Sounds like a lot of $ to me but you might check here:
Here’s a search for “alternator”
I have a friend who put an alternator in his car in July. And September. And November. There’s some kind of short or something but they can’t find it, so he keeps burning them out. But it’s warranteed so at least he isn’t paying every time.
“alternator assy (assembly?) $326.76” sounds like bullshit to me. The “replace alternator $374.95” should have covered any “assy” needed. At minimum they should strike this. All the rest sounds explicable at first blush (although “fluid $38.55” sounds fishy – which fluid?), but I’d make the service manager explain in minute detail how replacing an alternator + “assy” would total 701.71, and if it comes up to “its really hard!”, make them strike a better bargain.
Also, if you didn’t approve all this work, you can take them to court most places.
Hopefully a mechanic will arrive shortly, and perhaps I’m out of line, but this seems like a straight up ripoff to me.
Well, here are two weird things:
They never called with an estimate. So when I was there to pay and the lady said the amount and I said, “GEEZ!” she kept referring to the estimate I knew about and I kept saying that no one had called me and it was like she didn’t even hear me say that.
They put in an “aftermarket” alternator on Friday and it immediately didn’t work so they had to order another one. Do you think they charged me for that one as well as the next one? Because on Monday I called and told them to go ahead with a Honda brand instead of aftermarket. He had said it would be @ $50 more. Maybe there is a mistake on there. God, I hope so.
Oh, when the guy called to tell me the car was ready he left a message and said someone would be calling me about an evaluation. You know, I’m really not a complainer or a person who sues or anything like that, but this seems complainable to me. That they didn’t call me with the estimate.
Yeah…the difference between to top two numbers is about $50. Maybe they messed up and charged me twice. Because I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for two alternators! Of course, I already paid…but you know…
I would want to keep a good relationship with this local Honda place, although for normal routine stuff I’ll go to my mechanic down the street. Maybe I should take the bill to him to look at…
Based on what I am seeing, my wild ass guess is that for maintenance they are charging about $52/ hour (way cheap!) (Brake fluid flushes go for about 1/2 hour, and trans flushes for about 1 hour in my experience)
If they are charging the same labor rate for repairs (quite possible not) that would be a bit over 7 hours labor for the alternator repair. It is quite possible and quite likely that they charge more for repairs than they do for maintenance. Assuming a rate of $100/ hour* that would be about 3.75 hours for the job. Which may be high, or it may be right on. I don’t have a time guide that covers Hondas.
The only thing that sticks way out to me is the environmental charge of $25. :eek: I don’t think I have ever seen one that was more than $2.00 with the possible exception of a body shop job.
*wild ass guess that makes the math easy
The line of Alternator assembly is the part for $326.76. The line replace alternator is labor for $374.95. Part is parts, and labor is labor. Some alternators are very expensive. Buying a factory unit can quite often run $400+ Also some alternators are a stone bitch to replace. There are some cars where I think they start the assembly of the car with the alternator and then build the rest of the car around it.
That is not to say that this bill if fair, I have no idea of the difficulty of changing an alternator on a CRV. Because I don’t know, I am going to hold off throwing the shop under the bus without more info.
Judging by the way the ticket is presented, the fluid for $38 is transmission fluid. Most trans flush machines use somewhere between about 10 and 16 quarts. That makes the fluid between $2 ish and $3.88/ quart which is very reasonable.
As far as going to court goes. That is based on state law. I have no idea about the law in Ohio. I can tell you lots about the law in California, and here based on what has been posted, the shop would be in deep shit. However as you may have noticed, California and Ohio are separate states. The OP might want to spend some time on the Ohio State Attorney General’s website and see what info is there about auto repair.
I’ve got this somewhat figured out. There’s something weird about the labor charges, ending in different numbers of cents as they do, but that’s not a detail we need to decipher. Prices for the fluids are way high, in my opinion, but the other prices are probably reasonable.
Here are the labor charges:
>replace alternator $374.95
>brake fluid exchange $70.70
>power steering flush $56.70
>change transmission fluid $52.88
Total of these, $555.23
Here are the parts charges:
>alternator assy $326.76 (yes, “assy” is the abbreviation for “assembly”)
>brake flush $26.00 (would make more sense if this said “brake fluid”)
>steering serv $33.28 (I assume this is power steering fluid)
>fluid $38.55 (I assume this is transmission fluid)
>washer, drain $1.90 (this would be for the transmission drain plug)
Total of these, $426.49
My best guess is that the labor rate is $140, slightly modified to make the exact figure odd as I mentioned above. If this is the rate, then the charges for the fluid services are reasonable. The charge to replace the alternator should be about 100 less than the amount listed, but if that amount also includes testing the alternator, it’s within reasonable parameters.
The price for the alternator itself is within the normal range (at retail) for a rebuilt unit for this vehicle (a new one would be in the 900 range)*. The charges for brake fluid and power steering fluid are about 2-3 times what I would have expected, even granting the amount used to flush (not just refill) those systems. The charge for transmission fluid is 50% higher than I would have expected.
In sum, I would venture that this shop has higher than average prices. Given that, the charges are not obviously excessive. But it’s a pretty sure bet that a high-caliber indpendent shop could serve your needs for less, without sacrificing quality.
*It’s irrelevant what an alternator costs for your car, or what you can buy one for from a parts store. For a non do-it-yourselfer paying a shop’s normal rates, these are prices applicable to this particular vehicle.
Not for this car.
Not for this car.
What for?
Absolutely wrong on their part, in my opinion, and very likely actionable (depending on your state’s laws). Usually the best way to handle this is to pay no more than you actually approved, and insist on taking the car. Call the police if they won’t release the car to you - in most states you would prevail.
The 26 was for the fluid. They charged 70 labor for that flush. I’d say the rate is about 140 (way not cheap!) 
It appears that this was a drain and refill for approximately .4 hours.
Yes, a point of contention in our trade. I agree with those who see it as a chicken-shit way to increase revenue in a deceptive way.
Judging by the labor charged, this was almost certainly not a flush. Also, the Honda ATF that was surely used retails for something like $8/quart - no way they used the amount you mention for flushing. Of course, refill capacity is about 3 quarts, which is why I think the charge for fluid was high.
Failing to call with an estimate and get the customer’s approval to do the work and incur the charges. Racking up bill’s without the customer’s knowledge and approval is a violation almost everywhere, but California is especially stringent about penalizing this.
I had a mechanic pull this on me once. Even though the total bill was almost exactly what I had expected to pay, I was livid, and let the guy have it over the phone. I was planning to just pay it and never return, but he flat-out waived the entire fee (around $500) and apologized profusely.
I still never went back.
An alternator for $400! <faints!>. OK, fair enough, and thanks for the reality check. Perhaps I was out of line, apologies.
:smack:
:smack:
I guess I had a tougher day than I thought.
::: Hangs head in shame:::
A quick thumbnail review of auto repair laws in California.
The shop must have a signature on a work order before they can touch the car (exceptions for tow ins)
The shop has to give a written estimate before any work is preformed.
The estimate must be handed to the car owner.
The shop cannot exceed the written estimate (except for tax) without prior approval from the car owner
Any increases in the estimate must be approved by the car owner. A note of the date, time, amount of increase, phone number called, and person spoken to must be on the work order.
OG help the shop in California that does not follow these rules.
Wow, you guys are amazing.
I believe I was just stupid on this–maybe I should have had the car towed to my mechanic down the street.
They should have given me an estimate–they didn’t. I’m going to say so when they call for the review (whatever it’s called) but I’m just not the type to do anything about it. I’ve already paid for it.
I was also stupid to agree to all those fluid things. That was out of the blue. “Do you want us to check your brake fluid, blah blah blah?” I said sure. That was dumb. That could have definitely been done by the mechanic down the street.
Thanks for all your help.