hlippy4

Ok guys -- how out of hand have these unscrupulous dealers become??????

I need simple brake pads for my 04 LS430 -- I can get the oem pads for $60 front and $60 rear -- my guy says easy to put on $60.00 = total $180.00.

I called Metro Lexus to see how much they wanted -- $430.00 -- NOT $430.00 FOR BOTH FRONT AND BACK -- BUT FOR EACH AXLE -- PLUS SHOP FEES ABOUT $50.00 (NOT INCLUDING TURNING ROTORS).......TOTAL $910.00..................I HOPE THEY CHOKE...........THIS IS WHY I WILL NEVER EVER DO BUSINESS WITH A DEALER!!!!!

Vpanin

wow............my dealer wants 650 for all 4 wheels with the rotors turned. Im doing the brakes myself in a couple of weeks and you should too. There are some great threads on the pad replacent

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

It definitely varies from dealer to dealer. There are some great ones with fair-enough prices, and some that get the reaming tool out when you walk through the door.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Paid $7xx a couple of years ago to do all four corners (I THINK i also got an alignment for that much.)

jayclapp

I paid $380 for the front breaks at my Lexus dealer less than a year ago. Included pad, caliper bolts, and turned rotors.

jadu

iTrader: (42)

damn dealer prices. I try my best to avoid them if i could

usermel

The Dealer nor the car companies are our friends. Thats why I am always tough on them(dealership/stealership). Its business! I dont like it myself. They got me for front and rear brakes at my dealer at a price higher than Mt.Everest but, until the governemnt gets involved in the overcharging the dealers do in the service departments, nothing will change!

My dealer charges $90 an hour for labor alone. Gets costly and so a brake job!! Forget about it!! L.G.N.M

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

Seems like you are accusing all dealerships of being crooks. By no means are all dealerships crooks. It is their perrogative to set their own prices and people have the choice to do business with them or not, just like any one of us can set a price for which we'll work for an employer. Just because we won't work for the same price as another guy doesn't mean we're theives. The employer has the option of hiring that other guy, just like we have the option of searching out another repair shop that we trust, or doing the work ourselves.
LOL Now we need the government regulating car dealerships??? I'd hate to see that fiasco... BTW, did the dealership tell you in advance how much they would charge you, or did they just do the work and then surprise you with the bill?

usermel

Its my OPINION sir, not yours. You sound like you work for a dealership sir. If thats the case, it is what it is! I stated its business. I own 2 myself. And I admit you must charge more than what something is worth to make a profit. That said, when I get an oil change and get charged $45 for labor(half the normal price) thats to high. For those like me who aren't mechanical type men who work with there minds and not there hands and minds I have no knowledge of cars at all.

Don't I ask you with respect tell me how I should think and my opinion is mine. If you disagree fine!! State your opinion but dont quote me like I am your son, or baby you take care of. YOU DONT KNOW ME! Its my opinion please respect it. Charging people different prices is a sign someones overcharging more than others. Im speaking of dealerships within 20-30 miles of each other like in the D.C metro area.

Im a advocate for the consumer!!! Are you? I know the answer to that. You must work a dealer and if you do, its none of my business!! Respect to you, if I have my car in for service that takes 1 hour and Im charged for 3 that is overcharging and dealerships do it all the time. Please, respect my space!! L.G.N.M

Jabberwock

I would not call dealers crooks based on what they charge for parts and labor. Crooks are folks that use a threat and/or weapon to take your money. You can ask dealer for an estimate and if you feel its too high then tell them and take your business elsewhere.

Now if a dealer tells you a repair is required when it actually is not then they are crooks - no question but charging high rates are the dealer's prerogative.

I'm in a business where we routinely charge clients $200-250 per hour on average. Our internal costs are high due to high employee salary levels (caused by what the market values that skill at) and like any other business we need to make a profit to keep the doors open. Our clients are typically Fortune 500 firms, but still they certainly don't like the high labor rates and sometime choose to go to a lower cost provider. Sometimes they do OK with that route and sometimes they are sorry.

Its just business. Over time it is basic supply and demand that sets the prices in any market. Vote with your dollars and do business where you think you are getting good value.

Some Lexus dealers are used to asking and getting high rates for their services - they are used to a well moneyed clientele that will pay just about anything. Our challenge is to find the middle ground, finding someone with high skill level that will work on your Lexus for a reasonable price but still have the skill level to do great work. Thsi is very difficult to find reliably.

And trust me you don't want bargain basement labor working on this car, particularly the brake system.

usermel

I totally respect Jabberwock's vice on this. He was very respectful how he put what he had to say. If i offended anyone it wasnt my intent by the way. That said, Yes I understand supply and demand but, I have friends who go to the same dealers in the same cities and there given different prices for services at there dealerships. The cities inquestion or Norfolk/Va beach metro and Atlanta and Miami and D.C metro.

Im not speaking on the right and ability to make money im speaking on flat out swindling folks. My old lady was protected by me recently with the need for starter the other day. She needed a starter and opted for a reconditioned one. She was charged a liitle over $400 bucks for it at and come to find out the price for a OEM one was cheaper and with labor.

My point is this. Stealing is defined one wy but what it is in my book is dishonesty. I know, I know, its not the defenition of the word. If a service rep charges one guy $200 for a service and the next $150 when neither negotiated or asked the price and just paid no questions asked thats a form of stealing. I heard one time here in VA on the news a consumer say the prices need to be listed. Were else do we go and the price isnt listed! This goes for all dealerships LUXURY or NON LUXURY auto's.

Yes, there are those with BIG money that dont ask questions about what things cost. Me myself I grew up poor so Im very frugal and buy used as much as I can even though I can afford to buy new. A penny saved is one earned. I feel those who dont ask the price it is about wealth and ego. Most are embarrased when it comes to questioning price and business owners of weathy clients know this and play on it. I dont have an ego being poor taught me one thing. Tomorrow isnt promised and if you earned it decide for self and not let others dictate to you when to question what your being charged.

I own 2 businesses as well and I charge more than the value but, fairly. AS did I when real estate was booming. I had a chance to drive up the price on some upstart buyers and didnt. Could have made $25,000 more but, told the greedy real estate agent no because I gave my word. Never heard from her again and Im glad. I deal with honest people Im not holy or anything. I was born to give love and treat others with kindness and to those who dont like me or what I say it reflects on the type of person they are. Im for whats fair and right and dont favor unfairness. I am always for whats right and was born this way!

Who we are is determined by what we agree is right and wrong and my heart is good, not greedy!!! L.G.N.M(Love God Not Money)

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

So, it's your opinoin that all dealers are crooks (I belive stealership was your word)? I just needed to ask since you seemed ultra-ethical in the thread where sojah or someone said they would would sell a car as-is, yet you are cool with accusing dealerships that you've never visited nor had any experience with of being crooks.

No, I'm in no way affiliated with any dealership. I've taken vehicles to a dealerships (or any other shop) just about 4 times since 1984, and those were for warranty matters, other than alignment on one vehicle.

If people are paying more than something is worth, it's their own fault unless they are under duress somehow. Something is "worth" whatever people will pay for it, NOT what somebody wishes he could get it for. If some guy was willing to give you $500 for your LS430, it doesn't mean it's WORTH that. It's worth whatever you can get for it.

If you know the price ahead of time, and willingly go there and pay that price, you have no grounds for b****ing about the price. If these dealerships can sell their technician's time for $90 per hour, that's their business and they have NO obligation to sell it to you for less than that.

I can't understand what you're saying there.
L.M.A.O. Don't quote you? That's how it works on public forums. People post things, other people respond to them.
Absurd, IMO. What if one dealer has 2X the overhead of another due to the location and pay level required for his technicians who live in that area? What if one dealer elects to set his prices higher and let people make their own decisions whether or not they want to do business with him, like the laws of this country allow? Jeez. You want the government to regulate what people can charge for free will services?

LOL I guess I'm an advocate for freedom and the free market.
Does that mean that I can't respond to any of your posts if I disagree?
And cut the stealership some slack.

Ay-nako

iTrader: (25)

wow....




let the witch hunt begin... I dont think i-6turbo said anything wrong, why do you hate dealerships so much? And why so much hatred thats his opinion and in my eyes "my opinion" I think your ******* him out for no reason, jabberwock's reply is just as much i6's he didnt say anything different... we do own (at one time brand new) $70k vehicles.. in turn parts/labor wont be cheap... go to toyota or an independent shop if you think rates are too expensive... or the final choice do it your self, learn it so you wont have to pay anyone for their experience and knowledge....

and please don't reply to me as you did I-6 im not targeting you as you did to him.

-David

Alexis-LS

Overhead cost of dealership is usually higher than mom/pop repair shop. That usually include advertising, insurance, depreciation, interest, accounting and legal fees, rent, cost of the leather couch you sit in the waiting lobby etc... They usually give you a loaner car for major service and wash your car. You do pay premium for the service you receive.

warminwisc

I paid 600 bucks from a dealer with 4 rotors turned. I definitely agree 900 bucks with no turning is too high.

Lets run the numbers on a 90 dollar an hour rate that is what we charge at our business and I make 38 bucks an hour.

They probably pay a good tech 25-35 an hour plus benefits for a good tech I would want workin on my car. They probably have a payment on the building and a ton of miscellaneus costs just on that tech, schooling, vacation, holidays, service writers. WhoThere has to be some profit in the end as I am told alot of dealerships depend on service work.

We go to dealers when we have a problem others cannot fix or trust to fix.
In general I have not found alot of good mechanics/nor good ones who charge a whole lot less than local dealers, at least fair dealers. I have one toyota and 1 lexus dealer in town

Check labor rates, most jobs have set book rate labor they can charge and get a couple estimates. I need a t belt and pump the dealer is 800 and the toyota dealer is 650. JMO