$520 to replace the starter Towed my car to the dealer cuz didn't have any trustworthy mechanic to tow my car to..

 

Did you have a stamp on your forehead saying "Mark" on it? That price should be against the law! Phone around and get another few quotes and ask them for a partial refund. If they refuse threaten to report them to the Better Business Bureau or the equivalent agency in Georgia. Just my $0.02.

You got taken to the cleaners.

 

You live in ATL, there are plenty of ORG members who could have helped you. It would have been done under an hour and under 100dollars.

 

It's the nature of the beast. I dunno what's with the BBB advice and getting a refund, kind of non-productive use of your time if you ask me, you could have paid them $95 for diagnostics and said no to $520 for the starter. There's a distinct difference between what is illegal and what is business. I paid 2.21 for petrol on Wed., and I just paid 2.47 today, does that make sense? Absolutely, the oil cos. are making money hand over fist. But ain't it funny that the motor oil on sale is still 0.99 qt., the same price when gas was 0.879?

Anyway, you stated why you went to the dealer, so just accept it and enjoy the fact that you now have no starter problem. Someone suggested that there are org people in GA that can help you out, so you know better next time.

 

Wow I never noticed this, it is all a GOV scam

 

its all in the how to's. 5 mins of reading and 20 mins under the car could have saved you about $400. Live and Learn

 

I was wrong for towing it to the dealer.. oh well..I learned

 

Yeah the price is high. But you are also paying for the convenience of having it done right and probably faster than some unknown mechanic. You know they can do it right, you know a quality part will be put in and they probably did it same day.

It's also the price of not being stranded etc....I would have just gear started my car and drove it home. But not everyone can do that or have the simple tools to do the repair. But a few tools and basic knowledge can save alot of time/$ in the future.

 

The young 'uns here probably don't know what this is.

 

can you gear start an automatic?

 

No, just another reason to never own one, lol!

 

[QUOTE=Frank Fontaine]It's the nature of the beast. I dunno what's with the BBB advice and getting a refund, kind of non-productive use of your time if you ask me,


I've never tried this approach with a car repair, but its worked for me on 2 home repairs. I was raped about 6 years ago by a plumber for a faucet replacement and then about 3.5 years ago by an appliance repair man for a compressor replacement on my Sub-Zero fridge that my wife handled when I was out of town. In both instances, the bill had been paid. But I subsequently phoned around and found out I was had. I threatened to report both companies to the BBB and they both gave me refunds on my Visa of about Cdn$150 and $300, respectively. I'm not proud and now know better to phone around for household repairs and get better information.

 

 

[QUOTE=rmurdoch]Don't get me wrong, I do understand what you mean about your situation in your home. But with the car, it's cut and dry--you walk in and while you are handing over the keys, you sign paperwork. The second thing is that while you are waiting, they call your name and tell you how much the job is going to cost. Yes, if you decide to not do the work, you have to pay for 1 hour labor, but in the above, that's a lot better than over $500.

You must have a nice kitchen! I got mine remodeled but it would have been inappropriate I feel to get that stuff (they say don't make your house so upscale that you price it out of the neighborhood). I got all top-of-the-line Maytag and I truly believe it's garbage. Very poor customer service too, and that's why the Chinese can so easily make a bid for what used to be the Cadillac of appliances at the consumer level. A gal friend of mine just bought a used home and has all the Viking stuff in the kitchen--looks like a setup Emeril would be happy with!! Someday....

 

hahahaa

wow 520 for a starter are you gay? cause you just took it hard core in the butt "and possibly liked it"

 

[QUOTE=Frank Fontaine]Don't get me wrong, I do understand what you mean about your situation in your home. But with the car, it's cut and dry--you walk in and while you are handing over the keys, you sign paperwork. The second thing is that while you are waiting, they call your name and tell you how much the job is going to cost. Yes, if you decide to not do the work, you have to pay for 1 hour labor, but in the above, that's a lot better than over $500.

As much as I hate to agree with you on anything, Frank Fontaine, I have to agree with you on this one! Just another reason to avoid the stealership like the plague. Obviously, 20-20 hindsight would have shown the best approach was to work the phones for 3 quotes and then get the car towed in.

I haven't had anything of any consequence go wrong with my Maxima other than replacing rear brake calipers and pads 2 months ago. The stealer would have charged me about Cdn$1,000 and I got it done for Cdn$400 by buying the parts at a corporate discount and paying a reliable shop 1 hour's labour to install them, clean the brakes and bleed them. Sorry to ***** the thread but that is just an example.

 

Can't even feel sorry for you dude. That is one of the easiest jobs you can do on a Max.

 

unless the situation is critical,ill never go to the dealer. they wanted me to pay 250 to replace my driver side mirror (parts+labor), and wanted me to get new brake pads and rotors on the back wheels to stop this grinding noise. a friend grinded the rust of my rotors and cleaned both entire brake assemblys for $30...and i replaced the mirror myself for 140 (thats just the costof the mirror,still unfair i think). but i saved 2-3 hundred

 

WOW that is just wrong!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that people can rip you off like that and still get a good nights sleep

 

Your home appliance problems are just like the original poster's. I used to manage a frat house and if the washer/dryer broke we called the guy that sold it to us, and he came out and fixed it. He was quick, and was great at explaining things, and really cared about customer relationships. Heck, when he was out, he smelled a gas leak, and came back the next day with his gas leak detector, and fixed our problem.

Just like everything else, you gotta find people that you can trust to fix your stuff when it's broken. Oh, and of course viking is better. They're primarly a comercial company that happens to make some home products.

 

You guys complain about the dealer service AFTER you get your car back and all it okay. What if you DON'T know a good mechanic? And you take a chance at some shady outfit??? How much would it cost if they put some crap parts in and your car goes tats up the next day and you have to spend another $100 getting it towed? Then sit there for another 3 hours waiting to have more crap parts in?

 

 

thanks guys..

I've been doing everything on my own (oil, fuel filter, suspension, sway bar...) or find some cheap help (nitrous install, y-pipe....) but this time I couldnt' drive my car anywhere even if I wanted to.. so deciding where to tow the car to was hard.. me and my dad just thought just get it done right $100-200 over what we should have pay was no problem

 

hey man dont worry about, i'm sure at one point we all got butt plugged from the stealership....i went in and had them change my fuel filter for me (too lazy to do it) as well as an oil change (only $20), and didn't think it would be that much. came back in an hour to pick it up, final bill was $98.63. My as$ was hurting for a bit, but hey now i know for next time...

 

My god your dumb.

Yes you can, but you have to pull the car and get it going about 50+ MPH

 

thats why you need to wise up and learn how to do things yourself...within reason. Then use common sense for deciding where to bring it for service when a problem comes up that is beyond your knowledge.
Im not gonna have firestone eff with my engine, but im also not bringing my car to nissan for brake work.. or a mirror replacement in my case.

 

Did they at least give you flowers after that F%cking...

 

I do 100% of all my own work. But this gentleman doesn't. Or he soon will be. Live and learn.

 

hasnt he been through enough already? now your gonna throw salt in the wound? thats cold hearted

 

He's not hurt, he's now experienced by the lesson he learned...

Life is tough, but it's tougher if your stupid...

 

i think you are correct with that^^^

 

It took me longer to drive down the road and pick up a rebuilt starter than it did to actually replace it. 5 min to pull it, 5 min to pop the new one in, and 20 minutes to get one. Cheapest price i could find lcoally was $159, at pep boys, but with a lifetime replacement warranty. You sir, got hosed......
They probably charged you list price on a brand new starter, which is somewhere around $300 or more if I can recall, plus whatever the Nissan guide said it would take timewise, probably abouty 2 hours, at around $60 an hour. Thats the scam with most dealer mechanics, they charge you according to how long the manual says it will take, not how long it actually takes them.

 

dude....$250 to replace/install my driver side mirror. i thought this service guy at nissan was joking, but he was serious.
With these prices, good thing our manuals say we only require a tuneup at 100k!

 

And how is that different from your occupation or mine? If the charges reflected actual time spent to do the job, then it would take the dealership 3 1/2 days or longer to change the starter. Ever hear of "The Big Dig" in Boston?

Now I have to be more direct. If you take your car in with a problem, they call you out of the waiting room and say it's gonna be $520 to replace the starter, and you say, "go ahead," don't complain about it afterwards.

 

I agree the price from the dealer is always high but they don't always know what they are doing. I've been getting the run around on my Z to get it fixed from Jerry Rome Service Dept. I had to get the car towed there because i couldn't get the clutch to engage. I had already replaced the clutch line and the slave cylinder. I told them to fix whatever the problem was and make sure it works perfect because i was trying to sell it(to get another Maxima!) They tell me is the clutch blah blah and then the starter is bad $1230 total. Whatever just fix it. Get the towed back(i don't have it registered cus it;s been broke), slap my plates on and drive it for a couple miles and it starts slipping. To make a long story short i then had a local mechanic replace the master, no luck. Dealership claims ignorance, i look around find a technical service bulletin about the clutch pedal return spring on a 90-91 Z TT. the spring is weak and the clutch pedal doesnt release and that causing the clutch slippage after 5 minutes of driving. It's been 5 weeks since i had it towed to them and i'm still waiting for the spring(backorder but i called and *****ed out corporate and it should be here tomorrow) and praying that it will fix the problem.

anyway sorry for rambling, just you have to watch the dealers too because they will take for you as much money as possible for any work they do. They're corporate and have to show good profit numbers.

-steve

 

My friend's 2k2 Sentra could not start. Not a good sign, right? It's a fairly new car so what could be wrong? Took it to 2 inde shops, paid for 2 hours diag., and no results. Then took it to the dealership, and yes, he got robbed. But guess what happened when he went to pick up the car? It started. Sometimes yes, we pay too much. But let me tell you, for real, there are a lot of worse things that can happen in life. Like the other dude said, just be careful. But don't dwell on things. I lost a fortune on AV stock since March, it's money that's gone on paper. But I did enjoy a 16% ride up since Monday....