Flat rate for a Caddy DTS water pump belt tensioner?

[goodfellow]

Does anyone have the flat rate schedule for replacing a 2007 Caddy DTS water pump belt tensioner and belt? A good friend of mine just called me and told me that he paid $675 at a Caddy dealer for a new tensioner and belt. He wanted to know if he overpaid.

I don't rightly know dealer rates -- which are always high to begin with, so I told him I didn't know. I suspect that price is on the high end. That said, on my '11 DTS I replaced the tensioner and the belt in under an hour, and it was my first time doing that job. It's fiddly to get the belt on, but that's just a nuisance thing. Nothing extraordinarily complicated to the entire job.

I can just imagine what they'd charge for the water pump; which is one of the more disastrous jobs on newer year Northstars.

 

[bonneyman]

I just got a quote of $872 to replace the in-tank fuel pump and external gas filter on the Astrovan. Outrageous is what I say!

[Heiny57]

Everything is expensive these days.    I heard
 it’s Trumps fault.   

[bonneyman]

Everything seems to be going to the "coding" method that the medical profession was forced to go to under Obamacare. The HVAC companies are doing it, as are plumbers, and car mechanics, too. And if you don't, you lose money. Sheesh!

Sears did something like that in the 90's when I was working for them. Made them the most expensive repair place around.  Too bad, they were ahead of their time. Today they'd fit right in!

[goodfellow]

I just got a quote of $872 to replace the in-tank fuel pump and external gas filter on the Astrovan. Outrageous is what I say!

Having to drop the tank is a chore, but I'm sure that price is way over the top. Hope you shopped around a bit and got a better price George.

[muddy]

Ray I'm sure they are replacing the water pump. Anybody worth their salt would quote a part that is right next the part your replacing and only accessable when changing said part. I've never worked on a Northstar personally however have heard many horror stories.

I'll post on my one group see if I can get flate rate for this job.

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[goodfellow]

Ray I'm sure they are replacing the water pump. Anybody worth their salt would quote a part that is right next the part your replacing and only accessable when changing said part. I've never worked on a Northstar personally however have heard many horror stories.

I'll post on my one group see if I can get flate rate for this job.

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That’s what I thought, but he quoted me the repair order and it was a tensioner and belt. He also said that the car was finished in under two hours - that’s not near enough for a water pump job on a Northstar

Sad - I think they took him for a ride


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[bonneyman]

I just got a quote of $872 to replace the in-tank fuel pump and external gas filter on the Astrovan. Outrageous is what I say!

Having to drop the tank is a chore, but I'm sure that price is way over the top. Hope you shopped around a bit and got a better price George.

I've been shopping around for a decent shop. This place is about the best I've found, and the Mrs. likes them. Plus they're pretty close to the house, so drop-off and pick-up are convenient. It's just so hard these days, you don't know who you can trust.

[muddy]

Ray I'm sure they are replacing the water pump. Anybody worth their salt would quote a part that is right next the part your replacing and only accessable when changing said part. I've never worked on a Northstar personally however have heard many horror stories.

I'll post on my one group see if I can get flate rate for this job.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

That’s what I thought, but he quoted me the repair order and it was a tensioner and belt. He also said that the car was finished in under two hours - that’s not near enough for a water pump job on a Northstar

Sad - I think they took him for a ride


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Here's the book times :

Water pump 5.5
Accessory belt tensioner 1.4 & Belt .5
Coolant belt tensioner .4 add .2 for A.I.R pump & Belt .4


If they were done in two hours, they either know some real good tricks, or they raked him through the coals!

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[Matt_T]

Here's the book times :

Water pump 5.5
Accessory belt tensioner 1.4 & Belt .5
Coolant belt tensioner .4 add .2 for A.I.R pump & Belt .4


If they were done in two hours, they either know some real good tricks, or they raked him through the coals!

If that time is GM customer pay I'd say they raked him. Wondering if maybe they billed it as accessory belt labor by mistake, because even figuring for $$$ OE parts and a high shop rate it still looks about an hour too high.

[goodfellow]

Thanks Matt and Tim, very much appreciate the info! The sad thing is that my friend is partially disabled and can't check or maintain his own vehicle anymore. He's advanced in age and has to rely on the local dealer to maintain the car. We live at opposite ends of the state and when I visit him we usually take care of some of his car needs. This time I think he got hosed, unless he missed something significant when reading me the repair order over the phone -- which I doubt.

I'll check it out when I visit him over the 4th of July holiday

[slip knot]

unfortunately this seems to be getting more common in the dealerships. I bought my 19 super duty from the local ford dealership, one of those chain types that has 20 or so dealers all over the area. I always have the dealer do my oil changes and such until the warranty is up.

The second oil change got the airfilter sell. it needs a filter. <10K miles and it needs a filter. I had some other issues at work so I didn't pay a lot of attention to the bill but it seemed high. Finally looked it over and they charged me $150 for the oil change. I called and spoke with the service advisor and was told that's what a diesel oil change cost, cept mines a gas engine, whoopsy
3rd oil change I took it in and asked for the tires to be rotated too. Same thing $150 bill. I looked it over before I paid it and they had charged me for another diesel oil change and didn't rotate the tires.

I asked to speak with the service manager and he was very apologetic, gave me several free oil changes. When I mentioned that I was concerned that my warranty was voided because of the diesel oil put in it, he piped up right away and said the bill shows the correct oil was put in?? What, how you know without looking at it unless you do this to everyone.

I filed a complaint with Ford but they never even called me back. And they wonder where the stealership nickname came from.

[muddy]

Dealership's are pricey. I'd rather not say what I just paid to have a new system relay, fuel lines, full service (including new plugs) done on the Harley. :-O

The Harley is the only thing I take to the dealership. And that's because of trust. I know alot of the people that work there, and I know they are not there to rip me off. It also helps that the Harley is old enough it's not over my head. As a mechanic I can tell if something is acting up or not and I do research to learn known problems at certain mileages.

It's the automotive side that I don't trust. Or should I say they don't trust us.

There's no dipstick for the transmission in our minivan. To change fluid you have to hook the computer up and watch temperatures to get the right level.

Just so many damn sensors and modules and computers it gets a bit over my head. Gonna have to pickup a good DIY scanner I guess

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[Matt_T]

There's no dipstick for the transmission in our minivan. To change fluid you have to hook the computer up and watch temperatures to get the right level.

Or measure what you drain out and put the same quantity back in

Just so many damn sensors and modules and computers it gets a bit over my head. Gonna have to pickup a good DIY scanner I guess

Are you not seeing that at work yet? Did a job for a guy about a year ago and he mentioned being pissed that he couldn't buy scan tool software for the the fleet of shiny yellow forklifts he'd just bought. Apparently the OEM had it restricted to dealer only.

[bonneyman]

There's no dipstick for the transmission in our minivan. To change fluid you have to hook the computer up and watch temperatures to get the right level.

Or measure what you drain out and put the same quantity back in

Just so many damn sensors and modules and computers it gets a bit over my head. Gonna have to pickup a good DIY scanner I guess

Are you not seeing that at work yet? Did a job for a guy about a year ago and he mentioned being pissed that he couldn't buy scan tool software for the the fleet of shiny yellow forklifts he'd just bought. Apparently the OEM had it restricted to dealer only.

That's the kind of crap Carrier started pulling in the late 1990's with their HVAC troubleshooting materials and special parts. Chapped my hide really bad.

[Matt_T]

That's the kind of crap Carrier started pulling in the late 1990's with their HVAC troubleshooting materials and special parts. Chapped my hide really bad.

HVAC are the worst anyways with their "you can't buy anything unless you've got a 608" BULLSHIT. The local hvac/electrical supply house changed their tune with me when I mentioned I wasn't a licensed electrician either............

[muddy]

There's no dipstick for the transmission in our minivan. To change fluid you have to hook the computer up and watch temperatures to get the right level.

Or measure what you drain out and put the same quantity back in

Just so many damn sensors and modules and computers it gets a bit over my head. Gonna have to pickup a good DIY scanner I guess

Are you not seeing that at work yet? Did a job for a guy about a year ago and he mentioned being pissed that he couldn't buy scan tool software for the the fleet of shiny yellow forklifts he'd just bought. Apparently the OEM had it restricted to dealer only.

It seems forklifts are bit behind, however the Brand New ones we are getting in do have all the bells and whistles. Just the other day I went to move a new Clark and was looking all around for a park brake lever.....it has an automatic park brake! Just put it in gear let off the brakes and go.


We are a dealer so we have most of the software we need to get into them. However I personally don't do a whole lot of that. I'll do check engine lights and some other settings but for the most part our one shop guy does most of the electrical/electronic type of stuff.

I do know that on Raymond stand-up it reach trucks we need to call the dealership in for those as we can't access their system. Yale/hyster also need specific systems to do more advanced things then checking codes.

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[goodfellow]

That's the kind of crap Carrier started pulling in the late 1990's with their HVAC troubleshooting materials and special parts. Chapped my hide really bad.

HVAC are the worst anyways with their "you can't buy anything unless you've got a 608" BULLSHIT. The local hvac/electrical supply house changed their tune with me when I mentioned I wasn't a licensed electrician either............

I'll agree on the HVAC trade -- they charge a fortune for a few ounces of R22 to fix an older system. Run caps and contactors are usually priced 10-15 times what they cost retail or online.