Why does a 100K mile tune up cost $750?

2017 2500 with 6.4 Hemi.
I’m due for 100k mile tune up. Dealer wants $749 for it.
I called local shop and they want $650. Just curious if these plugs are difficult to get to? I know there are 16 plugs and they run around $8 each. But still seems like quite a bit of labor cost involved.
If anyone cares to chime in with your thoughts, I’d appreciate it.

I just stumbled on this. Whatever the cost of parts are at any autoparts store, double it or triple it first off when it comes to a dealer. Then there's the dealer labor rate: I've seen the average set at around $110 hour? Some are more, few are less. Also, whats involved in said "tune up" ??? You've got me curious now. Theres nothing for them to tune, so do you mean them just installing plugs? More info please

on the spark plug issue. i don't know if it has changed but a friend of my dads is a factory rep that he has know since the early 90's. he was also a teacher at the st louis training center for years. there is/was a difference in ohm rating between aftermarket champions and dealer champions. champions is what dads 08 hemi 5.7 takes. dad asked him what would happen and rep told him there was a tsb for 5.7 that dies at stop signs at times. he said you would never figure it out even with a scan tool. tsb addressed the issue. mom worked at mopar dealer and dad got dealer plugs and checked what rep said. sure enough it was true. not saying this will happen or even the same now on plug ohms but makes sense to buy the plugs from dealer and then put them in yourself. dad did his at 100k and now will need to again as he has 212k on truck. he said hardest ones were pass and drivers rear to change.

My maintenance schedule calls for changing spark plugs and PCV valve at 100k

Sometimes a Major service includes a timing belt or something stupid like that, they might have a different list that says more than plugs and a pcv?

Ask them straight out, YOU are the customer

If you have to to have so.eone replace those parts, just have a regular service shop do it, it'll be easily half that cost.

My sons has an 04 hemi ram.Changed plugs with Champion double platinums.Wasnt hard just took some tome.Second set was the same Still runs great.I could see close to that price on the newer V6s like my journey had.Have to pull intake etc to get to plugs.Just need some antisieze for plug threads and the coil over bolts.that and silicone dialectric for the boots They are what could go bad if stuck bad.Rocky

I did a spark plug change on my 5.7 hemi Challenger and it was easy. Time consuming having to deal with 16 plugs but no big deal.
I ordered my plugs online from a CDJR dealer and they might have been $125 or thereabouts for Mopar plugs. I think they were NGK.
If I’d taken it to a dealer for the job, I think I’d feel like I was getting ripped of if they charged me over $300 for that job, factoring in their parts markup and an hour or so of labor.
I just got a 2021 Ram 6.4 and cringed when I looked under the hood. With the cowl forward design the rear coil packs and plugs are really buried back there and I would not enjoy trying to figure out how to change those plugs myself. If the previous gen Ram 6.4s are similar, it’s going to tough.
I checked YouTube hoping to find videos of changing 6.4 plugs on Rams but only found 6.4 LX body car plug change videos.
I wouldn’t be surprised if experienced mechanics have a trick to getting at them without having to do a lot of disassembly?
What else is involved in a “tune up” besides plugs and PVC? Maybe a throttle body cleaning? Oil change? Air filter?
The prices quoted seem excessive but given how buried the rear plugs are, maybe it is a 4 hour job?

I just did plugs on a 2015 Hemi truck.

The plugs alone were $200 for a good brand.

The passenger side isn't too bad but the PCM had to be removed from the bracket to get to the rear plug and the heater hoses kept being in the way.

The drivers side was more of an issue. The brake booster and firewall were in the way of the back 3 plugs. You simply couldn't get the required length extension in the space you had. I had to position a socket in the plug hole, add a 3" extension and lower the socket down then add another 1.5" extension. Reverse the process to remove the socket and use a flexible claw magnet to remove the plugs that didn't stay in the socket.

Took less than 2 hours and that included cleaning the throttle body & Air filter housing along with the air filter replacement. Around here a $400 to $500 job since labor is $100 an hour.

The dealer wanted to to tuneup my wife's gran prix for an unreal price once. I said I can put plugs in for $40 what else do you do. He said we also hook it to a scan tool and check the idle settings. I said "they aren't adjustable what do you do if it isn't right?" He just smiled and "said nothing because we can't change them." At least he was honest about that.

As someone else said, not a hard job but takes time. Dealer work means OE parts, and from a dealer, those aren't cheap. Less and less people DIY on new cars, so they can charge a premium. Is maintenance at a dealer a requirement for warranties?

Wait until you see what the dealer wants for a new set of plug wires. The dealer close to me wanted $750 for a set of plug wires. I called another dealer where a buddy of mine works and he said they would sell me the wire set for $350 and I think it was $500 installed.

2006 and later has coil on plug (no plug more wires).

They do have replaceable boots on the coils but I believe they're pretty reasonable and don't often fail.

You really have to climb way in a truck engine bay to change the spark plugs, that's the main pain associated with it.
While it's a job most anyone mechanically inclined can do, it's not fun b/c you really have to dive in there.
The cars are a whole bunch easier than the trucks.

Best bet is get a list of everything included in the bill and go from there.

Call the dealer and ask them exactly what is included in the 100K service.

I'm not sure about the new Hemis - never tried to change a plug on one, but it looks pretty straightforward - like you don't have to pull the intake to change them. My 2017 Hemi 1500 Ram still has under 20,000 miles on it, so I don't need to worry about a tune-up yet!

Now on my wife's 2013 Edge, a "simple" tune-up was anything but simple! First, it was throwing a code for a misfire in one cylinder - a bad coil pack - of course it was on the backside of the V6, plus it was running like crap & no power. Dealer wanted about $135.00 for a single coil pack, then plugs. Job was going to be at least $700.00 because you gotta pull the intake to get at the plugs & coil packs on the back side of the motor. So I watched a couple videos of how to do it & ordered 3 new coil packs from Rock Auto (local repair shop recommended which ones to get - either Motorcraft or Delphi - I got the Delphis), & I tackled the job. Two evenings & got er done, plus a few scuffed hands. It was worth it & it runs like a champ after. If one of the front coils goes bad, they can be easily serviced without pulling the intake. I installed the 3 new coils on the firewall side of the motor. The OE plugs had HUUUUGE gaps because they were worn away - wonder it even ran. Big job, but doable with patience. Give me the old stuff to work on ANY day!

Alldata has spark plug R&R time at 2.6 hrs.

The 3.6 motors are the same. Prior to 15 it was over the drivers side valve cover, now it's over the passenger side.

Ya know, that's exactly what I was thinking while reading this thread. I never love my old stuff as much as I do after working on her new stuff.

My Nissan Leaf (all electric) cost only $13 for the 30K service. They replaced the cabin air filter. That was it. Zero maintenance on these things. My accountant asked me to fill out the paperwork for vehicle expense and I told her that I did. It was all zeros for last year. Zero for gas, zero for oil changes, zero or maintenance.

I totally and absolutely DEMAND a title change of anutter member,,,,

AndyF ... fiddlesticks...

Now should be AndyL ,. for L E A F !

But AndyL .. 13 beans for a cabin filter !

My Carrotvan was 3 !

You should have added the electricity to the expense. It still costs to charge it.

local quality mechanic , friends .. not close but friends , did the 100k on my 2016 Journey for $500 cash , it needed several items done, fluids changes, etc .. long list , fair price I thought ..


On another topic, just wait til all the electric cars pay no road use tax .. then what

It does cost money to charge it but the cost is buried in the electric bill with no easy way to pull it out. I figure it costs $3 to fully charge the battery based on the local rate but I don't have any way to verify it. The charging cost is low enough that I never notice it in the monthly bill.

Spark plugs by there self would be about a $300 hob in my shop. I do them in about an hour, my labor guide says 1.8 hrs. A set of 16 NGK platinum plugs runs around $160

Wonder how much it would cost to install a separate meter for the car to see what it uses? There has to be a way to monitor it.

Absolutely and to some extent, critical component. Grid connected, residential solar / wind / voodoo w/ backup battery, generator, xfer switch needs basic power in / out metering to be functional. To be slick is needs to be able to monitor power in from all sources and power out to all loads. Install that first and size your backup based on real measurements. When running on back up, real time load control.

Day light generated power stored in batteries charges car over night. I'm down with that system except for the electric car part of it. What I don't charge mine with I'll sell for gas money.

Somebody must make an inductive clamp device that can do this.

Kevin