My battery was dead so I went and bought a new one, installed it, and drove off.
As soon as I got to the first stop sign, I stopped, and so did the car.
I pushed the car back home and jumpstarted the battery, drove it to the dealership and explained the problem.
Mechanic takes one look at it and determined that it must be the alternator and the battery cannot hold a charge.
Mechaninic hooks car up to diagnostic machine and mechanic tells me machine says same thing.
Fine, I say, new alternator it is. After much waiting in the showroom, guy comes out and says that its all done (really about 90 minutes later) and hands me a bill.
[list=a][li]Labor Amount 169.00 [*]Parts Amount 212.39 Tax $12.00 [/list=a][/li]
Full amount of bill is $381.39. I feel like I was robbed, especially on the labour rates (which I know are fixed rates, regardless of the amount of time it takes to make the repairs etc etc). What I really want to know is does a new alternator really cost as high as $212.39 (U.S.)?
If you got an actual new alternator, it would be very pricey to replace. Most of the time, the alternator is remanufactured (a good value). New ones are way pricey.
The labor seems high…I would expect half that amount. The cost of the alternator seems about right for a new one.
Need more info…like type of car/truck, etc.
Some trucks have heavy duty alternators…so do some cars. Some engines are very difficult to work on, so the labor cost has to consider the type of car/truck.
Depending on the Car, $212 may or may not be reasonable for the price of an alternator (as per Philsters’ reasoning).
The reason the labor is so high (once again, depending on the car) is that you were probably charged for an AVR, or the “diagnositic machine” that the put on your machine. Thats probably about a $75 touch right there.
Don’t feel bad…last week they tried to charge my wife $50.00 to rotate her spark plugs…but she was too smart for 'em. She NEVER pays more than $25.00 to have that done.
What I can’t figure out is why did the car die right away after changing the battery? You should be able to run your car for at least an hour after putting in a fresh battery, even if the alternator is completely dead.
rotate spark plugs? I’m hoping that’s a typo or sarcasm?
Anyway, for a new alternator, that price seems about right. Seeing as how it was probably billed as a 2 hour job at around $60 per hour, labor is probably right seeing how those are just complete rough estimates on my part.
Wow! I gotta get me one of those engines in our Grand Am!!
Well, it does sound kind of steep… but not necessarily out of the realm of possibility. If you went to a dealership, call a different one for an estimate for R & R of an alternator. Also ask for the price of the part from their parts dept. An Alternator from a Pontiac/GM dealer will almost certainly cost more than an aftermarker rebuilt jobbie.
frogstein is right. There is no possible way that a new battery would conk out just down the road…
…Unless a very, very slack battery retailer sold you an uncharged battery, in the hope that your alternator would charge it as you drive.
This can lead to cell sulfation and a greatly shortened battery life. If you can, you should demand a new battery, and if that fails, ask to watch someone test the battery with a hydrometer. If any single cell differs from any of the others by more than five percent, it’s sulfating, and will soon die. Don’t let them tell you that it’s a “never add water” battery and can’t be tested, either–that used to be another common scam. All car batteries can be opened and tested with a flathead screwdriver and a hydrometer. Don’t do it yourself unless you’ve got someone who honestly knows what they’re doing with you.
Alternators are a genuine pain in the butt to change out on a lot of cars. It generally entails removing and then retensioning a number of belts, and oftentimes other parts must be temporarily removed as well. You might not have been screwed over on the labor.
Don’t let anyone tell you it’s about time to change over from summer air to winter air in the tires, either.
Oops. Make that 2.4 Litres.
But I think you knew that
Okay, so it looks like I didnt get that bad of a deal. By the sounds of it it could have been worse. He didnt offer to rotate the spark plugs or give me winter air for the tires either.
The battery should have held a longer charge, huh? Looks like I’m going back to (rhymes with) Blotto-Throne and getting a refund.
I am not one to hijack a thread but since I started this what the hell. When I brake the car slides, I think its the ABS but what the hell do I know? The mechanic says nothing wrong with the breaks but I think it may be the cheap tires that came with the car when I bought them. Because the tires only slip in the rain I think that I am going with Goodyears’ water-transferring-tire(s). How good are they, and do I have to buy four or can I only get two and put them in the front?
What do you mean by the car slides? The back wheels lock up and the car goes sideways? That should never happen with ABS. Never doesn’t mean never, since there are other circumstances other than the rear wheels locking up that would cause the back end to pass the front end. However, without external circumstances, this shouldn’t happen. If it is happening, there’s something wrong with your ABS.
However, beyond that, I’m not sure what you’re saying. A car with ABS doesn’t feel like it’s stopping as well as a car with tires screaching. However, test after test prove that a car with ABS will stop shorter on slippery surfaces than cars without it (assuming you can’t pump the brake pedal 10 times a second with each wheel breaking independantly). Anyway, with more clarification I’m sure someone can answer your post, since I’m all out of knowledge if what I said in my first paragraph isn’t what you’re experienceing.
That of course, makes no sense & it is not adviseable to do something like that when you can get new plugs for $3 each…
Also, according to law, you are supposed to have been given an estimate for that alternator. I guess you didn’t ask for it but in the future do so & ask for the parts back. They should have put in a new belt too, maybe thats all they did? Maybe they just tightned the old one? You won’t know unless you ask for the parts back, see?
Take a $10 cheapie multimeter (even the crap they sell at Radio Shack will work just fine). Put the leads across your battery. Rev the engine (this part may require an accomplice). If the voltage goes up, your alternator works. If the voltage doesn’t change, she’s toast.
Anyone who tells me they need to connect the darn vehicle to a machine that costs $75 just to use it is going to get one of the aforementioned multimeters shoved into a very uncomfortable part of their anatomy.
I would like to take this time to once again state that the average car mechanic could GREATLY benefit from some half decent training in all things electrical.
to address the original question: did you get ripped off? i think only you can answer that. was it worth it to you? could you have done it yourself cheaper? could you have had someone else do it for less?
generally, dealers are very expensive places to have repair work done. many (or all) will not use anything but new, original equipment parts. i know i would feel ripped off, but then i have a garage crammed full of tools to do any job i want to tackle, and the time to do it. if i’m gonna give someone $60 an hour, you can bet it will be for something i cant do myself for less.
my guy at napa auto parts says the alt. sells for $100.69 (remanufactured, 3 yr warr)
if you don’t want to work on your own car, you kinda have to pay for the service.
Its not always that simple. That “test” will not tell you how many amps your alternator is putting out (although that meter may have a setting for amps… I dunno) nor will it tell you the current draw for, say, your starter. Maybe it isn’t your alternator after all. That $75 test may save you $500 in parts you didn’t need.
The problem with that, Handy, is that generally for Alternators the dealer needs the old part back for the core. Its generally just as easy to look under your hood and just see if you have a shiny new alternator.
Buddhadog I would recommend you seek out, from friends, neighbors, anyone who knows your area, a reputable local mechanic who is not affiliated with a dealership. They are usually less expensive and often will know more about cars than the dealership. They probably won’t have a nice little place for you to wait around while they do work, although they might have a chair and some old magazines. Especially as your car is just about the right age to have some things start to go wrong. I have found that the labor rates at non-dealers start to approach 50% of the dealer rates. If you keep all of the documentation then this should not void any warranties which you might still have in effect. Make sure they can handle American models, a lot of shops specialize in Japanese or German or others. This way it is much more likely you can get to know and trust your mechanic and you can build a relationship with them. Another side benefit is that when you get a different car you can take it by your trusty mechanic to have them check it out before you purchase. This has worked very well for me since I have become to busy and lazy to do my own car repairs.
The nice thing about fancy computer testing is that it can help detect an alternator problem when the charging system seems a little wonky, but prior to the system failing. For example, if one of the diodes in the alternator is shot, that will make the other poor little buggers have to work extra hard, and so they to will eventually fail – a chain reaction. A well done computer diagnostic should identify a toasted diode, and permit the owner to have the alternator work done prior to a roadside problem.
