To Those That Say Auto Repair Shops Don't Gouge, Read Here <rant>

[madmat]

As some of you know I recently moved to the Big A (Atlanta) and lo & behold they do smog checks here. Well, my 16yr old Plymouth Voyager appears to have had it's catalytic converter removed back before it was in my family's possession and it failed the visual inspection and the the nox sniff test (which is directly attributable to the cat being gone) so needless to say I need a replacement cat.

After calling around I've discovered that the baseline price for a new cat install is $160 and it goes up from there. Mind you, the cat location on my rig is right in front of the muffler. It's not hidden under the engine or behind the transaxle or even under a heatshield that requires unbolting. It's in plain sight and after the vehicle is on a lift consists of a 20-30 minute job to replace.

The cost for the part is a whopping $64 retail, dealer cost is closer to $50. This means that the dealer feels that $96 is a reasonable charge for 30 minutes work when shop time is billed at roughly $50 an hour.

The moral to this story? Learn to work on your own car. When you pay a shop to do a minor job they are laughing (at you) all the way to the bank. They think that everyone that calls them up on a part replacement is stupid, when I confronted a couple of shops with the facts of what they were trying to do it actually rattled their cages that they were dealing with someone that *gasp* knew a bit more about the costs and work involved than the average person would. One shop tried to bluff their way past by feeding me a line about how "That cat on the Plymouth Voyager is a pain in the neck to get to." and when I said bluntly "It's right in front of the muffler in a wide open area under the van" they actually sputtered on the phone! :nudge:

The point here is don't believe what your mechanic tells you, they might treat you like you're their best friend in the whole world but all you are to 99.9% of them is a meal ticket. The honest guys are few and far between. You can save yourself so much money by buying a few basic hand tools and a Chilton Manual for your vehicle that you'll be amazed.

[jradmin]

To bad you cant find a DIY shop and do the work yourself. I've replaced 2 in my life at my neighbor's barn (we gots good neighbors in the country).

When they removed it origionally, did they replace the exhaust pipe with a streight pipe and muffler or did they do some kind of rig job?

Ahh..the big A! Gotta love the Freak Nik.

[madmat]

I'm replacing it myself due to the fact that they want to charge nearly $100 for a no brainer job. The cat on my van was replaced with a glass pack muffler which is still right in front of the factory muffler so all I have to do is hop under the van with a Sawzall and chop the glass pack out (5 minutes work) pop the cat in it's place and clamp it up. The only difference is a muffler shop would use a welder and I don't have one so I'll use clamps. Properly done, clamps won't leak.

[jradmin]

Just make sure its really secure with those clamps. You don't want it falling off as your going down the road. You can probably rent an arc welder w/ flux for like $20 for an hours use.

[madmat]

If I attempted to weld it on I'd end up with a pipe resembling swiss cheese so clamps will have to do. I've replaced mufflers and used clamps many times and never had problems with them falling off. The key is to use 2 clamps with the bolts staggered 180* from each other and tighten the heck out of them. In fact I tried pulling a muffler I'd clamped on and I'd tightened the clamps so far that I ended up having to cut the pipe off in front of the muffler and shorten the exhaust a couple of inches :)

[GHoosdum]

The cat on my van was replaced with a glass pack muffler which is still right in front of the factory muffler...

They did WHAT? Holy crap! ;D

[jradmin]

They did that probably to cover up the fact that they took the CC off. To someone who really wasnt looking hard, they could mistake that for a CC. Personally, unless the previous owner was cheap or wanted the extra 10-20 hp (which doesnt make a hill of beans diffference in a minivan) then there was no reason to take it off in the first place.

[madmat]

It could've been to stop it being a fire hazzard. Cats can cause grass fires (saw that first hand) and since the van was from a rural area it stands to reason that could be the reason it was yanked.

[Nightwolf]

You don't need to find a shop to do a cat. Just need some basic sockets, the cat and two clamps.

[RWB]

When I worked as a porter the labor price was something like $80/hour, then parts and such... This type of job may have been what they called "gravy work" or something silly meaning it was simple and got some good money in. Of course the mechanics arn't the ones to rip you off, it's the guys who sell you the work. At the shop I worked at the mechanics rarely ever saw the customers face, very rare.

Of course the salemen get their portion of the pay, which means they want to get as much off you as possible, it translates to the mechanic, but it worked differently.

But yeah, it's no different than computer shops... they charge you $75 just to look at it? IT's all the same anywhere you go.

[madmat]

You don't need to find a shop to do a cat. Just need some basic sockets, the cat and two clamps.

It helps when you live somewhere that actually allows you to work on your vehicle. I don't have that luxury here which is why I was looking into having it done in a shop. Since they're money grubbing asshats I've decided to do it at the workshop/office of my friend's work.

[Nightwolf]

Its illegal to work on my vehicle outside of the garage, lucklly the man that runs the "Home Association" loves trucks and helps me out with it when I have a prob.

[madmat]

Well, working on my vehicle here period will get me evicted so that's out :(

[RWB]

Do you live in an apartment or house? If I lived in a house I'll do whatever the hell I please, I hate home owners associations I hate them with a ****ing passion. Don't tell me or anyone they cannot fly the American or Texan flag you sob's!

[madmat]

I am staying in a mass dwelling. Not a house.

[drasnor]

I got reamed recently with my father's 1995 Suburban. It broke down (stalling and sputtering) while I had it 120 miles from the only mechanic I trust. I had to take it to an unknown mechanic that wanted $150 to read the codes and then parts and labor for whatever else he wanted since they probably knew they had me by the balls. I got out of there after spending $900 on a "full service tune-up" and the root cause of the problem: faulty EGR valve.

Their repair lasted about a week and luckily I was back near my mechanic when it started stalling and shuddering again. My mechanic went in, read the codes, found that the new EGR valve was installed upside down, righted it, and billed me for about $150.

A couple weeks later, the problem started up again so I took it back to my mechanic. He read the codes again, found that the new EGR valve had failed, looked up the part and found it to be the cheapest and lowest-quality part available, replaced it with one of his, and billed me $200. I haven't had a problem since.

-drasnor :fold:

[madmat]

I'd drop that mechanic, he charges you $150 to turn the EGR valve over?? It's held on with 2-4 bolts and is a five freaking minute job. I swear to god, after the lawyers all the mechanics need to be lined up and shot.

[jradmin]

Here here!