You guys are acting like whatever a shop charges goes in your pockets. You've all stated yourselves that the shop doesn't buy your tools, or in some cases pay for your certifications. Sure the shop does provide some equipment, but that is to be expected.
Yes, I am...or was a truck driver. taking some time off from that for a while. But before I started driving, I was a mechanic for 25 years. So I am well aware of what your expenses are, as well as the shops overhead. Maybe I still think old school, when a tune up consisted of more than just six spark plugs and didn't cost $430. Perhaps I wouldn't have been so shocked and upset about it if the shop had told me that the intake has to come off to get to the back plugs. And also told me the truth about the type of plugs needed. Everything I've seen listed for plugs for this car shows it needs double platinum or iridium plugs and he wants to use copper core. I would be needing another tune up i10,000 miles because the ignition system would have burned up the plugs. This guy has been in business for years and he doesn't know that? How am I supposed to trust him with that kind of wrong info.
Maybe $400 is the norm for a tune up on a modern car. Maybe that is something I will just have to get used to if I don't want to work on my own junk anymore. But that is a pretty heavy bill for me. I don't have that kind of money just lying around that I can just say, "Ok, no problem. When can I pick it up?" Not everyone is as rich as you all seem to be.
Cars are complicated and not easy to work on anymore. I'm not upset but you also can't expect an independent shop owner to know what plugs every vehicle out there takes. Many Chrysler products do use copper core plugs so maybe he just didn't realize or make the call to find out.
And no what ever the shop charges does not go in my pocket but a percentage of that does and if the boss decides to discount that repair guess who also gets a discount in the form of less time paid?
I can't even remember the number of times I've had an adviser ask me if I'll do a job for say 9 or 10 hours instead of 12 so they can cut the cost down to the customer.
Cars are expensive, cars break and wear out, that's what they do and it's expensive to repair them. I'm glad I don't have to pay someone to fix my junkers but I had to pay $750 for the garage door to get fixed. I had to pay a plumber $250 just to snake a vent. I had to pay $3400 for a new septic drain field and I'm going to have to pay an electrician to come fix some stuff at my house because there are just some things I can't or won't do. But no, I'm not made of money either.
