Make A Deal With The Mechanic?

Question

Would It Be A Smart/Safe Thing To Ask My Mechanic To Lower The Labor Price Since He Is Taking A Real Long Time To Fix My Car? He Is Doing A Engine Swap For My Car For Almost Half Of Month Already And He Want $725.00 And Not Including The Extra Parts Needed. Or Should I Just Wait Till He Is Done Fixing It And Then Pop The Question?

He Some Time Can Look Like A Shady Character. Shady Area Of Town. I Heard That Engine Swap Can Be Done Within 1 Week...

Answer 1

If you know what you are doing an engine can be replaced in 4 to 6 hours. He probably knows what he is doing, but is waiting and being lazy and doing his easy stuff first, you know saving it for a rainy day. Ask him why he hasn't completed the install and threaten to take it to someone else.

Answer 2

There is a lot of work that goes into an engine swap, granted half a month is too long, unless it is a busy garage. Even then if you are a customer, which you obviously are, your car should get done in a timely manner. And actually that price is about acurate on an engine swap, most mechanics get around $75 an hour for labor, so hes charging you for a 10 hour job, which is pretty reasonable, actually its under what most other places would charge you.

More than likely what is going on is that since it is a time consuming job, he probably has to take on a lot of smaller jobs to keep the business going. Also if it is a commission mechanic, he only gets paid when he completes a job. So he still needs to work on other vehicles just to keep a paycheck coming.

What you should do is go down there, and see what the hold up is, dont be afraid to ask why its taking so long, if he gets aggrivated or pushy, simply call a wrecker to pick your car up and tow it to a mechanic that gets paid by the hour, they tend to get bigger jobs done more quickly. But 2 weeks is a long time for an engine swap. I would say 2 or 3 days max! And thats working around a full shop. So yeah go and inquire and next time dont use him for your mechanic, you need to find someone more reliable. Ask questions and you will easily be able to find the right one.

Answer 3

Alot of the answers so far are on the money.What kind of engine swaop are you having done?Is the mechanic replacing the engine with the same kind of engine? and is it a junkyard engine? a rebuilt? or brand new? So this can be why the time differences.An estimate of all costs should have been made already and any replacement of parts is normal.You don't want to have worn out parts put back on the engine going in.Or is he replacing the engine with another size engine? Like going from a 3.1 to a 3.3 or larger? So as you see there are several variables as to why it is taking so long.Some things like anti freeze, oil and filter,hoses,clamps are expected to be replaced new.But you should still be in charge of what gets replaced.Have this put into writing and cover yourself.Your warranty will also be different from one kind of swap to another kind.Good Luck

Answer 4

The cost is based on the work, not how long you are missing your car but how long it takes the mechanic to do the work. You're unhappy about amount of time it's taking to get it done, but don't try to renegotiate the price of the work. It will still take as much work on the mechanics part to replace that engine. Your job is to make enough noise to get some attention. This guy has had complaints before. It's part of running a business. He's not going to do shoddy work because you asked him to hurry up. Everyone that comes to him wants it done yesterday. If you're the only one not making noise, guess who gets to wait.

This is the message you want to relay to your mechanic. Call the guy, say "Hi, I apologize for pulling you away from your work but I'm concerned about the time it's taking to get the work done on my car. I need that car for transportation and it's been two weeks since the work was started. I need to know from you if I have made a mistake in bringing my business to you." Now you have put the ball in his court. You put the blame on yourself for the mistake but relay that it's about his business practice that's causing the problem.

When I was a sixteen year old kid I had a guy up the road take my car away to replace a timing chain. 6 months latter he towed my car back into the driveway. My high school buddies from the auto shop vocational track had that car running in one day

Answer 5

tell him you want a time card for the cars work he is most likly only working on it 1 hour a day for it to take that long i would not pay more than 10 hours labor. that should be only 30 x 10 =300 ask what his shop rate is first. most shops charge a flat rate on swaps did you get a quote first if not not much you can do. if you did get a quote he has to tell you when you past that and you can tell him to stop the work if you cant pay over what he told you. 725 is not that bad my shop charges 1500+ for intall on our rebuilt blocks but only takes 6-8 hours sometimes less i can do two cars a day on average. that is 2 hours puling and 3 hours assemble. 1 hour tuning

Answer 6

I dont think it would be smart . but he should have gave you a timetable and estimate for the project. That 725 is a decent price but lets see if he throws anything else in there. One person can take a while. If he is not sticking to the timetable atleast make him stick to the final price. I would wait till hes done.

Answer 7

2 weeks is perfectly reasonable time and then some for an engine swap. He could be having issues in which case I wouldnt ask for a lower price.

Answer 8

i don't think you should ask for lower labor rates. first of all because of the nature in repairing autos there is just no way to give an exact time of completion, only estimated time. secondly he probably has other customers he must take care of. and finally would you rather a fast job, or allow xtra time and get it done the correct way.if you found the guy to be shady why did you trust him? by the way would you lower your pay if things didnt go smoothly in your line of work?

Answer 9

engine swap may be done in two days.for 500 dollars.Miami Florida.USA.