Saved a ton of money today

Well not a ton, but over $250.00 and that is not small change to this old Baptist boy of German, Scot and Irish heritage who is so tight he squeaks when he walks.
Grammy's inner door pull was not working on her Altima. I took a look at it and diagnosed the door pull. Went online and ordered one from Amazon, got it delivered today (it broke on Tuesday) and was curious as to how much this repair would cost me at the local dealership that we frequent. A local Nissan dealership and Ford dealership. They are familiar with the model and the repair.
I got the part for $35.00 delivered and waiting when I got home. The dealership said the repair would be $273.00 + some "fees".
I about crapped my pants. I asked how much for the part alone. Took some time and they told me $80.00.
Ok that left $193.00 for labor and fees.
I asked them how much time they allotted for labor. 1.5 hours was the response.
Folks, I am no mechanic, never claimed to be but I have turned a few wrenches in my life.
Did the job, in my own garage with Gold City blasting in under 45 minutes, never rushed and never broke a sweat.
Amazed at how easy it was.
Boy do I have a surprise for my local dealership tomorrow...

Auto dealers have a tough time keeping the doors open. They make very little money on new car sales, especially if trade ins are part of the deal. If they can sell the financing on the new auto then that helps. The money maker for them to cover the cost of selling new cars and servicing them on warranty work, is parts and labor in the service department. That does not go over well with folks that use the dealership for repairs on vehicles they did not sell new and are not under warranty.

I do not blame you for doing your own repair work, as I do it all the time. Just sharing a little info on the plight of the dealership

I understand, they are in the business to make money.
Paid them over 3,000.00 to take care of the A/C (Compressor replacement)and some other engine work. Stuff that I wanted the boy and I to do, but Grammy needed the car and she was the one pushing for it to be done quickly.
When I added it all up and the convenience of having it done in a day, was OK with paying it.
$273.000+"fees" for 0.75 hours of work from a shade tree mechanic and mark up on the part of almost 400% for the part?
That sounds more like legalized rape to me...

I have been a little more hesitant to take on some of the larger jobs since the stroke; but this one and Lazarus resurrection has really built my confidence back up...

I thought this was going to be an insurance commercial. :)

Good job Pappy!...that 'aint chump change to me.

Lazarus was a pretty big deal too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kingcat

I thought this was going to be an insurance commercial. :)
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lol that was my first thought too.

You know, it just hit me.
Grammy & I were talking, when it comes to a home improvement thing, like re-doing a bathroom, or building a deck, no hesitation, no fear I am right there. But the mechanic side of me is hesitant.
Told her it must be psychological.
She told me it had to be psycho, because there was no logical to it...

There is no response to a mic drop like that...

A few years ago the UPS guy dropped off some auto parts for me. He asked me if it saved much money, he said he was constantly handling boxes of parts all day long. I told him how much was saved on that day’s shipment and he was shocked. I used to do a lot of my own wrenching, but anymore I just source the parts and have them installed at the garage my buddy runs beside his house. I usually save more than enough on parts to have him do the install. He charges $10 labor on oil changes, I get my oil and filter and have them ready for him. He can do an oil change in 10 minutes. It’s not worth saving the $10 to have to crawl under the car, drain the oil, change the filter and refill the oil for that.

Some jobs are big savers. When we had our Charger it was throwing a code that indicated an intake issue. $1500+ at the dealership. The claim was it needed a new intake. I ordered a solenoid that worked a valve for $150, installed it in two minutes, fixed the issue. Another issue it had was it would get a traction control error anytime I made a left turn. Dealership answer was a $1000 control unit in the steering wheel. A fix I found online was to loosen a torn screw on the column that held the plastic cover in place, push up hard on the piece and tighten the screw back up. Worked like a charm, cost was less than $5 for a torx screwdriver.

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