I've been having my headlight, dome light, gauge cluster, etc all flickering simultaneously. Brought in to dealer for oil change so had them do electrical check for $39.95. They say alternator is "spiking" and putting out too much voltage. I'm told it's "cooking" the battery and they had to add water. I've been quoted $268 for the part and 1.7 hours labor at $99/hr. So my bill is going to be almost $500 after tax. They are giving me free serpinetine belt, whoopee. Am I getting stroked or what????? Please advise quickly, car is in shop now and I can call back and tell them to stop.

 

Is the alternator new or rebuilt? I'd say that's an average price for a brand new alternator.

 

Far as I know it's a rebuilt as I was told a month ago when researching price from dealer that only way to get a "new" one was to buy a new car.

 

The labor charge is a little high, but if that's what they charge then that's what it is. Yeah, make sure it's a brand new alternator. Otherwise, sound okay.

 

100$/hour... take it to a private tech for 55$ and hour. it's nothing that complicated to replace.

the actual part price seems fair.

 

just replace it yourself or take it to a private mechanic plus you could probably pic up the alt at autozone or etc and save some money there as well. Some of them even have a lifetime warranty so if it goes bad again just take it back a get a new one all you are out is your or the mechanics labor.

 

take it to a private guy, get some lighter pullys while your in there, and go ahead and replace all your belts while your at it. Mebby even do your water pump and coolant flush too.

 

I bit the bullet and had them do it. Call me an idiot, but since they already had it there and ready with part sitting on hand I had them do it. Could've shopped around, found part, found different mechanic for cheaper labor, etc to save how much? Probably $100 or so? Part price was comparable at NAPA and much more at Checker. Would've saved $$ on labor. F it, payed the fee. Only thing that's ****ing me off more now is that my usual luck with cars is showing up. Every car I've ever owned has been multiple probs. I did as much research as any sane human could do and picked the Max for reliability and sure as sh$t, problems problems problems. TCM, O2 sensor, Alternator, sh$tty brakes. Should've bought another Regal if I wanted this crap. Sorry had to vent. Peace.