Dealer's price quotes for some typical XJ repairs....

[bimmerjeeper]

Well said, lazyXJ. While I would not get work done at a dealer, I have taken many jobs to the indy who charges 1/2 of a dealer. At those rates, it's VERY hard to justify the 20-30 hours spent saving a few dollars on a simple $350 remove/replace job. For me, this is an expensive hobby, and you need to pay to learn. esp. when you count the parts replaced "just because", and not b/c they actually failed.

The other thing is that it's much harder to do the work yourself when the car fails on the side of the highway. At that point, it's $250 to tow once. I always tow to the mechanic, b/c if I get it home, it's another $250 to tow it to a mechanic if I have no idea how to diagnose/fix it. Now, you're $500 in the hole and the car has't been fixed yet.

The way to counteract that is to fix stuff when it's not broken yet. And that kills whatever "savings" you may have had in the first place, if any. I dropped $4000 into parts/repairs this year on my other car. Only about $1300 was from actual breakdowns on the side of the road. If I stayed off the forums, I would have saved $2700 and hundreds of hours of time reading.

 

[Ecomike]

Well said, lazyXJ.
The other thing is that it's much harder to do the work yourself when the car fails on the side of the highway. At that point, it's $250 to tow once.

Speak for yourself!!! I have had my jeeps malfunction in the middle of no where USA about 4 times the last 10 years and I fixed them with duct tape and chewing gum and a few tools like a knife right on the side of the road and was back on the road in 5-15 minutes.:laugh3: MY record is 3 minutes!!!!:cheers:

I have no use for mechanics any more. All they ever did here in Houston was break more than they fixed, and usually failed to fix the problem. We call some of them Stealerships!!!! LOL

 

[WB9YZU]

I brought my new 1998 XJ into the dealer b/c there is an airbag module recall.
(The new module did not fix the problem, as the horn/Cruise/Airbag light indicate bad clockspring, right?)

The Recall is not for a non-functioning airbag module; it is for the relocation of said module from the drivers seat floor pan (where it may collect moisture and malfunction), to under the center council where it's 5" higher.

As far as the chart, the rates are what they are. Auto Techs work off "Book Rates". They do not work by the hour, but by the job. What you didn't include was the book allotted time to accomplish said task. If a task is rated to take 1 hour and it takes 2, guess who eats the difference? The Tech.

No-one eats for free at a Dealership.

What I am saying is though the rates look steep, in reality, Dealer rates are pretty fair considering that smaller shops may charge you by the hour and you don't know if you're paying strictly for the repair, or for the car repair and his lunch and breaks also.

-Ron

 

[heyhar]

I fixed them with duct tape and chewing gum and a few tools like a knife right on the side of the road

OK, MacGyver, take it easy!

Nowadays it's easy...Cell phones and Triple A.

 

[bimmerjeeper]

The 2nd column in the sheet was the book time. What else is it?

What exactly did you fix with bubble gum and a butter knife?

 

[heyhar]

What exactly did you fix with bubble gum and a butter knife?

A hole in his peanut butter sammich!

 

[southernrebel20]

Those prices are typical of a dealership. Personally, I would never pay anyone to do any of the things listed. It is all rather simple and even if you have no idea what you are doing you can type in any of those things on youtube and view how to do it. Buy yourself a service manual and have at it. Yes, you might spend more time doing it yourself, but, to me, my time is free on the weekends and none of those things will keep you off the road for more than a day if you do them one at a time and have the parts on hand you will need. For example, I swapped out my exhaust manifold for about $200 and a Saturday afternoon. I replaced the valve cover in about an hour, and the gasket is cheap from the parts store. Plus, it is just good ole fun fixing your own junk!

 

[ParadiseXJ]

OK I know mechanics/shops gotta make a buck just like the rest of us...but...I just did my valve cover gasket, front/rear diffs, t-case and an oil change last Saturday...I worked on it for about 6-7 hours, also fixing little piddly things, trim etc.. I spent $128.00 on parts (including a $40 VC gasket, RTV, two diff gaskets, Dex, Oil, Gear lube...blah, blah, blah).

I would feel like a total moron if I had to shell out $600+ on what I did on Saturday.

Book or not, I can pull out a starter, WALK to the parts store, WALK back, replace the starter in less than an hour. I know this because I've actually done it.

 

[my2monkeys]

To the OP, I wouldn't worry about the exhaust manifold at this time if you don't hear it "tick tick ticking".

When I had an independent shop change my exhaust manifold in '95 (bought at dealer $375) the guy billed me at 4 hrs labor but it took the mechanic 1-2 hrs longer to install.

He got the hour rate out of a book and was shaking his head and said "that's what I quoted you but I'm sure going to have to revise that number in the future".

Some things are best to leave to the pros but most things are doable by the average wrencher.

 

[88trailcrawler]

I worked on it for about 6-7 hours, also fixing little piddly things, trim etc.. I spent $128.00 on parts

I would feel like a total moron if I had to shell out $600+ on what I did on Saturday.

Run those numbers:
$600 - $128 = $472 / 7hrs = $67 per hr.

That would be gross revenue for production time.

 

[bimmerjeeper]

Do I also need to buy 15 grommets to do the VC gasket?
Do I need to use RTV when installing a FelPro VC gasket?

 

[ParadiseXJ]

Do I also need to buy 15 grommets to do the VC gasket?
Do I need to use RTV when installing a FelPro VC gasket?

1. Don't know...mine never had grommets.

2. NO...and it's reusable...and that's a Fel-Pro rubber gasket...Fel-Pro also sells the cork one.

 

[ParadiseXJ]

Run those numbers:
$600 - $128 = $472 / 7hrs = $67 per hr.

That would be gross revenue for production time.

Actually from MY perspective I saved $472 just dinking around having a good afternoon in my shop/yard. In essence, I MADE $472 having fun. Priceless.

I am not a mechanic, it's a hobby. If I couldn't do the work myself I would not spend 6K on repairing my $1200 (or even $5000) Jeep.