Am I getting fleeced? Needing the advice of experience?

[jclark]

Gentlemen,

REALLY need some advise here from the experienced guys. I have now had two instances with the same mechanic and I’m looking for some third-party experience on whether I should stick with this guy or not.

Part 1

The first instance was a diagnostic. This was suppose to be a “bumper to bumper diagnostic, super thorough, mechanic’s been working on LC’s for years and know’s what to look for” yada, yada, yada. The list I got back was underwhelming to say the least.


Part 2

Today I took my truck in for a rattling I cannot for the life of me figure out. I got it back and still have the rattling but am $425.65 lighter.

This is now the second instance were I’m wondering why I’m shelling out the $$$ and feeling like I didn’t get a good value.

I realize I should be working on it myself but as a DD I simply can’t have something going wrong that would keep the truck off the road come Monday.

That said, would these prices be par for course? His rate is $80 per hour.

Labor
Replace Clutch Master Cylinder $120
Replace drive belts $80
Check A/C System (applied
shop regulator air to system,
found high PSI line leaking,
compressor to condenser $40

Parts
Clutch master cylinder $130.00
2 Belts $37.00
Brake Fluid $7.00



Part 3



Mechanic did say A/C system needs parts (calling CDan tomorrow). Expansion valve, Reciever/dyer and hoses plus the recharge (2ibs of freon at $55 pr/ibs.



I was quoted about $480.00 for the whole job.


So the Question for the forum:

I need to know that I’m not getting fleeced here. It’s a twenty year old truck, you can pop the hood and take your pick of items that could be replaced. It’s not a restoration project, I need my truck fixed when it’s broke, not sent back with just parts replaced.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Texx]

Well, around here, we're not up to eighty per, so you have my sympathies. Maybe in the beginning, the guy was just doing one of those "150 point" inspections. Really, with over 300k, you can pretty much figure it needs everything. Two belts, 130 bucks??????????? And, 80 to install??? Yep, you're takin it in the shorts.

 

[ballardcruiser]

Did you get compression numbers on that engine? With that mileage, that would be my first concern. All the other stuff mentioned gives you a nice "to do" list when you want to start to learning/working on your rig, but it's not all exactly essential stuff...

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I think that it was clutch master for $130 and belts for $37. Everything's skewed down a line.

If I were you, I would do the majority of the work myself. For the coolant lines and flush, that's an easy couple-hour job. Most of the things are easy.

Engine leaks happen with everything. Do you need your 343,xxx mile truck to be fluid-tight? No offense of course.

I'd say that you should have him do the more difficult jobs if you're not up to it, but you can do the reg. maint yourself.

 

[beaufort-fj60]

for $480 you could get a used 2f

 

[Cookiemonster]

If your up to it definitely do the stuff you can to it, you'll save some dough, & know it was done right.

IF the engine has never been rebuilt and your bandaid costs as much or close to it, you might as well go for a full blown rebuild at a reputable shop.

I've had just over 220k on mine when the head cracked. When I pulled it apart there were .5 cylinders (original Taq ones too) in it, so I know it's been rebuilt at least once. I believe by the original owner, cause the guy Cookiemonsterette bought it off of hardly drove it. I suspect it spent a lot of time running up & down the Sierra highways during the winter months on typical weekend trips from the bay area.

So if you've got 300+k on the original motor, your truck has been well maintained. Probably about time to give a little more TLC to your TLC.

Good luck.

 

[HntWhtTail]

The belt price does seem quite high, I just purchased all 3 at the local napa along with rear wiper blade oil filter vacum line and Lucas oil for about $80.00

 

[lovetoski]

As you can see from the posts above, many of the board members do their own work (as do I - most of the time, but not always!) If you do your own work, then no question, you are getting fleeced. If you prefer to have somebody else do the work, then his prices might be OK, depending on the quality of the work. If it's first rate work, his repairs fix the problem, he takes responsibility for when things don't work out, etc. then his price is easily worth it. Two differnt camps, two different points of view.

His original work (the evaluation) might have been a standard "used car" evaluation. You might want and need something more intensive. Talk to him about your expectations. Tell him what you think you need. See what he says.

On the "rattle" that's still there - if he fixed stuff that needed fixing, that's good. But it's still fair to ask what's up with the rattle.

Last comment (I promise) - while we pride ourselves on the high milage of our cruisers, and they are really reliable, to use it as a DD with those miles is asking for a problem. Once you (or your mech) have gone through and checked/fixed/replaced/repaired all needed items, then you'll have a reliable DD. BUT until you get this done, maybe think about having a backup vehicle around. Just speakin' from experience...

 

[Tinker]

The mechanic did you a favor by listing everything he found to be wrong, even the obvious things. Why don't you go throught the list & determine whether or not he's correct (maybe just put ?s by the doubtful ones, then prioritize them by safety, reliability, & usability. E.g. brakes would be 1st, although leaky wheel cylinders would come after bad flex lines or MC in my estimation).

It's hard to tell if you got screwed or not because you failed to give us much on the symptoms" "rattling"? Maybe he fixed everything he found was making such a noise, but you hear something entirely different. Not all that uncommon, really. Women, for instance, actually hear frequencies that men can't.

At 343K you're driving a relic. Maybe you should decide whether you're going to restore it piecemeal or get the last miles out of it cheaply. It's easy to spend a fortune on these rigs without extending their lives significantly because there's so much cool stuff for them.

 

[jclark]

Firstly, thanks for the feedback, it's been very helpful. This site has been a huge resource, I'll be making my contribution w/ a star in the next few days...

I'm going to be more proactive in getting under the hood, I need to learn sometime.

On the diagnostic: I was expecting more along the lines of a compression test and addressing issues like why my birfield was peeing all over the inside of my tire (which wasn't mentioned). I guess I was chapped by the stating of the obvious (i.e. the diesel gas cap). Obviously that was not a problem, and it wasn't helpful since I mentioned it to him prior to the diagnostic. I could have paid half his price for the same inspection he gave me, but I went with him because he specified a "bumper to bumper" thorough diagnostic. My mistake for not clearly setting expectation.

On the rattling: I was trying to find threads on here before I posted on that. Basically it's a vibrating rattle that happens as start up that seems to settle out once the engine gets going. Imagine a brokenmotor mount causing the fan to hit the shroud. Now take that exact sound and place it midship driver side (somewhere the vicinity of the tranny and center console to the driver's seat and floorboard).

On the mileage: This isn't a restore project and I'm trying to band-aid issues as they arise until I can get a diesel. Maybe unrealistic but I would rather not drop major coin on an engine that's (hopefully) coming out.

Again, thanks for all the feedback so far.

 

[brian]

.......issues like why my birfield was peeing all over the inside of my tire......


Again, thanks for all the feedback so far.

outter seal is shot if it's that bad, or just worn out if it's just slinging a bit.