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dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
Hi, everyone.
Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? thanks |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
joe wrote:
> Hi, everyone. > Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership > charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove > the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 > to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? > thanks > No it's not reasonable but a lot of dealerships will try to get you to pay for diagnostics, that's a red flag they're greedy I would go to another dealership if you can. Is the car under warranty? If not go to a good independent shop- ask around for references. If it's still under warranty find another dealer if you can. I've heard of people paying $500 to diagnose a $50 problem. |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
Bob wrote:
> joe wrote: > >> Hi, everyone. >> Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership >> charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >> the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 >> to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? >> thanks >> > No it's not reasonable but a lot of dealerships will try to get you to > pay for diagnostics, that's a red flag they're greedy I would go to > another dealership if you can. Is the car under warranty? If not go to a > good independent shop- ask around for references. If it's still under > warranty find another dealer if you can. > > I've heard of people paying $500 to diagnose a $50 problem. Does your doctor diagnose you for free also? If he or she does, please let me know their name so I can go there also!! Matt |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
Matt Whiting <whiting@epix.net> wrote in
news:y35Bh.2684$Oc.159718@news1.epix.net: > Bob wrote: >> joe wrote: >> >>> Hi, everyone. >>> Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership >>> charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >>> the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 >>> to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this >>> reasonable? thanks >>> >> No it's not reasonable but a lot of dealerships will try to get you >> to >> pay for diagnostics, that's a red flag they're greedy I would go to >> another dealership if you can. Is the car under warranty? If not go >> to a good independent shop- ask around for references. If it's still >> under warranty find another dealer if you can. >> >> I've heard of people paying $500 to diagnose a $50 problem. > > Does your doctor diagnose you for free also? If he or she does, > please let me know their name so I can go there also!! In most cases, the Dr. can't just hook up a cable to my OBD port and know the problem instantaneously. Yes, there is overhead, like the cost of the machine and the lights and the heat and the employees and so on, but many of these dealers are charging exhorbatant rates to "diagnose" what the computer will already tell them is wrong. What baffles me even more is that some dealers can survive quite well without the "diagnostic fee", even though the same overhead is involved. And before anyone says that they charge more for their cars, I'd rather pay a little more up front than have to shell out some fee every time there is a little problem with the car. Eric |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
Matt Whiting wrote:
> Bob wrote: > >> joe wrote: >> >>> Hi, everyone. >>> Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership >>> charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >>> the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 >>> to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? >>> thanks >>> >> No it's not reasonable but a lot of dealerships will try to get you >> to pay for diagnostics, that's a red flag they're greedy I would go to >> another dealership if you can. Is the car under warranty? If not go to >> a good independent shop- ask around for references. If it's still >> under warranty find another dealer if you can. >> >> I've heard of people paying $500 to diagnose a $50 problem. > > > Does your doctor diagnose you for free also? If he or she does, please > let me know their name so I can go there also!! > > > Matt You're right, my doctor charges a fortune and all he does is diagnose, but hardly ever fixes the problem! But at least the dealer could offer you a credit for the diagnose charge if you do the repair there. I've had dealers charge me over $1,000 to fix something then they say, woops that wasn't it, maybe you need a $2,000 repair, that might fix it, it's only another $350 to diagnose if that's it... I've got a great mom and pop shop. No "diagnostic" charges. Sure, if he's got to remove the engine or something he'll charge for the labor, but give you credit towards the repair. |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
Bob wrote:
> Matt Whiting wrote: > >> Bob wrote: >> >>> joe wrote: >>> >>>> Hi, everyone. >>>> Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership >>>> charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >>>> the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 >>>> to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? >>>> thanks >>>> >>> No it's not reasonable but a lot of dealerships will try to get you >>> to pay for diagnostics, that's a red flag they're greedy I would go >>> to another dealership if you can. Is the car under warranty? If not >>> go to a good independent shop- ask around for references. If it's >>> still under warranty find another dealer if you can. >>> >>> I've heard of people paying $500 to diagnose a $50 problem. >> >> >> >> Does your doctor diagnose you for free also? If he or she does, >> please let me know their name so I can go there also!! >> >> >> Matt > > You're right, my doctor charges a fortune and all he does is diagnose, > but hardly ever fixes the problem! > > But at least the dealer could offer you a credit for the diagnose charge > if you do the repair there. I've had dealers charge me over > $1,000 to fix something then they say, woops that wasn't it, maybe you > need a $2,000 repair, that might fix it, it's only another $350 to > diagnose if that's it... > > I've got a great mom and pop shop. No "diagnostic" charges. Sure, if > he's got to remove the engine or something he'll charge for the labor, > but give you credit towards the repair. It doesn't matter how the costs are broken down on the invoice, you are paying for the diagnostic time one way or the other. You either pay in higher purchase prices, pay explicitly or pay with higher repair charges. I'm amazed at folks who think that something is free just because they don't see it itemized on the bill. Personally, I'd rather see what I'm paying for rather that have it all lumped together. Matt |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
>Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership
>charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 >to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? >thanks I heard a story on the news some time late last year that you could go to a Jiffy Lube and hook up to a diagnostic box and get a read-out of what is wrong with your car from the OBD computer for $15-20. About time, the days of the outrageous cost of going to a service shop and getting hit for $120 to tell you why your check engine light is on is over. It is supposed to have taken effect this February and here is the story to prove it: http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...06/036272.html - Thee Chicago Wolf |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:06:50 GMT, Thee Chicago Wolf <.@.> wrote:
>>Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership >>charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >>the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 >>to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? >>thanks > >I heard a story on the news some time late last year that you could go >to a Jiffy Lube and hook up to a diagnostic box and get a read-out of >what is wrong with your car from the OBD computer for $15-20. About >time, the days of the outrageous cost of going to a service shop and >getting hit for $120 to tell you why your check engine light is on is >over. It is supposed to have taken effect this February and here is >the story to prove it: >http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...06/036272.html > >- Thee Chicago Wolf Thanks for the link. The local Shell station has one of these Sam's machines. I went down there today, a bit cumbersome to work, touch screen display. The hardest part was locating the Onboard Display connector in the car. Takes about five minutes for the scanning and print out, In my case, there were no faults, gives a summary of the car's warranty information. I have posted a copy of the scan report here http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k8...anImage002.jpg I have visited the SAM website with the locator ID to get a supposedly fuller report, but they are having problems at this time! Anyway, only $15 and a bit of time. |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
Thee Chicago Wolf wrote:
>>Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership >>charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >>the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 >>to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? >>thanks > > > I heard a story on the news some time late last year that you could go > to a Jiffy Lube and hook up to a diagnostic box and get a read-out of > what is wrong with your car from the OBD computer for $15-20. About > time, the days of the outrageous cost of going to a service shop and > getting hit for $120 to tell you why your check engine light is on is > over. It is supposed to have taken effect this February and here is > the story to prove it: > http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...06/036272.html > > - Thee Chicago Wolf I had a "free" reading at AutoZone a couple of years ago. Turns out the code they gave me wasn't even close to being related to the problem and was for a problem that had been corrected a few weeks earlier. I'd have replaced a perfectly good part and still had a problem if I had taken their free reading. I went to the dealer and got the correct code and got the problem fixed right the first time. The old saying "you get what you pay for" still holds. Matt |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
>I had a "free" reading at AutoZone a couple of years ago. Turns out the
>code they gave me wasn't even close to being related to the problem and >was for a problem that had been corrected a few weeks earlier. I'd have >replaced a perfectly good part and still had a problem if I had taken >their free reading. I went to the dealer and got the correct code and >got the problem fixed right the first time. > >The old saying "you get what you pay for" still holds. There's also a saying, just because something costs a lot of money, it does not mean it's actually worth it. I wouldn't go poo pooing a technology with Mario Andretti's seal of approval. Not that it actually mean's anything, but those kiosks seem a lot more 21st century than the crusty ODB readers I see at nearly any shop I got too. I presume, from a computer technician's perspective, the reason whomever got the code wrong was because the software from the machine that read it might not have been up to date. Do you honestly think shop techs actually keep their diagnostic software and firmware code up to date? From a revenue standpoint, it's easier for shops to buy the newest technology and just pass the cost on to the consumer. After all, anybody with a laptop can buy ODBI, ODBII, & CAN software for Windows or Palm and run their own diagnostics on their own cars. Again, and again, and again. Hell, you could even run it on your friends cars and charge a couple of bucks. If you can't beat 'em, just undercut 'em. - Thee Chicago Wolf |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
But they're right, Matt. It doesn't take $350 of labor to hook up an OBDII
and read the fault. I do it to my son's Jetta all the time (tells you something about Jettas!!!!). It takes 5 minutes max. I once had to pay an Olds dealer $200 bucks to tell me that my cat converter was clogged (covered under warrantee), which I told him was collapsed according to the trouble shooting guide in the maintenance manual. Just hook up a vacuum gauge to the intake and it's obvious. Needless to say, they lost any chance of a resale or return for other service. Tom "Matt Whiting" <whiting@epix.net> wrote in message news:nWgBh.2689$Oc.159990@news1.epix.net... > Bob wrote: >> Matt Whiting wrote: >> >>> Bob wrote: >>> >>>> joe wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi, everyone. >>>>> Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership >>>>> charge me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >>>>> the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 >>>>> to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? >>>>> thanks >>>>> >>>> No it's not reasonable but a lot of dealerships will try to get you to >>>> pay for diagnostics, that's a red flag they're greedy I would go to >>>> another dealership if you can. Is the car under warranty? If not go to >>>> a good independent shop- ask around for references. If it's still under >>>> warranty find another dealer if you can. >>>> >>>> I've heard of people paying $500 to diagnose a $50 problem. >>> >>> >>> >>> Does your doctor diagnose you for free also? If he or she does, please >>> let me know their name so I can go there also!! >>> >>> >>> Matt >> >> You're right, my doctor charges a fortune and all he does is diagnose, >> but hardly ever fixes the problem! >> >> But at least the dealer could offer you a credit for the diagnose charge >> if you do the repair there. I've had dealers charge me over >> $1,000 to fix something then they say, woops that wasn't it, maybe you >> need a $2,000 repair, that might fix it, it's only another $350 to >> diagnose if that's it... >> >> I've got a great mom and pop shop. No "diagnostic" charges. Sure, if he's >> got to remove the engine or something he'll charge for the labor, but >> give you credit towards the repair. > > It doesn't matter how the costs are broken down on the invoice, you are > paying for the diagnostic time one way or the other. You either pay in > higher purchase prices, pay explicitly or pay with higher repair charges. > I'm amazed at folks who think that something is free just because they > don't see it itemized on the bill. Personally, I'd rather see what I'm > paying for rather that have it all lumped together. > > Matt |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
"joe" wrote:
>Hi, everyone. > Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership >charge me 0 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove >the car and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another 0 >to tell the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? >thanks There’s some important information missing. Why did you spend the money for these things? Presumably, it was intended to fix something. What changed after the work, if anything? Is there a new issue now? While I agree what you’ve posted doesn’t sound reasonable, I don’t know all the details, either. -- Posted at author's request, using http://www.AutoBoardz.com interface Articles individually verified to usenet standards. Visit URL to contact author/report abuse Thread archive: http://www.AutoBoardz.com/dealership...ict206490.html |
Re: Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
"Eric G." wrote:
>In most cases, the Dr. can’t just hook up a cable to my OBD port >and know the problem instantaneously. In all but a few cases, the technician cannot do this either. An extreme example would be the P0101 code on 1997-2001 Kia Sportages. The code indicates a "range/performance" issue with the air flow sensor. The culprit in nearly every case was a faulty throttle position sensor. Even using what most would consider normal diagnostics for the P0101 condition, the problem could be in the wiring or the ECM. Just seeing a code doesn’t indicate the technician should jump right to the sensor and replace it. -- Posted at author's request, using http://www.AutoBoardz.com interface Articles individually verified to usenet standards. Visit URL to contact author/report abuse Thread archive: http://www.AutoBoardz.com/dealership...ict206490.html |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
Tom wrote:
> But they're right, Matt. It doesn't take $350 of labor to hook up an OBDII > and read the fault. I do it to my son's Jetta all the time (tells you > something about Jettas!!!!). It takes 5 minutes max. > I once had to pay an Olds dealer $200 bucks to tell me that my cat converter > was clogged (covered under warrantee), which I told him was collapsed > according to the trouble shooting guide in the maintenance manual. Just > hook up a vacuum gauge to the intake and it's obvious. Needless to say, > they lost any chance of a resale or return for other service. Reading the code isn't making a diagnosis of the fault. I've never been charged more than $50 for reading a code alone and often much less. However, that is just the first step in diagnosing a problem. People who think the OBD system tells the tech exactly what is wrong and exactly what to replace are very naive and have never worked on a car before. Matt |
Re: dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?
Reply to message from "joe" <jcharth@gmail.com> (Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:42:55)
about "dealership charging me $350 for car inspection?": j> Hi, everyone. j> Looks like my engine has parts that are broken. the dealership charge j> me $350 for oil change cables and sensor for nothing. I drove the car j> and after 7 miles and now they want me to spend another $360 to tell j> the insurance what is wrong with the car. Is this reasonable? thanks Never mind reasonable - it is not even understandable. Please clarify your post. What happened after you drove it 7 miles? Why is insurance involved? There seems to be many missing details in your post. Best Regards Wayne Moses <wmoses@houston.rr.com> Fri, 16 Feb 2007 14:43:11 -0600 === Posted with Qusnetsoft NewsReader 3.3 |
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