New Car Mechanic
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I'm giving my car to a shop tomorrow for four hours. They are going to charge me $50 for doing diagnostics. My initial (unpaid) interactions with these guys has been positive. This is the first time we've done any money from me to them. Is there a place on the internet where I can survey car parts, labor charges, and other estimated prices that are generally prevalent among car shops ? How do I ask the question ?
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I'm giving my car to a shop tomorrow for four hours. They are going to charge me $50 for doing diagnostics. My initial (unpaid) interactions with these guys has been positive. This is the first time we've done any money from me to them. Is there a place on the internet where I can survey car parts, labor charges, and other estimated prices that are generally prevalent among car shops ? How do I ask the question ?
$50 for diagnostics is relatively cheap; I paid over double that 2- years ago. If it's a Check Engine light, one thing you may want to consider is hitting the local auto parts chain; most will scan the codes for you at no charge. Plan on 100 hourly labor, and if you are going to price parts pick a store like NAPA as opposed to the major chains.
Director of Transmogrification Services Shinobi of Query Language Master of Yoda Conditional
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I'm giving my car to a shop tomorrow for four hours. They are going to charge me $50 for doing diagnostics. My initial (unpaid) interactions with these guys has been positive. This is the first time we've done any money from me to them. Is there a place on the internet where I can survey car parts, labor charges, and other estimated prices that are generally prevalent among car shops ? How do I ask the question ?
Tricky question because pricing is quite regional. Can understand the $50 charge just for diags, the manufacturers charge a small fortune for the software and more big $ for each update/new model releases. (That's what drove a lot of smaller shops out of business.)
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$50 for diagnostics is relatively cheap; I paid over double that 2- years ago. If it's a Check Engine light, one thing you may want to consider is hitting the local auto parts chain; most will scan the codes for you at no charge. Plan on 100 hourly labor, and if you are going to price parts pick a store like NAPA as opposed to the major chains.
Director of Transmogrification Services Shinobi of Query Language Master of Yoda Conditional
MadMyche wrote:
If it's a Check Engine light, one thing you may want to consider is hitting the local auto parts chain; most will scan the codes for you at no charge.
1985 Oldsmobile. Can they scan that ?
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MadMyche wrote:
If it's a Check Engine light, one thing you may want to consider is hitting the local auto parts chain; most will scan the codes for you at no charge.
1985 Oldsmobile. Can they scan that ?
:laugh: No, it's post-2000 that have OBD2 support (and if you have a vehicle that supports OBD2, get a reader, it saves a lot of money and costs around $100). That's probably why it's expensive to fix - no debugger, so the mechanic has to know what (s)he is doing!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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:laugh: No, it's post-2000 that have OBD2 support (and if you have a vehicle that supports OBD2, get a reader, it saves a lot of money and costs around $100). That's probably why it's expensive to fix - no debugger, so the mechanic has to know what (s)he is doing!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
OriginalGriff wrote:
- no debugger, so the mechanic has to know what (s)he is doing!
Few and far between those are, hens teeth comes to mind.
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OriginalGriff wrote:
- no debugger, so the mechanic has to know what (s)he is doing!
Few and far between those are, hens teeth comes to mind.
There are times when I think "bring back carbs, and points, and ballast resistors, and rectifiers, and tappets, and..." Then I remember balancing 4 carbs, and how much I wished for electronic ignition, and decide that computerised cars really aren't that bad! :laugh:
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote:
- no debugger, so the mechanic has to know what (s)he is doing!
Few and far between those are, hens teeth comes to mind.
Here you go: A seven pound chicken with teeth.[^]
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a fucking golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?" "You mean like from space?" "No, from Canada." If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns. -
I'm giving my car to a shop tomorrow for four hours. They are going to charge me $50 for doing diagnostics. My initial (unpaid) interactions with these guys has been positive. This is the first time we've done any money from me to them. Is there a place on the internet where I can survey car parts, labor charges, and other estimated prices that are generally prevalent among car shops ? How do I ask the question ?
C-P-User-3 wrote:
My initial (unpaid) interactions.
Time to recoup the "initial (unpaid)" investment. If you are just getting a diagnostic done then fair enough as it costs them time and staff salaries. Most dealers here do it as part of the job costs so it appears free, but is just included in the fix.
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MadMyche wrote:
If it's a Check Engine light, one thing you may want to consider is hitting the local auto parts chain; most will scan the codes for you at no charge.
1985 Oldsmobile. Can they scan that ?
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:laugh: No, it's post-2000 that have OBD2 support (and if you have a vehicle that supports OBD2, get a reader, it saves a lot of money and costs around $100). That's probably why it's expensive to fix - no debugger, so the mechanic has to know what (s)he is doing!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
OriginalGriff wrote:
That's probably why it's expensive to fix - no debugger, so the mechanic has to know what (s)he is doing!
Exactly - if an 85 Oldsmobile is expensive to fix, it's only because you need an experienced mechanic who's been there, done that--those are the ones who have the ability to do it blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs. Ironically, this is where it should be cheap to fix as the mechanic doesn't need expensive diagnostics tools that need to be replaced every couple of years. But experience doesn't come cheap.
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MadMyche wrote:
If it's a Check Engine light, one thing you may want to consider is hitting the local auto parts chain; most will scan the codes for you at no charge.
1985 Oldsmobile. Can they scan that ?
C-P-User-3 wrote:
1985 Oldsmobile. Can they scan that ?
Yes.. and No. It probably has a computer that can provide equivalent diagnostic info, but it's highly unlikely that they'll have the knowledge or tools or awareness to be able to so. Be careful they don't want to just start throwing parts at it at your expense. Good luck. If you're not happy with them, maybe try searching out a mechanic that advertises that they work on classic cars. Yours isn't technically a "classic", but at least they'll know how to diagnose and fix its problems. Perhaps find an Oldsmobile forum and see if they have a list of "guru" mechanics. Debugging cars isn't as hard as it sounds if you want to give it a try yourself. Fixing them, that's a different story, but debugging them is just like debugging programs.. easier than many programs I've debugged, in fact. Computerized cars are even easier in some ways because they already have a lot of sensors built in.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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C-P-User-3 wrote:
My initial (unpaid) interactions.
Time to recoup the "initial (unpaid)" investment. If you are just getting a diagnostic done then fair enough as it costs them time and staff salaries. Most dealers here do it as part of the job costs so it appears free, but is just included in the fix.
I think I stumbled onto the right shop. Previous day, when the "Check Engine" light appeared, I stopped by and told the #2 guy in the shop about it. I also asked him to show me how to check the power steering fluid (it's in a very non-obvious place; which he showed to me). He also checked all the other fluids, and discovered low transmission fluid. He stepped inside and came back with this large container and poured in the magic goop. (Dextron? Whatever) That was yesterday. Today I left the car with them. At the end of the day, I walked over to the shop (they are walking distance) and the guy (this time, the #1 guy in the shop) told me that they couldn't find anything wrong, and that they reset the code from the previous day which indicated the low transmission fluid. I pulled out my wallet. He said: "No Charge" Really. Not making this up.
