Customer declined new belt

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by blupupher

On my truck, nope.
On my Hyundai, nope (included with Hyundai roadside for another 4 years).
On my Scion, yes, through my insurance (I think $18/year).
On my motorcycle, yes, free through my insurance.

But then again, my vehicles would not be in the shop for a water pump replacement, nor would my belt ever look like that.


Yeah, but one membership from AAA covers all the cars you have and even covers a friends car, you just have to be there for the tow to show the driver the card.

Maybe the guy thought he could squeeze a few more months out of it or thought someone else could do it cheaper.

 

[Revving2Redline]

You cant fix stupid. You tried. On the F22 Accord 2,2L we always changed belt doing timing and water pump as part of the deal. You were more than fair on the price. List plus .25 hr labor is more. You tried, its their prob now lol.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted by benjamming
Originally Posted by Chris142
Originally Posted by SatinSilver
How much did you quote the customer for installing a new one? My old belt had cracks in it. Ordered a Bando off of Rock for $13 or so.

I can't compete with online stuff. My cost for the gates replacement is $21... We told the customer $32. No extra labor as I had to take it off anyway to do other repairs.


I salute you for this magnificent offer!


+1. Serpentine belts aren't cheap and this is no brained maintenance.

Did the person declining the work actually see the belt and it's damage. Honestly I'd be less inclined to accept the work if told over the phone that the belt was cracked.

If they saw it they have no business owning an automobile.

 

[DoubleWasp]

I would have told him to watch "Duel" to find out what happens when you decline basic repairs of bad rubber parts.

 

[dogememe]

Maybe they just couldn't afford it? What kind of car and how many miles? Did it seem generally well cared for or was it trashed?

 

[Dave9]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by hatt
Toyota quoted my brother $180 to change the belt in his 4runner.

Why do people continually point out how much shops or dealers charge to do repair work ? Aren't their service bays generally full and busy ? I'll bet they replace a serpentine belt every day for that price too and 90% of customers don't look up the price on RockAuto (or even know what RA is) and watch a YouTube video on how to replace it. Why ? Because they have no desire whatsoever to do that kind of work. Or they don't have tools. Or they don't feel comfortable doing it or even attempting it.


Why is because it's not only a ripoff, it's also potentially fraudulent to charge for more labor than it takes to do the work. There are ways around that like only billing to the half hour or hour, and then there is the dishonesty of charging more for the part than it can be bought anywhere else.

People continually point it out because shops essentially take advantage of the naive and lazy. They perform an important, even vital service for society, but not all repairs should cost a premium. Certainly some belts take a fair amount of work to replace and the bill should reflect that, but when you know better, yeah it is something that should be continually pointed out, that if those people who don't want to DIY want to pay, they aren't the people browsing this forum and reading this topic!

Here's a better question: What's it to you? Why do you want to censor other people? They shouldn't have and express their own thoughts?

 

[MoneyJohn]

Originally Posted by Chris142

I can't compete with online stuff. My cost for the gates replacement is $21... We told the customer $32. No extra labor as I had to take it off anyway to do other repairs.

I truly appreciate honesty. If many places would be as honest, at least I wouldn't be checking prices on RockAuto.

I paid $140 for 2006 Sentra in 2012. This time I had no clue about auto repairs, but as this guy started taking me to the cleaners, I started looking into it seriously.

Still, I don't do much of the stuff but minor things I have started doing myself. Thanks to youtube, it helps a bit.

 

[Trav]

You can only lead the horse to water but you cant make him drink it.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by hatt
Toyota quoted my brother $180 to change the belt in his 4runner.

Why do people continually point out how much shops or dealers charge to do repair work ? Aren't their service bays generally full and busy ? I'll bet they replace a serpentine belt every day for that price too and 90% of customers don't look up the price on RockAuto (or even know what RA is) and watch a YouTube video on how to replace it. Why ? Because they have no desire whatsoever to do that kind of work. Or they don't have tools. Or they don't feel comfortable doing it or even attempting it.

Because stealerships will scam you. How are they justifying $150 in labor to change this belt on this vehicle? The vehicle was also already in their shop having some maintenance items performed. It kinda goes along with this thread but I'd bet the OP would be getting beat up a little had he quoted $150 in labor.

 

[Linctex]

Pffft..... cracks schmacks.

I run a serpentine until there's a substantial portion of pieces missing.

Cracks in the ribs means nothing to me.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted by Linctex
Pffft..... cracks schmacks.

I run a serpentine until there's a substantial portion of pieces missing.

Cracks in the ribs means nothing to me.


Yeah, this. They're "traction sipes".

But seriously someone with a lot of time on their hands should take pictures of their belt degrading at certain milestones before they get chicken enough to pull them.

PS, just did the belts in my prii. Forget if this is from the 200k car or the 270k one.

 

[bozo66]

That's a great offer. My local Honda dealer quoted two hundred dollars to replace a serpentine belt on my accord. I 'll just replace it myself.

 

[The motor guy]

My shop just puts a new belt on and adds it to the bill. Fine with me since it actually needed it. Original 10 year old belt 5000hrs of run time on it.

 

[tom slick]

This is another post (of many) that shows that Chris cares about stranger's cars more than they do.

 

[StevieC]

In Ontario if the shop is a certified Ministry of Transportation Inspection Facility the shop can remove the plates and condemn the vehicle as being unfit for the road with a belt like that if it were driving the power steering pump and could lead to an accident if it were to fail.

My dad would always try to work with the owners to not pull their plates but on rare occasion would do so if it were something like this and the owner just refused.

I assume similar could happen in various US states where there is inspection tags?

 

[mattd]

Ironically enough you cannot fail a vehicle for bad belt no matter how bad. Some states there are no inspections and others you are not allowed to open the hood or even place the vehicle on a lift.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by mattd
Ironically enough you cannot fail a vehicle for bad belt no matter how bad. Some states there are no inspections and others you are not allowed to open the hood or even place the vehicle on a lift.

Technically my dad would fail the vehicle as being unsafe to operate, because if the belt gave out and the vehicle lost power steering it could make it unsafe to operate and cause an accident. It's a bit of a grey area but when your shop business license is on the line and you could be shut down for not erring on the side of caution against the Government you have no choice. Especially when lives are at stake, it makes no sense not to.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by tom slick
This is another post (of many) that shows that Chris cares about stranger's cars more than they do.


Even the shop truck where he works gets better care when customers decide to cheap out. The Tacoma has over 400k on it and gets whatever conventional is laying around if I recall correctly.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by Dave9
Why is because it's not only a ripoff, it's also potentially fraudulent to charge for more labor than it takes to do the work. There are ways around that like only billing to the half hour or hour, and then there is the dishonesty of charging more for the part than it can be bought anywhere else.
"Potentially" fraudulent ? It is or it isn't, no in between. As you point out, the shop's policy may be billing is done in 1-hour labor increments. That's their choice. If customers don't like it, they can go elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Dave9
...they aren't the people browsing this forum and reading this topic!
Ding, ding, ding. Good answer.

Originally Posted by Dave9
Why do you want to censor other people?
Not sure you know the definition of "censor" if you jump to that wild conclusion.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by SatinSilver
Originally Posted by Chris142
Originally Posted by SatinSilver
How much did you quote the customer for installing a new one? My old belt had cracks in it. Ordered a Bando off of Rock for $13 or so.

I can't compete with online stuff. My cost for the gates replacement is $21... We told the customer $32.


That's a steal. My lowest quote around here was $90 at a tire shop. Dealer was a little over a hundred. Customers that won't spend $32 on a new belt are ones you don't want.

I've mentioned the time the belt snapped on my wife's 2002 Civic. I had a little bit of time to look up suitable places, and a Goodyear auto service shop was within my 5 mile free AAA tow range. I knew it was the belt, but they wouldn't take the car in unless I signed off on a $60 diagnostic. So surprise, surprise - in the morning I get a call asking if I want a new belt and an estimate of the cost. I said OK to replacing the A/C belt too. I think the accessory belt (Napa/Gates) was maybe $21 and the A/C belt (Bando) $25. Plus $75 for labor where the cost of the diagnostic was applied to the labor. Plus a $25 Visa gift card rebate where I only had to enter stuff online. All in all not unreasonable, and belts aren't something that I'm comfortable doing myself.

I know someone who would probably do the labor for $20. And I guess I could have waited for all the parts to come in from Amazon, but I don't feel ripped off for $130.