A friend took his kids to Florida on vacation and realized he had a bad u joint. Dealer charged him almost $400. I know labor rates are high at dealerships but this seems excessive. What am I missing? He shit his pants when he got the bill lol.
no sir, straight forward repair, took 45 minutes.It was probably at a rate of 120 dollars/hour and at 1.4 hours. The u joint is around 115 dollars at the dealer.
I would think maybe 300 tops with tax and materials, and 200 at an independent shop.
Did the dealer do anything else to the truck or was there excessice rust, broken bolts in the companion flange etc?
I agree. But if I was from out of state and didn't know where a good reputable shop was I'd probably do the same thing and trust the dealer has competent techs.I pay less for a complete drive shaft. Dealership is not the place to get your truck worked on unless you know they have a qualified tech. Most times you will get screwed and chances are it won't be done right.
Oh well, he was away from home, the shop took obvious advantage of him.....but he didnt lose the driveshaft, broke the trans ext housing, or took out the Tcase, etc and have it cost even more down the road. Live and learn.
Reason I say that is I talked to my Dad today. He and his wife are in Houston for winter, as usual, and the furnace in their TT broke. The repairman charged them $200 for the housecall and estimated it would cost upwards of $500-600 to fix. But what could they do with temps dropping into the 20s tonight? Sometimes you're trapped.
Send them some sweaters and tell them to suck it up
My Dad is 81, his wife 80. They've got a couple of those little Amish electric heaters and an electric blanket or two.
Dont you have a lift pump to install? :rofl:
edit: I remember when I was a kid, we were on vacation and blew a tire on the car. Dont remember why we couldnt use the spare, but Dad had to buy a tire for $150 to get us back on the road. That was highway robbery for a tire back then, but what can you do?