The Repair costs HOW much?

[Bruce Nunnally]

With auto repair chains ever expanding and dealership service becoming more consistent and predictable, you might think that repair costs are becoming much more standardized than they used to be for car repairs done at independent shops, with very little variation, once you average a few shops, across town or from city to city.

But that's not the case. The repair resource AutoMD studied more than 600 repair shops—including dealers, independent shops, and franchises like Pep Boys—in the market areas surrounding the top 50 most populated cities in the U.S., and found a lot of variation.

For consistency, it chose a job that's quite common and due to easy parts availability should be relatively consistent in price: replacing the front brake pads on a Ford Focus.

But initial estimates for the job were wildly inconsistent, ranging $60 to $545 on a national level and with some shops in the same local area costing three or four times that of others. Even more shocking is how few shops stuck to their original price quote. More than half of the shops polled wouldn't stick to the original number.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10057/1038846-185.stm?cmpid=autonews.xml&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=car%2C+truck%2C+automotive#ixzz0ge4bTbCy

[Texas Jim]

I am sorry to say...that both surprises me and yet it don't.

You would think that a simple little job like that would have a lot more consistent pricing structure... but evidently not.

A personal example....

I have had my air filter replaced at the dealer while getting an oil change.

$29.99. (Yes ... I have also did it myself) (it is fairly easy and the filter is only 20 bucks.)

The other day I stopped in a Pep Boys to get a can of WD40...

Just for the heck of it....I asked how much it would cost to have the air filter replaced.

My knee was hurting and I was limping pretty bad.

The guy looked at me... looked at his price book....looked at me....and said....

"Hmmm.... Cadillac DTS....We can do it right now...it will just take a few minutes... It will only be $64.99."

That is well over TWO TIMES what my Cadillac dealer charges. MAN...WHAT A DEAL.

I told him I didn't have time right now to have it done.

I didn't realize I looked SO STUPID.

So many places will rip you off...maybe I should say "MOST" places will rip you off.

Thats my opinion anyway.