The Glade 4.0

Seriously. They're great cars when they're in good shape, and they don't break down often, but when they do ...

Started my car up on Monday morning (really cold weather) and the computer killed the radio to conserve power, then decided it had enough juice after all and turned it back on. Rinse, repeat 2 or 3 times in rapid succession before I settled the argument by turning the radio off manually. I then killed the interior fan and the headlights to further minimize the power drain. Over the course of my drive to and from work Monday and driving to work yesterday, it just got worse. Yesterday after work, I brought it to a mechanic's shop and it gave careful consideration to the merits of stalling out as I was pulling into a parking space there. Mechanic confirmed my fears by telling me the alternator's dead (fair enough, the car is a '97 and I'm fairly certain most of the engine parts are original). What I didn't expect was the replacement cost of $300. Furthermore, I did not anticipate being told that the car is "fighting" the poor greasemonkey that pulled my ticket out of a hat this morning, increasing the labor time (and cost)* beyond the original estimate.

All told, the repair bill is pretty much eating up the entirety of last week's paycheck and while I'm relatively certain the new part will last out the remainder of the car's lifespan, right now is a pretty bad time to be shelling out that kind of money. I'm only allowed to work 2 days next week, so December rent's gonna be tight.

*EDIT : at the time of this posting, I expected to be charged more for the increased labor time. As it turned out, I was not charged extra. The additional time taken for the repairs simply delayed the event of me getting my car back.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

300 bucks?! For just the alternator?? I could have paid the dealer less than that for the alternator and labor to replace it in the Civic, and that car was a ***** to get at (you had to come in from the driver's side between the wheel well and the sump pan).

Sorry to hear man. Of course, I didn't expect my new brake pads to be $220 either couple of months ago.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

This is why only governments get to own and operate tanks, because unexpected maintenance can drain the treasury.

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Once, I was a ranger
Then, I was a warlock
And a mage
And a paladin
Now, I seek to be myself

True enough that I could have bought a rebuilt (not really sporting to compare the cost of a rebuilt part to a new one, btw) replacement part for considerably less, and then only have to pay the shop's labor charges to install it, but it would have taken considerably more time and I'd have been without the use of my car for the duration.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

You are a real piece of work, no doubt there.

Whatever.

_________________
Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

It's the double-a. Soft sound makes 'em weak.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

Its no wonder you are getting con'd by the mechanic... you can't even understand the point of my post to you. New parts are not a necessity for items like the Alternator (and rebuilt typically come with a warranty), and the whole " the car is fighting back" crap about extended labor charges to install is just that, crap. It isn't an all day effort. Do some homework, I gave you a starting point, and put some effort into saving yourself some money instead of throwing hand to forehead and claiming "woe is me".

The car "fighting" the mechanic is a load of bull. They pull out the standardized repairs book, it tells them it takes 1 hour to replace the alternator - they charge for an hour of labor. They wouldn't have charged less if it would have only taken 30 minutes.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

Assumption on your part.
That's because you didn't make a point.
Granted. I'm simply pointing out that I didn't feel I had the luxury of the time to run down a used part and someone to perform a low-rate install. I needed my damn car back on the road.
Actually, I didn't get hit with any extended labor charges. I paid what was quoted to me up front and the shop worked 4 hours for 1.5 hours' worth of pay. Nice try, though.
That may be so, but as I've stated - I had an immediate and critical need for repair that came up without a whole lot of warning.
Yeah, next time I have car trouble that builds up slowly and gives me plenty of time to explore my options before getting the work done, you can be sure I'll do that. For now, please kindly stuff the attitude? Regardless of how "helpful" you think you're being, all I'm seeing on this end is "You're a **** dumbass" and I don't respond well to being sneered at.

They pulled out the standardized repairs book, it told them it would take 1.5 hours to replace the alternator, and they charged me 1.5 hours worth of labor. The fact that it took, in fact, 4 hours is not entirely surprising to me given that it's a Saab with a turbocharger. I've spoken to other owners of similar cars in the past (Taamar among them) and the stories I've heard of the amount of time and effort it takes to work under/around that turbocharger have all been pretty consistent.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Glad you didn't get hosed.

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"Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they’re fighting a ‘war,’ and the consequences are predictable." —Radley Balko

My question is, where in the name of Squat did you ever get the idea that Saab's weren't a costly make to maintain?

They always have been. Run great for a long time, but when they start to go the parts are expensive.

Of course here in California, if they give you an estimate on time, they have to stick to it. Only when something changes, like 'we found this part all falling apart while we were on the way to the part we were changing out. Want us to change that part out too?' do they get to change the price.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Wouldn't go quite that far. The "statement of work" says I got charged $295 for a "REMAN ALTERNATOR" and $23.55 for "Supply Charg". I was grudgingly willing to accept being charged $300 for a new alternator, but finding out after the fact that it's a remanufactured/refurbished/WhateverTheHellYouWantToCallItIt'sStillUsed alternator kind of brings that down a notch, especially if the "Supply Charg" is an overnight delivery fee that wasn't discussed with me at all, let alone in advance.

There's a line I draw between "didn't have the luxury of time enough to get the cheapest prices" and "paying way more than I should have been charged under any circumstances" and I'm not entirely sure this experience didn't toe that line.

Oh, this wasn't really news to me. The thread title was rhetorical.

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Go back to zero, take a pill, and get well ~ Lemmy Kilmister

Just a note on how mechanics typically bill:

They typically take the average repair time for a job, like the book Vindicarre referenced. They bill for that amount of time at shop hours (typically $60-120 depending on how specialized the labor is, could be over $150 for like Ferrari's I suppose). If they complete the job in less time, they still bill the full time.

Thus the mechanic can work well over 8 hours a day, or work his 8 hours in a 6 hour shift, potentially etc.

To balance this, as they complete the work quickly, this is logged and used to compile the next book. Thus, as they work harder to try to get effectively paid more per hour, their rates get reduced and jobs get billed at less labor. It's self-incentivized efficiency.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones