They don't give away service for free, and they have a lot of overhead to cover in the whole dealership operations. Hence $130 overcharge.

 

I am all for making a profit. I know nobody gives away their services, but that just seems like price gouging.

Anyway, I am lucky that I can do the work myself and save some money. While I was at the dealership, there was a steady stream of vehicles showing up at the service department.

 

Basically the same reason why auto parts places provide “check engine light” services for free, and AAMCO will “inspect” your transmission for free. They are hoping to find problems that you’ll pay them to fix.

Out of curiosity, what did the dealership want to fix that would cost $2k?

 

They said I need the following:

front brake pads and rotors (I already have the new parts, just have not put them on yet) - $592

Transfer case lube change - $130

Throttle body cleaning - $80

Spark plug change - $390

Rear differential gear lube - $130

Another service that the page cut off on was $560

This came out to $1882 and it does not include our 10% sales tax.

I have already done all of these services myself, except for the brake pads which I will do in the next couple of weeks.

 

Don't forget the muffler bearings and blinker fluid. With those prices I have done $5000+ in service to mine.

 

Wow, throttle body cleaning...

Everything else is about right for dealer prices. The spark plug change does not look like a bad price honestly. It is a labor intensive procedure.

I bet the cutoff was transmission fluid or radiator flush.

 

I'm guessing you got quite a few miles on your jeep for those services.


When I brought my jeep in for recall, I told them there was no need to recommend services since I do my own maintenance. Guy took one look at my jeep and nodded his head.


I picked up my jeep and they handed me the inspection paper work, but didn't quote any services.

 

I commute 30 miles total every day for work so I now have 125,000 miles on my Jeep. But I maintain is meticulously. Almost everything they recommended doing for maintenance, I had already done.

 

Heck, for $390, that’s a steal, compared to what local dealers charge for it by me. The plugs alone are $15 a piece, so, that $90 alone right there.

 

Well, not everyone may be as mechanically inclined as you are. Heck, for $390, that’s a steal, compared to what local dealers charge for it by me. The plugs alone are $15 a piece, so, that $90 alone right there.

In fact, there was a thread here recently about someone who tried to do it themselves and ended up destroying the engine - so, just because YOU don’t want to pay a dealer to do it, doesn’t mean that there are not others who may want to - and to ridicule others for considering is not very nice.

you dont understand, i dont TRUST a dealer to do it. more often than not, dealers end up hurting more than they fix. and dealers get away with it because they know that people who bring their vehicles to there to have them fixed are not likely to know how everything SHOULD be on their vehicle.


they will typically leave bolts loose or shrouds missing or you name it. even had someone i knew bring their vehicle to a dealer for an oil change and they didnt tighten the drain plug and it blew the engine.



like i said, if you can afford it, more power to ya! i dont mean that in a negative way, its just that i personally cannot afford to spend $400+ on something i know i could do myself.



oh, and autozone has spark plugs for $4-8 each depending on what wording you want on the box. $14 for the laser double platinum plugs, since it says laser on the box!

 

Transfer case and diff fluid change are very easy and can each be done for $30 or so.

You can do anfeont brake job for a fraction of what they quoted, or get a big brake kit for the same price. A little more involved but still pretty easy.

Throttle body cleanup is a no brainer for $5.

Spark plugs change is more involved and I agree the quoted price isn’t too bad as it’s probably a 2-3 hour job. But is it really needed?

 

I got ya Hedgehog.

I think for me, I don’t trust myself to do it right - but, like you said, not sure one could trust the dealer, either.

I wish the 3.6 was like the 3.8 with regards to ease of spark plug change.

 

This is not exclusive just to dealerships. Happens in the quick lube/brake places.

Several years ago, I had a '91 chevy z71 truck. I went to a quick lube place. I expected about $25 or so for an oil change. Mechanic says I need a new serpetine belt, I ask to see it. Yes, it was dry and cracking, needed to be replaced. I asked him to change it. I knew a belt was about $25 or so. Truck is done, ready to pay the bill. It was about $150. I was not pleased. Asked for the manager. I asked why am I being charged over $100 to change a belt. He explained a "special tool" is required. I pointed to the idler pulley and said, "a special 5/8" socket and ratchet to pry that up and slip the belt under?". After a few seconds of silence, his response was he doesn't set the prices. Made them put the old belt back on. Never went back to that shop. Changed the belt myself.

 

The dealership asked for something like $120 to change the cabin air filter. I understand they have a lot of overhead to cover, but that's plain theft.

 

Just returned from getting my passenger side air bag recall taken care of.
Exact opposite, well almost... Courtesy inspection did not turn up any "needs." As it shouldn't have; however that's where the good part ends... I am 99.9% sure NONE of the inspection items were actually inspected. The hood was not opened... how did they do a fluid check? I know it wasn't opened due to no smudging of any of the road grim at the Drake hood pins. Pretty sure it would be difficult to check the caliper thickness as well as brake pad thickness w/ the wheels in place, they were not removed.
I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
Oh, after it was "ready" I inspected the dash panels and 2 were not installed correctly so they took it back to complete the job and upon arrival home I noticed the radio surround not fitting flush so I removed it, yes they removed it for the recall (I can tell by the looseness of the screws, and upon jamming it back into place they messed up a tab for the retaining clip and lost another clip. No it's not going back for them to fix. I will fix it myself.
And that's why folks, me included, do not like taking their vehicles to the dealer for service.

 

I would be scared to think that someone would replace an airbag without disconnecting the battery.
I ain't no fan of dealers. But I do understand they are a business. In the end, it is the buyer who must be aware. They can suggest things all day long. Heck, they might even let me know about something before I caught it. But in the end, I ain't going to pay them their rates to do any of it. I doubt they could do it up to my standards, even at those rates.
I need to have the airbag recall done. But I am dreading taking our Jeep to a dealer.

 

The Best one ever . My wife Had a Long Weekend and Drove to her Mothers Home For a visit . About 10 Hours later she called and told me she was at a Chevy Dealer and the Pickup Truck she Drove need Repair . The battery was bad and it world take until Monday to find one . (this was Friday) The service guy said it would cost about $175 to fix . Luck she was only a mile or three from her mothers home . I told her ok and I would talk to her later . The pickup truck was new (10 day old) and had about 1,000 miles on it now . I called her Saturday and had her brother go look at the truck . It was the Battery Cable He Fixed it she got the key,s That Battery lasted 4 more years . This was 1974 a new truck and the dealer seen a lady .

 

Not knowing the mileage .. appears that these are due per the maintenance schedule.. The dealership labor rate is probably in the $100 p/hr range.. For comparison our 8 yr old electric range stopped baking .. the authorized service repair company charges $65 to walk thru the door and $50 per every 15 minutes.. this is for an electric range..WTF

 

Went to my local dealer for recall service and the upsell inspection quote was $770 for front and rear differential,transfer case and manual transmission service on 2010 JKU...I asked the service tech who presented this recommended service (@58K) miles with a straight face what this service is EXACTLY. He could not tell me that this work was approximately 8 quarts total of gear lube and ATF etc., nor what the labor was for said "recommendation". The beauty of a jeep is learning how to do these maintenance projects BETTER than any dealer tech could ever hope to....

 

Just to put this into perspective if paying someone to do this work.
My '08 Chevy 2500HD has a rear end issue, I am not in the mood to tear into it in 20 degree weather, so I brought it to my trusty tranny shop and asked them to do:

Front Diff
Rear Diff
T-Case
Auto Tranny service/filter
And while at it, here are new tranny cooler lines, can you replace/route them for me.

$500 out the door. That was all the lube, labor, and labor for routing the new tranny cooling lines (I'm guessing a good 3 hours on the lift).

(Btw, the rear end issue looks like a pinion bearing, I'll do that once I feel like laying on the ground for a few hours in the spring.)

$770 is about $400-$500 too much. Sounds like they are going by 'book'. Meaning if book says 1hr for diff, 1 hour for t-case, 1 hour for the tranny,, total 4 hours labor. Instead of charging actual. We all know that all that labor overlaps as you are already up on the lift. (Open diff, let drain while opening tranny let drain, etc,,,)

 

My 14 has 44K on it. I will need plugs in another 7 years. I better start saving for that service.

 

when the time comes for the spark plugs, i'm going to use this step by step vid. My 2013 has 31K on it. hahaha...