Classic Mustangs (Tech) Technical discussions about the Mustangs of yester-year.

Mechanic trying to screw me?

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Old 04-08-2008, 07:58 PM
  #11  
dugan
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

yep thats what i thought. ( i wanted to just fix it myself but my dad said no. i know it wouldn't be that hard.) He called numorus places, none of which would even give him an estimate but this place seemed to know what they were talking about the most. They haven't actually started doing anything yet so my dad said he will prolly just tell them not to and he will take it someplace else (maybe he will listen and just let me do it)
thanks for the quick replys!
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Old 04-08-2008, 08:04 PM
  #12  
ninteen66mustang
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

if you trust them to do the work, say you have a friend who will sell you the parts for cheap or something like that and ask if you can supply them.
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Old 04-08-2008, 10:39 PM
  #13  
onegreedy
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

for replacing the parts i could easily see 1000.00,

remember they are marking up the parts to make a profit 25-50%

if you can buy everything for say 900, ask them how much if you supply the parts and they just do labor, (keep in mind you will have no warranty due to them not buying the parts)
for a regular shop getting the parts that not bending you over it is just them making a profit!


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Old 04-08-2008, 10:48 PM
  #14  
flyingfool
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

aussie, thats just wrong![:@]haha hope thats not how you guys role downunder hehe...

as for OP, sounds iffy, but yeah they need a profit. and why wont your dad let you work it? i means, it teaches you somthing, you can always ask for help, and if it breaks a gain, you can fix it yourself! all good too me...
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Old 04-08-2008, 10:56 PM
  #15  
Adrenolin
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

For a shop doing the work and suppling the parts thats still a bit high however shops have overhead and markup parts. For that kind of money you could hit up the eBay seller chockostang and buy a complete new power steering setup... or whatever you need.
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Old 04-08-2008, 11:08 PM
  #16  
Aussie66Fastback
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

is your old man not so keen on you doing it cos he thinks you cant do it or isworried about safety?

either way, then your local mustang club is the place to find an old school mechanic with a bit of passion for these cars. They can then help you or do the work for you.

I found a few guys like that. SOme charge about half shop rates and others work for beer. I get to learn about the car...and drink the beer with them anyways kinda like a tax deduction

btw what year is your car?
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Old 04-08-2008, 11:25 PM
  #17  
mjr46
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

ORIGINAL: dugan

sent the mustang to the shop to have some steering work done.
turns out the Center link is broke, it needs a new pitman arm, the ball joints are bad, and they said it needed a new gearbox because it used to have Power steering (PO clipped the lines and took the pump off).

I donk know if i trust them though, as they said so far it will be at least 1000 bucks(didnt say if that included labor or not) plus another 200 and some for the ball joints. Said that they were having truobe finding parts for it and they would be expensive.
That being said i looked up a center link for manual steering on Napa and it was 100 and some odd dollars, looked up the pitman arm and it was 193.49 and a 50.00 core charge (they said it would be a 100 dollar core charge)
they are a "napa certified shop" so why would they have not checked with napa for the parsts first?

Would you say they are trying to screw me?
NO...........WHY NO!! ???? Cause if any of THE GUYS that said they were screwing you in the replies you got understood what it takes to run a shop and the overhead involved.........parts are not sold what you can buy them at the parts store...they are sold based on list or own personal mark up needed to turn a profit...a shop can't operate on LABOR ONLY!! Trust me I know.........but if you don't agree with the price take it elsewhere...but for shyt sake don't bash them for trying to make a living.and turn a profit.....I mean you don't sell me that hamburger you flip and make at Booger King for 2 cents on the dollar do you??For the cost of a whopper value meal I can make 5 hamburgers and buy a whole bag of fries and 2 liter of sprite for around 7.00..and you don't cry foul to them do you?????......the repairs you need are not difficult to do but will take sometime....but shop around and compare
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Old 04-08-2008, 11:29 PM
  #18  
groho
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

you could screw it up twice for what they're charging you. Have confidence in yourself. It's not that difficult to remove and replace parts.
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Old 04-08-2008, 11:44 PM
  #19  
Aussie66Fastback
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

mjr46, theres plenty of profitable shops out there that many of us would be willing to keep in business but IMHO this aint one of em.

maybe it works different over there but herethe shops pay a "trade price" for parts that isonaverage20% less than retail price you or i pay through the shop or a parts vendor. That gives the shop a margin plus what they make on the labor.And if they cant cover o/headswhilepaying an apprentice $12.50 per hour and charging me at between $65 and $85 per hour they dont deserve to be in business.

SO...to charge a $100 core charge on a part i pay full retail of $70 for...Well I call that being ripped off. To say the parts are expensive and hard to get...I hear alarm bells ringing. I wouldnt take my car to that shop if you werepaying. They clearly dont do regular work on classic Mustangs.

the bit i do agree with Dugan is shop around for a better mechanic.
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Old 04-09-2008, 07:04 AM
  #20  
mjr46
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Default RE: Mechanic trying to screw me?

ORIGINAL: Aussie66Fastback

mjr46, theres plenty of profitable shops out there that many of us would be willing to keep in business but IMHO this aint one of em.

maybe it works different over there but herethe shops pay a "trade price" for parts that isonaverage20% less than retail price you or i pay through the shop or a parts vendor. That gives the shop a margin plus what they make on the labor.And if they cant cover o/headswhilepaying an apprentice $12.50 per hour and charging me at between $65 and $85 per hour they dont deserve to be in business.

SO...to charge a $100 core charge on a part i pay full retail of $70 for...Well I call that being ripped off. To say the parts are expensive and hard to get...I hear alarm bells ringing. I wouldnt take my car to that shop if you werepaying. They clearly dont do regular work on classic Mustangs.

the bit i do agree with Dugan is shop around for a better mechanic.
That's why I don't work nor service cars for people who think like you....why??? because they're never happy with the price and at a moments notice ready to cry"rip off".......and to make such a generalized statement of "paying a 12.50 an hour grease monkey to slap parts on a car"???? if you think all shops employ such slave inexperience labor....your clueless....maybe a hole in the wall place does butI don't employ mechanics......I employ well trained/certified technicians...and there is a difference and they don't work for 12.50 an hour[&:]....your right any baffon can slap suspension parts on that car...but I gaurantee the one who does it for 12.50 an hour will look like it was done for such....seen it hundreds of times.......I work on classics numerous times a month and have numerous customers as such and everyone has told me that they are happy to pay a higher rate as the 30 to 40 dollar an hour back yard joke they were taking it to "quote" un "quote" old timer who new the cars goobered more stuff up then fixed....bottom line is when it comes to service: if you feel parts are to expensive bring your own in..many of my customers bring in their performance parts for me to install = fine.......but as for the labor it's like buying oats for your horse..: you want nice clean fresh oats the price will be considerably more....now however if you want oats that are recycled and already been through the horse the price will be considerably less don't take any of this personally ...I'm not supporting the shop..I however do support bussiness owners as I know what it takes to run a succesfull shop.....there's more to meets the eye then you think or can see from the price list on the front counter when you enter a shops front door...come see for a day personally and your jaw will be left hanging
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