Was my mechanics charges fair?

[Pastelweis]

Hi!

I just had my recently purchased all original 1979 Mexico Beige Westfalia overseen by an experienced air cooled Volkswagen mechanic here in Los Angeles. Curious as to what the opinions are here on the Samba regarding what I was charged.

Work performed:

• General tune up excluding oil change as we agreed it looked as there was no need. Wish I knew exactly what this included but assuming that means timing adjustment and replacing the air intake and oil filter. Talked about changing the gasoline filter but not sure if he did

• New air filter

• Transmission oil change

• Replaced front brakes

• Tightening of fan belt

• New CV joint on both sides

Total charges for parts and labor 890 USD incl tax.

Fair or unfair? Elaborated opinions appreciated. Thanks!

[Jim Hunter]

Seems too high for me , but I need more details on some things :

• Replaced front brakes

This may vary from brake pads change to new rotors, rebuilt or new brake calipers , brake hoses , bearings etc.

• New CV joint on both sides

Also here : how many CV joints are replaced 2 or 4 ?

[Bala]

Two things that stand out to me are...
-A "tune up" should always include an oil change in my opinion. If he didn't change the oil I'm guessing he didn't change the filter.
-If he didn't change or even asses the fuel/vapor lines that would make me nervous.

For what he did, the price is not outrageous unless compared to what you could have saved doing it yourself.
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1976 Westy

1966 Beetle

[borninabus]

agreeing with the previous poster in that front brake replacement & new CV is a little vauge.
assuming new rotors, bearings, pads, calipers & complete axle service; it sounds about right.

keeping in mind that the bunch of gringos here are probably not the best judges of the sweedish labor exchange rate

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88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport

[SGKent]

not meaning disrespect, the question is a bit arrogant. If you had doubts about him you either should not have used him, or you should have spoken with him about what he charges before the work. We also have no clue what quality parts were put in, and you probably don't either. You can save labor cost next time by getting your own hands greasy.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[TomWesty]

[bwaz]

you didn't say if there was a charge known at the start to do an "inspection" of what kind of work was needed to be done. Many shops have standard pre-purchase inspection... here it's @ $150? If you knew what work you wanted done before you started, you should have asked for a ballpark price... then, no surprises. No paperwork to show what was done to know if the fuel filter was done... often there's parts prices shown on an invoice to know if you got new rotors and calipers too.

[Brian]

From a DIY perspective, yea that's ludicrous. But if I was not a DIY, that is still high.
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Wash your hands

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[Wildthings]

New CV joints alone could be $300 in parts and who knows as far as the brake work, brake parts could be anywhere from $50 to several hundreds of dollars.

Also for what it is worth, you can't look at oil and have any real idea of its condition. Dark looking oil can lube just fine while clean looking oil can be shot.

[timvw7476]

Seems fair to me.
But '79, and any hydraulic VW engine,
loves to get new oil.
It's like a tune-up for the lifters.
So that choice is odd.

[lil-jinx]

Sort of like saying I went out for dinner and paid $30 for a meal,did I pay too much.

[cliveawn]

If you elaborate i bit more about what was exactly was changed im sure I could tell you if it was a fair price.
Im in Sweden.....
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Green 78 Westfalia Helsinki,

2056 with 41 x 34 valves,ported heads
Fully balanced
8,5:1CR
JPM Custom made cam
JPM 7075 dual taper pushrods
IDF 40's with 28mm venturi's
Python CSP 42mm exhaust.
115 HP

Daily driver 2017 Volvo V60 D5 hybrid
Rica stage 2 tune 345hp.

''Funny thing about common sense is that its not very common''

Seismic gun mechanic

[Abscate]

Location marker Stockholm, but OP posts "here in Los Angeles"

Nomad requires clarification before he sterilizes....

FWIW I see 4 hours labor easily, so 400 in parts for CV, brakes, tuneup easily makes 1000 USD reasonable.
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.ssS!

[Vince Waldon]

[VWsArent4Hippies]

What's the shop rate? What's the break down of parts vs labor? Exactly what parts were replaced?

This is a very vague post and nobody that has voted in your poll or commented either way in this thread can honestly make a judgment.

[aeromech]

Here's what I would have charged you.

Air filter $15 plus .2 labor
Tranny oil $20 plus .5 labor
Front pads $30 plus 1.0 labor
Fan Belt .1 labor
CV's (one per side) $100 plus 2.0 labor

This comes to $165 for parts
and 3.8 labor

Now most shops are going to mark up the parts a bit higher but I'd say somewhere around $600 would have been a good deal. Pretty sure though I left out a few tune up parts he probably used.
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[bwaz]

[SGKent]

$325 for lobro CV kits.
$35 turn front rotors
$40 front pads
$15 air filter
$20 trans oil
_________
$435 parts
$ 30 tax
$ 15 misc fees
________
$480 parts total

Labor at $100 - $150 per hour shop rate. 4 hours x $100 = $400

$400 labor
$480 parts
_______
$880 total
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[air-h2o-air]

tax
shop supplies
hazardous waste charges
and any other charges associated with doing business in California

all need to be added as well

[skills@eurocarsplus]

I feel he undercharged you by 200....

without seeing the actual slip, I dunno what was done...

you have to remember, for a guy to even put the key in the door of a business, not some side gig in his driveway, he needs to make X amount an hour.

from a business standpoint, he (in my opinion) undercharged you. just digging the shit out of the CV bolts is a daunting task alone.

now he has to mark up the parts. why? every minute on the phone calling you, calling for parts etc has to come from somewhere.

this is the problem with "hobby" cars...everyone jumps on some forum to have 1/2 of it's cheap ass members say "yo, you got ripped off" or you could have done it cheaper yourself....well, if you could do it yourself I am sure you would have.

from your description, what you had done is a "no money job" in my book. it's not like it's a 2012 GTI and it will come apart easily, you can get genuine parts that fit, you don't have to modify any parts to make them work...

I have 2 more buses to do. then I'm done doing work for the aircooled crowd. they will piss and moan about every inch of the project, but will pay 5k for a new transmission for their surburban without batting an eye

sorry for the rant! but from a mechanics standpoint, there is a lot that the customer never ever takes into consideration...like the 100K in tools the guy has. for example, if he has been at it 18 years, and has 100k in tools, that is 5,555.00 per year he has "paid" to do your job

ask yourself this...(and you can't count college/education cost) what job on this planet requires an employee to spend 5k a year just to punch in so he/she can work? breathe in brake clean vapors, be around brake dust, oil and beat the living shit out of his body for under (well under) 100k a year.
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