And you thought "stealerships" were bad

In reply to E_NinjA :

Thanks for the comparo. I can't figure out the labor rate and can't find it on thier site. 
they told him they wouldn't/ couldn't do the alignment without replacing the tie rod. That's the first sensible thing they said LOL. 

In reply to Mr_Asa :

I know. I was the only guy able to do Chrysler warranty work at the one dealership, it was a Chevy/dcx dealer... Guess what all the work I got was? Guess what happened next after I said that wasn't fair?

Don't even get me started on the Chrysler extended warranty BS....

Shop rates are really, really high.  Several years ago the dealership quoted me $1500 in just labor to replace the spark plugs on my 911.  I did it myself in under 3 hours, having never done it before.  A tech could've done it in maybe half that time.  Businesses need to make money and high line businesses like a Porsche dealer have higher costs and much higher labor rates but I found that a bit excessive.

Flat rate book time is killing the customers now, it used to be that the indy shops would charge actual time to repair and their labor rate was less than the dealer.  Now they're all charging flat rate and their labor rate isn't all that less than the dealer.  So for all our newer cars that need something done that I don't want to do, we go to the dealer.  We get a nice loaner car and it's convenient.

Speedy Muffler sells a E36 M3-ton of shocks and brakes by simply telling every customer that their shocks and springs are "Worn".

Perfectly legal as they are by definition "Wear" items and the second the car moves the parts are technically "Worn". 

In reply to docwyte :

Over an hour to change spark plugs?

::Looks up procedure for changing spark plugs on a 911::

Well... I'd been wonder what the relative difficulty and cost of maintenance would be like if I were to consider going from my S2000 to a 911. That's um... definitely valuable information.

To go with Flat rate...In my years as a service advisor, I saw Flat rate as creating the laziest, most cut corner, hack available work anywhere.

I worked as a junior mechanic while in school for an independent German auto repair place, with a REAL mechanic.  Becoming a dealer service advisor was a huge eye opener.  I avoir dealers as much as possible because of that fact alone.

In reply to Beer Baron :

It's easier on a regular 911 compared to my turbo but you have to remove the rear tail lights, rear bumper, remove the intercooler assemblies, remove some heat shields, then you can remove the coil packs and spark plugs.  Then put it all back together again...  It's not that hard, just time consuming.  The plugs on a flat 6 rear mounted engine aren't exactly in front of your face like on an S2000

These guys wanted to charge almost $100 in labor PER CYLINDER for plugs and wires on a 3.8 V6. 

It's similar where I work - I keep saying all they want is home runs.  Only get the $250,000 - $1,000,000 account.  We don't want the $50,000 account any more.   No singles or bunts.  Maybe these dealers don't want the $150 jobs - swing for the fences!