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Hi:
thanks in advance for any advice / reaction to this post. I'm in Wash DC / Northern VA area.
My 2004 9-5 wagon has about 63K on it and I realized that I had never done the 60K service on it (have been doing annual oil changes). Saab dealer quoted me around $600-700 for the service. However, it is not really convenient to me so I went with a local indie who services euro (and other) cars. Asked them to do the 60K service, incl. oil change (which they had done for me before) and to fix front headlight that had been out for some time.
They called back to say that I also needed my front brake pads, disc replaced as they were very worn (down to 10%). I hadn't noticed any issues w/ the brakes but obviously said yes as brakes are kind of important and you don't want to have any problems! They also wanted to replace the hood struts so the hood would stay up and not fall on someone's head - I agreed since I didn't want to have any liability issues there.
I thought he gave me a quote of around $1,300 for all of this - 60K service (incl. oil change), new front bakes, hood struts, and replacing the headlight (3 lights were out). I though that sounded ok but when I went the next day to pick up the total bill was $2,100! I was told that the quote they gave me was $1900 (not $1300 as I'm sure I heard them say) and the guy who called me said he was certain he told me $1900. So here's the breakdown (prices are parts/labor):
headlight fix - $32
"performance" oil change - $164 - this sounds extremely high to me and i plan to go back to them about it
power flush cooling system - $159
flush power steering system - $183
fuel induction service - $200
replace air filter, fuel filter, cabin air filter - $301
brake pads, mic rotors replace - $517
replace engine spark plugs - $178
replace hood struts - $92
replace battery (under warranty) - $40 - this they didn't tell me about until I picked up - something about how it wasn't holding a charge when they had to do certain tests; it wasn't that much so i said ok
add another $100 for taxes / enviro fees and I did get my car filled up (around $70) and there's the total.
so two questions:
1) did I really need all of that done for the 60K service (excl. the headlight, the brakes, battery, and the strut fix)? I tried to look at the warranty/service manual and could see some of it listed but not all. One thing I saw in the manual for 60K was to change the drive belt but the shop's analysis was that it was ok and so it was not changed.
2) are these prices in line with what you'd expect to see at an indie shop in an urban area - I wasn't expecting any discounts or super low prices (ie not that much lower than Saab dealer) but I feel like it was way more than I expected.
I love my car and plan to hold onto for as long as I can so if this is what it takes then I'll make my peace with it. I don't think I'll plan to go back there if I can help it but if I was seriously ripped off I'd like to know so I can give them that feedback....
thanks in advance,
sharon
posted by 96.241.25...
, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:49:57
, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:34:14, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:41:43
, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:02:52, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:47:24
, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:25:38, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:17:33, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:28:54, Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:37:01
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