payed more than $400. I would go back and talk to them. It might not do anything but atleast your releasing your frustration on someone ripping you off. The shop gets the alternator at a lower cost usually than what retail is so for them to mark it up THAT high is way out of line.

Sorry about the bad experience man...
 
Brokendown said:
Yes they will. If you bring it in and say change my alternator, they don't need to test to see if your right. A customer wants what they want. If they say find out why my car died, I think it's the alternator, then yes, they need to test. But if you specifically say change my alternator, that is what they need to do.

Alldata has labor at 2.2 hours.

You should have just bought the part yourself. Of course hind-sight is twenty-twenty but in all honesty you shouldn't have payed more than $400. I would go back and talk to them. It might not do anything but atleast your releasing your frustration on someone ripping you off. The shop gets the alternator at a lower cost usually than what retail is so for them to mark it up THAT high is way out of line.

Sorry about the bad experience man...
Click to expand...

Most shops dont want you to bring in parts. One this cuts into money they should rightfully be making for their work, two, if they want to guarantee their work, they will have a hard time verifying the part you bring in is good. If I replaced an alternator with one I bought from NAPA, and the alternator went bad, the customer would bring it back, and NAPA would give me a replacement. I hope this doesnt happen, and that is why I do business with a supplier that I know is going to sell me parts that I won't have to replace. My supplier keeps sending me good parts cause he wants to keep my business, if I had to keep doing a bunch of free replacements, I would find another supplier in a hurry. If I replace an alternator with something a customer brings in, and it goes bad, what am I supposed to say when the customer comes back to me? Should I just keep replacing the alternators with the ones he brings me, doing more and more work for free?

As far as diagnostics go. It would be really bad to just assume a customer is right when they come into your shop. Say a customer comes in and says replace alternator. OK, so you do, and they are still having charging problems. Then what? You take the blame for it, and the customer wants you to fix it for free, because you should have replaced the alternator and fixed the problem. Now you are tracking down a stuck relay or bad wiring somewhere for free, while a customer is telling all his friends about the shoddy work your shop does. Not diagnosing problems with a car is horrible for business. I have had plenty of customers come in to my shop in the past telling me to fix a specific part, and then gotten ahold of them after doing whatever diagnostics to tell them that they didn't actually need a job done and that I could fix their problem for much less money.

Though you are right, it was too much time for the R&R of the alternator. 3 hours of labor is excessive.
 
They're ALREADY making money for their work, in the case of this shop, way more money than they should be. They're charging 92 freakin dollars an hour man. If that doesn't cover overhead, then maybe they need more business, so they should stop ripping people off and they might get more.
 
Nofrag said:
They're ALREADY making money for their work, in the case of this shop, way more money than they should be. They're charging 92 freakin dollars an hour man. If that doesn't cover overhead, then maybe they need more business, so they should stop ripping people off and they might get more.
Click to expand...

That or more sounds perfectly reasonable depending on the area.

I have seen plenty of shops that charge $120 or more, operating costs are higher in different areas.
 
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