BEWARE L AND M AUTO TOP- RICHMOND VA

[Hokie99]

I do not like leaving bad reviews but i feel I must on this one. 2 years ago I had them replace my entire interior carpeting from front to back for $400 in labor...did a great job and I thought a solid value.

Fast forward to last week, take same car in to have L Seat leather seat covers put on in the first row.....I did not even think to have it quoted as they were very fair the last time and I was dealing with the same guy who is the owner.

This time, 600 bucks, for the the front 2 seats and arm rest.

It seems that every time I forget to get an estimate first.....I get screwed...lesson learned again. Would be nice if people were consistent in pricing.

If I am off base here I will retract this posting but from what I am seeing on other threads I got taken to the cleaners.

 

[katit]

Asking for estimates is a must. I did those mistakes again and again. With the same people you would think it will be consistent but if they don’t have fixed price posted it’s always like this.

Yes it feels weird to ask every time but it’s a must.

I

 

[FxFormat]

Damn that is expensive, local auto upholstery guy near my charges 150 per full seat, only thing is i gotta remove the seat and bring it to him.

 

[katit]

I can assure you that replacing carpet is easier than seats reassembly

So their prices seem to be inline

 

[TheLCProject]

I can assure you that replacing carpet is easier than seats reassembly

So their prices seem to be inline

I agree. Definitely consider retitling the thread because it seems like an excessively harsh critique for services you're not that familiar with.

 

[GTV]

As someone who did auto upholstery for years, I agree. $600 to install new seat covers is really steep. What is their shop rate?

 

[planomateo]

I do not like leaving bad reviews but i feel I must on this one. 2 years ago I had them replace my entire interior carpeting from front to back for $400 in labor...did a great job and I thought a solid value.

Fast forward to last week, take same car in to have L Seat leather seat covers put on in the first row.....I did not even think to have it quoted as they were very fair the last time and I was dealing with the same guy who is the owner.

This time, 600 bucks, for the the front 2 seats and arm rest.

It seems that every time I forget to get an estimate first.....I get screwed...lesson learned again. Would be nice if people were consistent in pricing.

If I am off base here I will retract this posting but from what I am seeing on other threads I got taken to the cleaners.

So you didn't even inquire about the price until after they did the work. That's special.

This is on you regardless of what their shop rates are.

 

[bigredmachine]

This time, 600 bucks, for the the front 2 seats and arm rest.

that's a pretty reasonable price for the work dosnt seem out of the ordinary.

 

[cwmoser]

So you didn't even inquire about the price until after they did the work. That's special.

This is on you regardless of what their shop rates are.

Sometimes that does not work.
I have a 1983 380SL Mercedes that I took to a shop that specializes in Mercedes
to have the Water Pump replaced.
Quoted me $350.
So I left the car and went about my business.
Later got a call that it was more involved and going to cost me $780.
Well, I went ahead and told them to finish the job.
If I had known that it would cost $750, I would have let the car sit until I got time to do it myself.

 

[Hokie99]

When I pay double what folks in DC are paying than I have my answer...thanks for the constructive responses.

In the past 2 years I have had upholstery work done on my Mastercraft, both jet skis, 2 other Land Cruisers, etc...so yes I think I have a clue about what reasonable prices look like and 600 for both front seats is not it.

 

[Eighteen11R]

Did the leather at least match perfectly @Hokie99?

 

[bamabrock]

When I pay double what folks in DC are paying than I have my answer...thanks for the constructive responses.

In the past 2 years I have had upholstery work done on my Mastercraft, both jet skis, 2 other Land Cruisers, etc...so yes I think I have a clue about what reasonable prices look like and 600 for both front seats is not it.

lesson learned. always ask for a ballpark estimated cost

 

[katit]

If someone asked me to do this job - I would want $250 per seat and it's not money maker, just for fun of it.
This is skilled labor. If plumber can charge $90/hr why this job should be much cheaper? Solo guy may do if for less, but if you have shop/business - it's full day + of work, how much do you expect to pay?