seboshka

2010 Lexus RX 450h so, sometimes i make decisions very fast and sometimes that's bad and sometimes that's good. i sent the car into the mechanic for dash noises, which I thought were coming from the suspension. he said sway links could be bad and can cause that issue. made me think he knew what he was talking about.

he jacks the car up and sells me on 2 shocks (the assembly without the spring) and then 2 mounts for the front and an alignment. i saw the shock, it was leaking.

car drives great now, I notice it much stiffer and will have to get used to it. I negotiated the bill down from $1200 to $1025, but still dying to know. did I get taken?? I'm so naive sometimes, and give people the benefit of the doubt. He did do them same day for me. does it really take 3 hours to do both sides of a job like that? depends who does it right??

Thanks, all!

Fpan87

parts are roughly $450, alignment $100? meaning you got charged $500 for labor? Lexus labor is @$150 per hour so I'm not sure if you got taken but you definitely didn't get any deals or differences had you done it at a Lexus dealership

seboshka

I think you're spot on. I just hate mechanics because they are in control. They don't let you stop in their shop - I asked him to show me the old mounts, but he ran around his shop like a monkey trying to find them - he found the shocks though

So the only bad feeling I have is that he charged me for mounts, but did not use them. I don't even know how important the mount is - oh well. karma is on my side I suppose, that's all I have to go by to help forget about it and just move-on.

takeshi74

Finding a good shop is a must and helps with this sort of thing. Have you asked around for recommendations?

14RX350

Sounds like he correctly diagnosed your problem on the first visit, and repaired it quickly and at a fair price, without any unnecessary expenses. I think u got a fair deal. My local Lexus dealership charges $230 for an allignment and $180/hr. And they charge that rate just to look at the car, whether they end up doing any work or not. So there are much worse shops out there.
Just because he couldn't find the old mounts does not necessarily mean he did not replace them. And if he didn't, well now you know where your discount came from.

salimshah

It is fair to ask for itemized bill. Parts, labor, disposal, shop_supplies, Tax.

The billing, recovering the cost, paying the labor (assuming the shop hires a crew) and the potential of lien etc forces the process to be regulated.

So a shop gets your authorization before performing the work.Technically once the OK is given then the work is started. On additional discovery, the shop has to get authorization.

Only shade tree mechanics charge by the clock. All shops follow 'book hours'. They open a book (computers now) and the labor time is listed for the service .. [in OPs case it would be for say the right shock etc]. Mechanic may do the service in less or more time, but the billing is by the book.

I wish the dentists and physicians follow this model [indications are they are starting to].

Salim

seboshka

I have a friend who is about 20 miles east into the city that typically does it. problem with that is only my wife heads in that direction and she hates dealing with car things. So I don't want to put her in that position. He used to be a Lexus tech too, but honestly since I got it done at this other Indie place and I don't think he screwed me too bad, I don't feel as bad about it. It's just the mounts I'm uncertain if he used them or not. Curious if mounts really need to be replaced after 127k. He said it's made of rubber, but hell if I know.

Anyways, so yeah - I have mechanics for each one of my cars. The trucks have one mechanic, the Lexus is typically the one I mentioned (but it doesn't have much trouble typically) and my BMW is a lease. So, I dunno. This infatuation with cars needs to end. I have to give some of them up for now and then come back to it later in life I think. Just don't have the time or money to be pouring into this hobby these days...anyone else struggle with this??

seboshka

great prospective and yep CA is hella expensive!! wow. but so much cheaper in a lot of things like groceries, fruit and some other little niceties here and there.

seboshka

I have to say, the way you lined it up regarding covering costs, labor, lights, etc - you can either get upset about it (as I was) or I can be thankful that he did the job right the first time around and I didn't have to shop around for comparisons. the mechanics lean is also something I totally forgot about. if they need to exercise that, boy - that's a whole other can of worms I'd say.

I've used shade tree mechanics before - (love that term you used) and honestly, I learned my lesson (a $400 power steering pump replacement turned into a 3 week turnaround and a $600 job) - wow!

So, I'll end with this - LIVE and LEARN, keep your head up and things tend to generally be A-ok. Thanks, Salim!

heshamos

Don't feel bad about the mounts but if it really bothers you, crawl under and have a look. Mounts should look new and bolts should sustain power tools' marks on them. If you can jack the car up it would be even better. I usually shop around at Toyota dealerships first as it seems that they compete hard to get your business. We have more than 5 Toyota dealerships in town. It saves me money but at the end of the day the work is warrantied!