The radiator cost $224, and I have a Ford Taurus '96, and labor was $400!!!
2006-12-12 12:50:06 · 13 answers · asked by daniel a 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The radiator cost $224, and I have a Ford Taurus '96, and labor was $400!!!
The guy said the hour cost $60. Is there anything that I could do then?
2006-12-12 13:13:21 · update #1
The bill says...
Radiator 224.00
Seal 1.70
Coolant 15.95
Shop materials 6.00
No other parts...
2006-12-12 13:15:04 · update #2
That price sounds high, but you were the one who agreed to have the job done there. Did you ask for an estimate? Was the job done on a rush basis?
Shops can charge whatever they want. If they regularly charge a lot more than other shops in the area, they will lose business. The labor rates in one area may be a lot less than in another. Dodge man says his labor charge would be $75. In my area, it would be a whole lot more.
Shops also price jobs that they do not want to do higher. If a shop knows that a certain job is a pain to do, they may price it high enough that the customer will either go elsewhere, or the money will make up for the problem.
You may want to find a new shop to deal with!
2006-12-12 13:59:16 · answer #1 · answered by fire4511 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you were ripped off and it's your own fault.
Dealers charge huge amounts because they can make more profit fixing cars then they do selling them.
Next time, get at least three estimates from three shops and get it in writing! Once you sign that work order,, they do what ever they think they have to do.
Radiators are expensive, rebuilt radiators cost less, and used radiators cost even less. .
It's not easy getting radiators out of modern cars. Ford didn't care that the meachanic took so long, and they don't care if it takes an hour to change a battery or that the mechanic removed a tail light to replace a bad bulb. Read the news, Ford cares more about it's stock price then how well they satisfy the American consumer.
After 30 years in the biz,,,,,take my advice.
Please,,buy a Honda, or a Toyota next time. The sooner those detroit idiots go out of buisness the better off we'll all be.
PS-anyone want to buy my '93 Buick?
2006-12-12 21:05:16 · answer #2 · answered by MechBob 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You got taken. $100 would be a fair price for labor. A reasonable guess for labor when getting your car repaired is the labor should be aproximately the same cost as the materials unless you have a very expensive part on the car that must be replaced, for instance, I've seem air conditioning compressors sell for well over $1000 but the labor to replace would be only $200 to $250.00
Hope this helps
2006-12-12 20:57:36 · answer #3 · answered by notadeadbeat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dan,
Hate to tell you this,but you've been had.
I believe that even a Ford garage can give you better prices than
that.
The price that you had to pay for a NEW radiator sounds a mite
low.A radiator from a scrap yard will run in the $100 range/with
warranty.The price tag that they tagged you with sounds more
like a pull,clean,& repair,replace.
A pull & replace shouldn't take longer than 11/2 to 2 hrs. under
normal shop conditions
That makes your shop rates about $200+ pr.hr.
Just a TAD high,even in this day & age.
Personally,I'd report these people.Maybeso,you won't get a dime
back,but it'll sure give them some bad references.
BACK ME UP HERE DODGE MAN.
2006-12-12 21:25:22 · answer #4 · answered by huppercupper 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO! You were taken for a ride it takes less then an hour to remove an radiator and to put in a new one. If you took it to a
mech. they must go by the book.Which they look up your car model and year this will tell them exactly how many hours it will take to remove and replace the radiator.You didn't say how much
they charged you per hour.(EXAMPLE: If the the book said it would take 3 hrs to fix and the going hrly rate for the mech is $30.00 then the labor would have been 90.00 dollars.)
I would call around and get a few quotes from other places and ask how long it takes to put in.....if your a female say my boyfriend asked me to call to get a quote TRUST ME THE COST WILL GO DOWN.
2006-12-12 21:04:25 · answer #5 · answered by CARPENTER 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a auto body shop and I have to say to change your radiator o your Taurus is one of the worsted jobs I ever have to do. Ford is clueless on designing cars so they can be worked on .On a Toyota it would take me 20 minutes. On your Taurus it would be at leased 5 hours .
2006-12-12 21:45:13 · answer #6 · answered by gerry d 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i own a repair shop,,and i don't know who done this to you,,but that's not fair at all ,,the labor on that only runs around 75 bucks,,don't get mad at me someone seen you coming,on this one,,id go back and get some of my money back on that job,,that just isn't right,i couldn't sleep at night if i done this to my customers,I'm sorry you got took by a mechanic,,not all mechanics are like this,,but i will say this,,these days there's more bad ones than good ones out there,and there isn't any reason for this to happen at all,,i have done a lot of Taurus,s and there no harder to do than any other car is,,just do me a favor,,go back and at least try and get this straitened out,,that s too much for that job,,good luck,i hope this help,s..have a good x-mas .
2006-12-12 21:01:25 · answer #7 · answered by dodge man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you got ripped off.
Radiator :around $150.00
Radiator host : around $50
Fluid : Around $25
Labor for 2 hours : 200.00
Around 400 should be the ideal price.
2006-12-12 21:01:40 · answer #8 · answered by cee3pee0 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did they just replace the rad or did they do more parts replacement cause the lab our is outrageous even at $70.00/ hr here is a ripp off.
2006-12-12 21:05:13 · answer #9 · answered by dewaltfordtruckman 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i was quoted 1000 dollars and decided to forgo the replacement. my truck still runs and i have yet to refill the fluid. they tried to rip me off for 1000 sounds like you may have got a deal. if you actually needed it .
2006-12-12 20:59:53 · answer #10 · answered by syd 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋