The dealership near me are crooks. The dealer is Don A Vee Chrysler/Jeep. I took it there for one of their deals on oil change and tire rotation. While you are there they perform an inspection. They found a supposed $1347 in needed repairs/maintenance.

The breakdown:
Spark Plugs, Cap, Rotor, and Ignition Wires = $342
Power Steering Flush = $155
Throttle Body Service = $168
Fuel Injector Service = $155
Brake Fluid Flush = $160
Radiator Coolant Flush = $168
Transmission Service = $199

Grand Total = $1347

Here is my invoice so you know I'm not just pulling numbers out of the air:


Here is what I ended up paying at an independent shop:

Transmission Filter, Gasket, and Fluid = $140
Coolant Flush, Fluid = $50
Spark Plugs = $50
Cap and Rotor = $50

Grand Total = $290


That's about 20% of what Don A Vee Chrysler/Jeep quoted me. If you look up Don A Vee on BBB.org, they have an "F" rating. That is the lowest rating you can get.

 

I always try to go to independent shops when I can, I find them more reliable, better quality of work, and better customer service. I used to work at an independent shop, and you could tell the guy that owned the place was more concerned about his customers than his profit. He was a real swell guy and would get his long time customers some good deals when they were short on money but needed their cars fixed. Big difference from what I'm getting now!!

 

Those cost are insane! Now I am not one who wants take away from anyones living, but I am finding here in middle Tennessee the average cost of mechanic labor is $80 an hour... that may be a little on the high side but it has been a standard and maybe I am getting quotes on the wrong side of town. Now if you just figure that on an hourly basis that comes up to just a little over $166k a year in labor and thats assuming the mechanic only works on one job at a time. I dont know but that seems high plus the 30% or more mark up on parts. I believe what mechanics do is valuable but when a shop wants to charge $168 bucks to flush your coolant and $342 to change the plugs and wires, and $155 to change out seals and clean up injectors, thats just taking it too far. I do most of, or at least as much work my self as I can for this reason. I wish I could find a shop to flush my coolant for $50 I would be all over it.

 

Quick update, after leaving my car there all weekend, and waiting till today, they finally decided to look at my car. They say they never touched the fan, and are refusing to touch it. My mother wants to take legal action against them if they don't change their minds. Any ideas what to do? I can't afford a new radiator and fan, so I can't really do it myself.

 

Get a lawyer involved, things will start to happen for you.

 

I dont have a FSM handy to look at , maybe someone else does and can look at it but im pretty sure ya have to remove the fan and it probably states that in the FSM for the HB replacement procedure.. Might want to print that off and show it to them.

 

Well, long story short about what happened when I talked to them today, they refuse to pay for it, but would cut me the sweet deal of going from $820 to $650 to fix it. So, I called up my favorite JY, and I'm gonna get a used radiator for $26, get a fan and pulley from em, and do it myself. Good thing I paid them to get it running... I'm totally done with them though, I'm not going back. I saw a nice wrangler there I liked, but I'll fid one elsewhere now.

 

They caused apparently 820$ worth of damages and an additional 300$ or so that they just outright took from you by working on your vehicle without your consent. Roughly 1,100$ is worth speaking with a lawyer about. That's completely ridiculous

 

X2 thats rape! dont let them get away with this

 

I'm at the point where all I can think to do is do it myself and have nothing to do with them from here on out. I know for a fact they've violated The Colorado motor vehicle repair act and can be fined from $1000 to $4000 dollars, plus repair the car for free, and give me at least 3x the cost of repairs, as long as it's under $5000. I did the research today, and I could very well take legal action against them, but I don't know of it's worth the hassle...

 

To me it would be worth the hassle. You paid them to fix your Jeep, in the process of they broke other things and are refusing to take responsibility for their mistake. They also performed repairs without your consent which is a huge violation.

They are just trying weasel out of something they caused. I would get the Bureau of Automotive Repair involved. It could help this from happening to somebody else who doesn't know how to repair their own vehicle.

 

Do it, don't let them rip off another Jeep owner.

 

A lot of times, just having a lawyer contact them (via phone call or letter) will be enough to have a company snap up and start making things right. I'd say it's worth the hassle. Go for it since they mucked up the job they should have done right the first time.

 

You can't back down. That's what they want. Don't let them win.

 

Well my friends dad is a lawyer, I'll talk to him and see if he can give them a call for me. Haha... Trade him some work on his explorer.