$30 to change turn single bulb.

I_load_my_own

I_load_my_own

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I'm sitting in a Goodyear store getting tires balanced and they just told a guy he needed a turn single and brake light bulb and it would be $30! He said to do it.
I wanted to ask him to be sure to tell them to make sure to check his blinker fluid.
That's what, maybe $5 in bulbs from a parts store and 5 minutes of work.
 
Should have told him you'd do it for $15.

I went to Firestone to get my tires rotated. I usually do it, but its free and I didnt feel like it that time. They come back 90 min later.. after checking my entire car (i didnt ask for that) to tell me I need a new belt and battery. Battery is showing half or so of the cranking amps it should be.. Its been low 30's and still cranks fine, Ill wait til it dies to replace it, at the $150 price tag.. Anyways.
My belt wasnt in serious need of replacement.. but it was a little worn.. This guy seriously quoted me $90 and some change to swap my belt... I laughed and told him to just rotate my tires from now on, Like I asked when I got there.

I bought a Ford MOCO belt for $15 shipped, and 3 minutes under the hood, new belt... Crazy what shops charge for little stuff
 
It was an older Ford 150, I know how simple it is to change those.
 
SPST said:
Shops have overhead and lots of taxes and fees. That's why I try to do as much as I can myself.
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Yup, that's what drives up the cost. If they were charging what it would cost for you to DIY they wouldn't be in business long. That $30 had to cover the $5 bulb plus employee wages, insurance for employees, state and local taxes, insurance for the business, regulatory fees, etc. They aren't making much on that service or any of the others which is why they are constantly trying to upsell you on extra repairs.

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SPST said:
Shops have overhead and lots of taxes and fees. That's why I try to do as much as I can myself.
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Exactly. I realize they have high overhead but that’s not my problem. I do all routine and basic maintenance myself, aside from tires basically.
 
Imagine how many people pay to have then do basic things like replace filters, wipers, lights, etc
Most people won't even. Attempt to fix basic things. The modern man isn't a hands on type which is good for business. My brother in law is a plumber and tells me all the time it's shocking how many times he gets called to a house to plunge a toilet when there's a full grown man living there. Easiest $150 you can make.

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Wahoo95 said:
Imagine how many people pay to have then do basic things like replace filters, wipers, lights, etc. Most people won't even attempt to fix basic things. The modern man isn't a hands on type...
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Agree. For some of these dudes, the toolbox has gone the way of the dodo. I have serious doubts whether many of them even have a bare-bones basic assortment of tools in the house.

My brother in law is a plumber and tells me all the time it's shocking how many times he gets called to a house to plunge a toilet when there's a full grown man living there.
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Sad indictment, right there.
 
Wahoo95 said:
Imagine how many people pay to have then do basic things like replace filters, wipers, lights, etc
Most people won't even. Attempt to fix basic things. The modern man isn't a hands on type which is good for business. My brother in law is a plumber and tells me all the time it's shocking how many times he gets called to a house to plunge a toilet when there's a full grown man living there. Easiest $150 you can make.

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Pretty much all the trades have the joke price if I do it, price if you watch, price if you help, price if you already tried... Or some version thereof.

It definitely has some truth to it. I primarily work in a Fleet environment, but drivers 's often say what they would do and occasionally we come across something where they tried, it can be pretty scary.
 
Back in 1985 I took my car for NY inspection at a Firestone, they told me my wiper was torn, showed me about 1/4", so I say OK put in a refill for both (I did have the winter blades in my trunk but I did not want to swap them).
I get the bill and they charged me for two new blades, $45 and I almost went nuclear.
They told me they did not have the refills, I told them they called the part store for the muffler for the woman in the Honda, they should have ordered the refills. I asked for my old wipers back, they bring them out and the guy pulled the rubber back like a banana so they were useless.

I sent a letter to the President of Firestone, told him the Firestone brand has been tarnished, etc etc.
Couple of days later I get phone call from the manager at that store to stop in for a refund.
Never never spent another dollar at any Firestone.
 
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I_load_my_own said:
I'm sitting in a Goodyear store getting tires balanced and they just told a guy he needed a turn single and brake light bulb and it would be $30! He said to do it.
I wanted to ask him to be sure to tell them to make sure to check his blinker fluid.
That's what, maybe $5 in bulbs from a parts store and 5 minutes of work.
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Hah, I work at a dealership and ancouple months ago, I lost all respect for our parts department when they charged a woman 16$ just for a small non LED running light that come in a 2 pack for 3$ at wal mart. It was on a Dodge Dart and only took a few seconds to change it out

Or those fancy factory HID light that the newer Grand Cherokees have, yea with install they are almost 300$ for one.
 
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Same crap at the honda dealer, $60 to change the cabin filter that literally take 30 seconds to swap out with zero tools.
 
Charge for diagnostic testing when you tell them what's wrong with the car.

2012 Accord. 151000 miles. CV axle is popping when making turns. Chaps my ass cheeks. They take it on a test drive. Yep. CV axle needs replacing.

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Diablos said:
Same crap at the honda dealer, $60 to change the cabin filter that literally take 30 seconds to swap out with zero tools.
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Then there's my wife's car ...
She was given a quote of a couple of hundred dollars to change the cabin filter. The filter is about $15 on Amazon, but removing half of the dashboard and digging back to the firewall costs slightly more.
 
gc70 said:
Then there's my wife's car ...
She was given a quote of a couple of hundred dollars to change the cabin filter. The filter is about $15 on Amazon, but removing half of the dashboard and digging back to the firewall costs slightly more.
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Time for some modifications to make replacement easier
 
Was getting oil changed at a quick lube place about two months ago and they said that I needed a new air filter and quoted over 30 bucks for it, similar thing - I know how easy it is to do, get a 15$ filter and 10 minutes and Im done.
But, for many, they just dont know.
 
Discount Tire wanted $1200 for a set of tires for my vehicle. Dealership got my biz for $750.

On the other hand I have a friend with a Subaru and he would have paid twice what that guy did for the light bulb. Friend said his Subaru was designed to be easy to put together, not easy to be taken apart.
 
Discount Tire will typically match prices. My experience has been the other way around, and the dealership is always higher than Discount Tire. A lot of dealers take the cars to a tire shop for the tires.
 
Toyota dealer doing an state inspection on my Dodge truck, and the third brake light was out. They charged me $2 and something for the bulb, plus the $30 inspection fee, and the oil change they were doing.

But they sold the dealership, and the new one didn't even turn off the maintenance recommended light on the dash after servicing her RAV4. Won't be back there again.
 
beamernc said:
Discount Tire will typically match prices. My experience has been the other way around, and the dealership is always higher than Discount Tire. A lot of dealers take the cars to a tire shop for the tires.
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Everything in the driveway has tires from Discount Tires. Their service, free rotations, flat repair, replacement if it can't be fixed is why. Getting new tires on my truck a while back and overheard 3 different people have a tire replaced for free since it couldn't be fixed.

And they will beat anyone's price.
 
draco88 said:
Signal. Turn signal bulb.



Whew, glad that's over. I can go back to being OCD somewhere else, now.
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Well, it was only one bulb. At least I think it was.
 
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Plott Hound said:
Everything in the driveway has tires from Discount Tires. Their service, free rotations, flat repair, replacement if it can't be fixed is why. Getting new tires on my truck a while back and overheard 3 different people have a tire replaced for free since it couldn't be fixed.
And they will beat anyone's price.
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Yes, they even fix a flat if you did not buy the tire there. For the free replacement you need to buy a tire certificate for each tire, good for three years, was there six months ago, salesman told me free replacement as long as the tread is good, not sure if they changed the policy or not, declined since it was back up vehicle. Purchased tires they for last 10 years.
Nice thing is when you order on the website they don't ask for any payment, you settle up at the store.
 
Wahoo95 said:
Imagine how many people pay to have then do basic things like replace filters, wipers, lights, etc
Most people won't even. Attempt to fix basic things. The modern man(?) isn't a hands on type which is good for business. My brother in law is a plumber and tells me all the time it's shocking how many times he gets called to a house to plunge a toilet when there's a full grown man living there. Easiest $150 you can make.
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Yup, IMHO majority of the decline (Modern Man ?) is due to "Running to get a PlayStation" and like devices.

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HannibalMontana said:
Depends on the car.

Some are easy, take a couple of seconds. Some need fender liners/lamp housings/fascia removed.

I’ve seen labor times up to and over 1.5 hours to replace a bulb.
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So very True.
Recently our daughter was complaining bout scheduling her car for service and be quoted around $150 to change out ONE of her headlights.
She lives a moderate distance from us and I inquired why her "significant other" doesn't do it or another person in the family, friend, etc.
She told me everyone checked "YouTube University" and told her that approximately 25% of the front had to come apart and no one knows how.
Good Grief!

Told her get a lamp from Wally World, she did and cost like well $7.00.
In her case it was a chore but I had the damn thing changed out in 7 ~ 12 minutes.
She was on her ph and when done asked me ,"How did you do that so fast.?"

Answer , "Flat Rate", now pay me. LoL
 
To a guy who doesn’t know what a torx is it’s worth $30 to just get it done and keep his hands clean. I do work on my cars but I know my limitations. And I learned the hard way why mechanics charge what they do.
 
Mike Overlay said:
Skilled labor isnt cheap. Cheap labor isnt skilled.
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I'm going to steal this one to send to my boss. He can't understand, or does not want to admit, that when you pay a lot less than everyone else in the area, you are not going to get good help. He keeps saying "that's what we have to work with" and I keep telling him "then expect to keep getting the crap quality you have been getting".
 
beamernc said:
I'm going to steal this one to send to my boss. He can't understand, or does not want to admit, that when you pay a lot less than everyone else in the area, you are not going to get good help. He keeps saying "that's what we have to work with" and I keep telling him "then expect to keep getting the crap quality you have been getting".
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But wouldn't that be saying that you are unskilled? :eek:
 
Earlier this week I had to replace the alternator on my F450 in a parking lot in New York. The only source for the alternator was Ford Stealership (New 220A for only 600 bucks), and it took me almost 5 hours to R&R it (including an hour for a trip to a local parts store to pick up some tools that I needed but did not have with me).

Would have taken less time at home in my shop, but still a few hours. I did not check to see what the rate to swap it would be haven’t at the dealership, but probably still several hundred hours.

They don’t design a lot of newer vehicles to be easy to work on.
 
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Wahoo95 said:
Imagine how many people pay to have then do basic things like replace filters, wipers, lights, etc
Most people won't even. Attempt to fix basic things. The modern man isn't a hands on type which is good for business. My brother in law is a plumber and tells me all the time it's shocking how many times he gets called to a house to plunge a toilet when there's a full grown man living there. Easiest $150 you can make.
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To make it even worse, it would take about two minutes for that man to find about 150 YouTube videos on how to do it. I gutted my first deer in pitch darkness, in a swamp nearly a mile from my truck, using YouTube.

You know the only thing I haven't seen on YouTube? HVAC repair. I mean, you can watch videos on how to fix anything on YouTube, except your a/c or furnace. I don't know if the techs have to sign a secrecy pact or something, but it's just not there. But it seems their whole business model is built on secrecy. I had an ARS guy do my annual maintenance and he told me I needed a new capacitor for $220. I asked him to show it to me. While he was upstairs, I googled the part number and found a brand new one, OEM brand, for $22. When it arrived I replaced it in five minutes. ARS will never ring my doorbell again.
 
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Some cars can take an hour or 2 to replace a headlight. I’m sure they over charged, but some cars really are a nightmare
 
I've long said that car designers need to spend a stint in the repair shop before they get to design anything.

What I hate is a relatively simple job that becomes complex because of all the other stuff you have to remove before you can get access to the part or even a bolt. I'm facing that right now. I need to drop the oil pan on my truck to access the pickup, but I have cross-members in the way. And from what I hear, they're near impossible to remove.
 
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