Fords are odd cars, and the Focus is an odd Ford. You can't compare anything about them to what is common on other cars. Eight years ago I saw a bill for installing a new pump into a Pontiac Transport for $650.00. No filter. No wiring harness. In that respect alone, I would not be happy with the bill, but yours seems within the realm of possibility.
That $100.00 pump you mentioned is just the pump and motor. What you save in the cost of the part will be eaten up by the additional labor cost for taking the assembly apart to install the pump into it. Then you have to hope the job was done correctly and won't have to be done over again.
Mike. Shrum is right that the labor rate seems high, but we don't know what other variables are included in the estimate. Unless the pump died completely, there could be a lot of diagnostic time included already that we don't know about. Are they going to replace the fuel filter? They should, and in this case that is included. How much gas is in the tank that they have to manually pump out? In your case, why are they replacing a wiring harness? There's something else going on that you didn't tell us or you don't know about.
Aftermarket pumps are usually not a problem as long as you stick with name brand products. In fact, NAPA pumps for Chrysler products are just as quiet as the factory original pumps because they both come from the same supplier. We've all heard the horror stories of four or five new pumps failing in short order, then a new pump from the dealer is installed and there's no more problems. The cause of that is microscopic debris in the tank and the fix is to have the tank steam-cleaned at a radiator repair shop. That debris locks up the pump's impeller. The clue there is the failed pumps all test good electrically but they won't run. By the time you're on your fourth of fifth pump, all that debris has been collected and the next one, which might come from the dealer, won't suffer that fate.
Very few mechanics are willing to install pieces into assemblies. I can repair the alternator on my Grand Caravan for $9.00 but I would never do that for a customer I like. The labor cost to do that is almost as high as just installing a professionally-rebuilt unit with a warranty. Plus, if I do something wrong, I either have to do the job over again for free, or you could be sitting on the side of the road. I'm willing to take that chance with my cars, not with yours. I question the need for a wiring harness, but besides that, it sounds like your mechanic has your best interest at heart. You should consider him your advocate in the care of your car, not your adversary. You haven't indicated anything that suggests he deserves to be accused of ripping you off, but that's the first thing everyone thinks of when they get big repair bills. As a former instructor and an impartial observer, I've been asked to explain large repair bills many times. If I was to show you the list of taxes, regulations, insurances, training, equipment cost, and all the other costs associated with running an independent repair shop, you would be unable to explain how they could afford to stay in business when only charging $133.00 per hour. We have heaped so many rules, regulations, and laws on them. Now you are paying for those laws.
As for the hourly labor rate, mike. Shrum is taking some liberties with his calculations so it's real likely it's not really $133.00 per hour. A half hour for diagnostics is pretty generous to you. If the engine didn't run, a bunch of people had to push the car into the shop, do some preliminary checks, get it up on a hoist, then make some electrical tests. Most manufacturers allow up to an hour for just the diagnosis of an electrical problem, then you have to ask for more time WHEN that hour turns out to be not enough time. When the "flat rate" guide calls for 2.3 hours, there are different times allowed depending on whether you are paying the bill or the car is under warranty and the manufacturer is paying the bill. Warranty times are always less. To come up with those times, the stop watch stops when the mechanic has to bend down to pick up the wrench he dropped, or he has to walk to his tool box. The time doesn't include diagnosis, emptying and refilling the tank, or even raising the car on a hoist. The longer out-of-warranty times take into account some nuts and bolts are rusty, electrical connectors need to be cleaned and tightened when they're put back together, or some plastic clips break and new ones have to be installed.
Most shops have been charging around $100.00 per hour for the last few years. In my city many of the new car dealers charge less than the independent shops. By sticking to one brand, they have less equipment to buy and update every year, and the very expensive advanced training is supplied free through the manufacturer. It costs more to equip and maintain a car repair shop than it does for a doctor's office, but you won't get an hour of your doctor's time for 100 bucks. On top of that, we hold mechanics to much higher standards than doctors.
What I would suggest is to ask your mechanic to explain exactly what you are going to get and what he is going to do for you for the $850.00 Use your least accusatory tone of voice. Keep in mind too that he is not earning any money, and someone else is waiting when he takes the time to do that. Here and there you'll find a mechanic who is good at showing you the old parts and explaining how and why they failed, but most mechanics don't have good communication skills when dealing with car owners. Because of that, they pretend they don't want to be bothered to avoid the perception they are talking down to you. There will always be someone in each shop who will explain what is going on. That may be a service adviser at the front desk. His job is to translate what he thinks the mechanic said into what he thinks you will understand. Often things get lost in translation, but that doesn't mean they're trying to rip you off.
If you come back here and list each item on your bill, we may not be able to justify why a specific charge is so high or so low, but we can make sense out of much of it for you. Normally we don't get involved with costs here because there's too many variables and things we don't know. After seeing how some cars are designed and the tricks some manufacturers, particularly GM, put in to cost owners money after the sale, very little surprises me anymore. If you were paying for a repair on a Volkswagen or BMW, you would be wishing for an $850.00 repair bill.
Tuesday, May 12th, 2020 AT 10:47 AM
(Merged)
