Gumart1 Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 Is this what the Dealers are getting where you live? I have several known issues with my LS and thought it would be convenient to let the Dealer pinpoint them and give me a punch list to take to my personal mechanic, who is competent, but I just trust the Dealer to know exactly what the car needs. Is my Dealer being greedy? He suggests 2 hours to start at $104 an hour just to pinpoint some issues I am aware of, plus another $104 for the 135pt. inspection to find other problems I'm NOT aware of. And, he adds, that if the issues need to be dug deeper into, then the hours of time goes up. I don't want to start pouring money into just looking at the car, but onthe other hand I don't want to start replacing parts blindly. One specific example is the fuel pump/fuel pressure issue (please see my other recent post in this section). I have gotten great suggestions but the Dealer recommended the replacement of the pump, regulator, and secondary filter based on an inpection (prior owner) at another Lexus. It seems to me they are just covering their butts, and that it is unlikely that all are bad. Any suggestions would be appreciated, and please see my other post about the problem if you can help. OR, does anyone know a good Lexus mechanic in the Chicago/Suburbs area?
99lsguy Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 Sounds like you're up to $312 already....... One hour should be plenty for the 135pt inspection and a run of diagnostics... I had mine diag'd at a local indy shop for $50 - although they didn't run any codes - the check engine light would be on if triggered by a fault anyway..... anyways..........I think they're gouging a little
Gumart1 Posted February 8, 2005 Author Posted February 8, 2005 I just found another local Lexus Dealer that charges a more reasonable $95 and will address my known issues as well as do a complete inspection. The only variable is how deep they will dig into my known issues for the $95. The amazing thing is that I also called my local Ford dealer to find out their diagnostic charge: $100. I had to let him know my Lexus Dealer was cheaper. Any reason why these Dealers have increased so rapidly over the last few years, other than pure greed? About 7 or 8 years ago it was still totally free to have my Saturn looked at by the Dealer. No charge for a complete diagnostic. I'm sure people abused this service and then would have the work done independently. At least for the Dealer's $100 they should allow you to apply it to the repair, where they will certainly cover the costs.
99lsguy Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 You are right in your guess...........just pure greed. It's the way of life now.....on just about anything....
mason Posted February 8, 2005 Posted February 8, 2005 I just had a complete AAA inspection done on my "new" '94 LS. As a AAA-Plus member, I get a rebate of $45 on the inspection, which costs $89.95. It was a 126-point inspection that seems to have run the gamut; very thorough. This was done by a AAA-certified independent mechanic. I found him on the AAA Web site. All the dealerships I checked with (Toyota included) wanted at least $100.
SW03ES Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 Well you can't compare a Saturn dealer and a Lexus dealer, Lexus prices themselves comparitively to other dealers of the same caliber, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Cadillac, Audi are all going to have similar hourly rates, Ford, Saturn, Toyota are of course going to be less. If you don't want to hang for that inspection they'll give you a brand new ES330 or RX330 with a tank full of free gas to drive around in, no Saturn dealer will do that. THATS what you're paying for whether or not you use it. Generally they do apply it to any repair, thats a little odd. Is that the same dealer that treated you badly? Don't go back there. My dealer charges $99, the dealer I was using previously charges $94 an hour but they backed my car into something so I don't go there anymore.
99lsguy Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 My dealer charges $99, the dealer I was using previously charges $94 an hour but they backed my car into something so I don't go there anymore. ← I didn't know that........ouch everything ok?
SW03ES Posted February 9, 2005 Posted February 9, 2005 Oh yeah they begrudgingly agreed to pay the $700 estimate I got (they wanted to do it themselves but as I told them if they can't park it or wash it without damaging it, why on earth would I let them paint it) but I was able to buff out the damage 99% so I'm not going to risk giving it to the bodyshop for them to destroy. Never got an apology nor did they show any remorse so I vocally took my business elsewhere. Had a meeting with the service manager of the new dealer and he sat down with me and my new service advisor to make sure he understood my needs. No wash, and extreme care repairing and operating my vehicle. Its like I told the guy at the first dealership, I have never had a car damaged at a car dealership before, and I had an Explorer serviced at a very cramped FORD dealer for 8 years. For $100 an hour I would at least expect that they'd have some respect for my property. I told them I would have gotten better service at an Exxon station, had cars serviced there too and they never damaged anything. It was quite nasty...for them LOL
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