to make a long story short, i had to get my car towed to the nissan dealership and have work done. Here is what my receipt says...this price seems outrageous to me...lemme know what you think this should cost.

*Replaced alternator, tensioner, belt and battery.
*Parts= $467.48
*Labor= $407.73

total= $885.21

The alternator assembly cost $289.75. Is that right? I thought you get money back if they take/you give them your old alternator.

please help
i hate stealerships

 

WTF, is that the timing chain tensioner? Isn't there a trustworthy shop, other than a stealer, you could have taken the car to?

The stealer is typically higher than elsewhere on both parts and labor so you might have been able to save $200 if you had the benefit of shopping around, but understandably you couldn't under the circumstances I suppose.

 

The work is done - it doesn't really matter at this point. They basically charged you for 4 hours of labor. It definitely didn't take them 4 hours to do that maintenance, but they go by standard book rates.

You could have probably done most of that maintenance yourself and saved yourself at least the labor cost...

 

By tensioner, it probably means the idler pulley/tensioner.

 

Thanks, I see. I haven't had to **** around with my belts or alternator yet (touch wood) so I was unclear on that.

 

The alternator lists for 268.28, core is add'l $75--if they did it, there is no core. a/c belt is $51.48, and serpentine belt is $16.35. How they came up with $467.48 is the work of a magician.

I would think one could get a new clutch installed for $885, but to think an alternator installed is that much is very surprising.

 

Ah ha, the heavy hitters are weighing in. Don't forget the tensioner (?) and battery were also replaced!

 

Actually it goes somethng like this:

Alternator: 289.75 (from the OP)
PS Belt: 20
Accessory Belt: 20
Idler pulley 50
Battery: 80

I just rounded up numbers from list prices. Every local dealer in town charges more than the Nissan list price for every part. e.g. I called for valve cover gaskets, list is 13.xx, local dealer wants 19.xx, jerry rome was selling it for 10.xx. Same thing with valve cover spark plug seals, jerry rome $2-3, list $4 and local dealer $6. Every local dealer I have been do has their own markup over the Nissan list price. I'm not sure how they are allowed to do that - i.e. you would think Nissan Corporate sets the list price, and would expect dealers to honor that price.

 

I guess that's one of the reasons they're officially known as "stealerships." And to think my local stealership has banned me from their service department, lol!

 

Still not understanding how they rounded the 268.28 up to 289.75--268.28 is non-discounted. On the web they slash 25% off that price, or 201.21. Are your prices incl. tax? Then I could understand why they are 8% over list. What do you mean markup over list? That's unheard of. Also, imho Jerry Rome is expensive. But I do miss their comical threads which would have like 200 replies asking, "and how much for my left-rear power window door molding?" The guy reminded me of the commercial, "for you? ONE DOLLAR!"

 

You pay to have someone do the work for you...

 

You probably didnt even need a new battery, when I replaced my alternator I got a good jump and it has been fine since.

 

It sucks that they jacked you. I am an internet manager at a Toyota dealership and some local Nissan parts departments still try and high gross me. I get all my parts at wholesale but there are a few dealers that try and d1ck me around. Most dealers will price match. If anyone needs a quote I can give you a barter chip. Not all of us are bad guys!

 

Frank - when I came up with those prices - I guess-timated. For example, this past week I was looking for a rear valve cover gasket for my 96. I called all the local dealers and they wanted anything from 18-22 dollars for the part (+tax).

If you look online at Pinnacle Nissan, the list price is $14.25 for that part. Pinnacle sells it (with discount) for 10.69, yet my local dealers all sell it from $18-22. I'm not sure why they are allowed to sell the Nissan OEM parts above the "list" price. If you don't believe me, call any of the local area dealers (Gerald Nissan, Continental Nissan, Glendale Nissan - all in the Chicago suburbs) and ask for a price for any given part. Then look it up online and you will find that the asking price is more than the list price listed online at, for example, Pinnacle. Thats why I NEVER buy any parts locally. Not only can I get the parst for 25% than list from one of the wholesalers, but it ends up being almost 40-50% less than the local dealer prices because of their mark-ups.

Hope that all makes sense...

 

It certainly makes better sense than nearly 300$ worth of surcharge. I guess time really does equal money.

 

omg reading those prices makes me wanna drive down to see the manager at that Nissan stealership and spit in his face ... DAMN I hate the stealership even more now ... dude you should go back to that place and ask for the guy that runs that ****hole, and then ask him to break down the prices on the receipt for you, thats outrageous and I bet if you had the nerve and could intimadate him enough you could prolly get a refund for some of that money cause they def ripped you off ... ask them for each calculation on price and labor, they have to legally .... man that makes me mad

 

That wont happen, they get plenty of customers that dont know better to care for someone that does.

 

wtf. they raped you for your money. I think I went down to a local parts place and got a remanufactured alternator for 80.00 + the core. Than I had some local mechanic install for 40.00. Basically I you would replace is the alternator. If there was any foul play with the belts I would change, but the battery should have been good after a boost. I replaced 0 batteries and I changed my alternator on 5 different cars before. Its a myth.

 

YEah man. This was the Porter Nissan in Newark Delaware. As soon as I get some time off of work im going over there.

 

If anything comes from this, you will know not to head to the stealer's again. Better than all the others that dont know what they are about.

I learned through a price quote, they were talking $1500+ for front axles, found a cool mechanic that hooked me up for $500. Also, asked about replacing the Bose, , they said it would be over 2 grand, I got a custom system, 4 Pioneer speakers, Pioneer hu, 12" sub, Kenwood amp, and a cap for $1500.

 

Damn, I got both axles done for $198 here in SA. Also got 1200 watt amp and two MA Audio Subs for 450, pioneer deck I think its the 6500 for 100 bucks and the amp kit for 20 bucks. I

 

Shouldn't the replacement of the alternator been free since theree was a recall on it?

 

Occasionally things break that i can't get from my work and i have to hit up a stealership, Academy Nissan in C. Springs, CO is about 30-50% higher priced than Tynans Nissan in Denver, CO. So it's best to shop around between dealerships too. I had to replace the low pressure side of my A/C system and the hose was $130 from one, and $100 from the other. Spalsh Guard was $45 at one, $80 at the other and one quoted me $130 for the e-brake boot. ha, F you buddy.

 

Damn, I got robbed! Hehe, better than stealership though.

 

May have been a "certain VIN" recall, thats the only good I got from them, went for a quote, found my O2 sensors had a recall anyway.

 

YUP !.... yeah you are right ... I think its only the 97 and 98's maybe ... im not sure ... I would call up another nissan and give them your VIN number and find out if your maxima qualifys for the recall ... my max does qualify, although my max runs great with no prbs, i dont know if I should replace an alternator that is allready fine

 

yeh well i'm certainly not takin my car to a place where they rip u off unless ur just ignorant

 

Don't call the stealership. Go to NHTSA.com and see if your Max is specifically affected. The Stealer might have "bad records" and neglect to mention whether or not your car is affected.

If you see a BMW, Mercedes, or late-model Infiniti parked next to a Nissan service center,better hope it's not the service rep's car.