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More specifically, Dick Vs The Canadian Tire Service Dept.
At this point you need to understand that although I'm mechanically inclined, I'm by no means a mechanic.
Not long ago, my wife's car started acting up. It'd sometimes stall out while she was waiting at traffic lights or sometimes not start at all. She'd wait for a minute, restart it and away she'd go. There was always power when the engine stalled which points the finger at the fuel system. In troubleshooting the problem I started by changing the fuel filter. The car worked great, for about a week, and then started crapping out again. A quick consult with the repair manual showed that any number of things could be going wrong and instead of chasing all of them we figured we should take the car in for a diagnostic in order to narrow things down. I would have done the diagnostic myself but I don't have one of the doodads that lets the car talk to the laptop. - Enter the Canadian Tire Service Department.
Getting the car booked wasn't a problem. It went in to the shop a couple of weeks back. I thought it was a little arrogant when the service guy told me that having the car at the shop was like being in the doctors office; "You've got an appointment but there's really no way to know when the mechanic will look at it" (paraphrased). Whatever. Just please do the diagnostic and call me when it's done...
Later that evening they call to let us know that the diagnostic is complete and that it's going to be expensive. Expensive? The diagnostic was only supposed to be about a hundred bucks! Right, well off we go to see what those folks have to say...
We get to the shop, find the service guy and ask about our car. He starts to run through an estimate list; signal light burnt out, back-up light burnt out, weak battery.. "Hold on a sec, didn't I bring this thing in for an engine diagnostic?" I asked. "Yup" he replies. So then I asked him for a print-out. He said there was no print-out. WTF? No print-out? "Doesn't a diagnostic usually include a print-out?" I asked. He replied with "No, our equipment doesn't do that." Alright, whatever. So then I asked what came up for fault codes when they attached their equipment to the car's computer. He said that nothing came up. WTF? Stalling and not starting and then nothing shows up on the computer? That's doesn't sound right does it? Corinne could see that I was getting steamed and took over at this point. We listened to the service guy rattle off a list of 12 items and only one sounded like it could be related to our current situation. The fuel pump.
We took the estimate, payed for the diagnostic (that I'm not sure was a diagnostic), and left. A little later on I read through the estimate again, paying particular attention to the mechanic's notes. (see below - click for larger images)
What caught my attention were the time estimates beside the items that they said need to be fixed. Here are the highlights:
serpentine belt = .7 hours (42 min)
42 minutes? I've replaced those before. It's a 15 minute freakin' job!
change 4 light bulbs = 1 hour (60 min)
I haven't changed any bulbs in that car yet but an hour for 4 seemed like a bit of a stretch.
tune-up = .8 hours ( 48 min)
Depending on what they include, this one could actually be accurate.
change plug wires = .7 hours (42 min)
WTF??? The wires are right on top with nothing in the way. How the hell does changing them take 3/4 of an hour?
replace battery = .3 hours (18 min)
I've replaced batteries before. It's a 5 minute job!
replace valve cover gasket = 1.3 hours (78 minutes)
I've done valve cover gaskets before and 78 minutes seems excessive. Haven't done it in this car yet so I'm not sure.
replace fuel pump = 2.3 hours (138 minutes)
don't know... maybe...
replace fuel filter = .6 hours ( 36 minutes)
I just changed the fuel filter!!! It's a 10 minute job once the car's in the air.
Again, you need to understand that I'm not a mechanic. I'm a safety guy.
I did decide to play "weekend mechanic" though, off and on since we had the "diagnostic" performed. I changed out the fuel pump, valve cover gasket, battery and light bulbs. Here's how I did compared to the Canadian Tire mechanic:
replace battery = 5 minutes. Time below mechanic's estimate = 13 minutes
replace valve cover gasket = 50 minutes. Time below mechanic's estimate = 28 minutes
replace fuel pump = 120 minutes. Time below mechanic's estimate = 18 minutes
replace burned-out bulbs = 25 minutes. Time below mechanic's estimate = 35 minutes
Total time below mechanic's estimate = 94 minutes.
LOL!!! Imagine that! A non-mechanic did 4 of the jobs on the mechanic's list an hour and a half quicker than the mechanic would have done them. Oh, wait, I almost forgot... The mechanic had an extra 36 minutes included to change the fuel filter but the fuel filter had to be disconnected anyway in order to drop the fuel tank so that the fuel pump could be changed. They were going to charge me a half hour to undo some connections that needed to be undone anyway! Add that to the mix and it's a full 2 hours of padding.
At a shop rate of $115.00/hour, that works out to an extra $230.00. At best that's an over estimate of $230.00 and it's probably even more than that because we have to assume that a mechanic would actually be faster than a safety guy!
By doing the work myself I saved a total of ~$630.00.
Do yourself a favor, if you take your vehicle to the Service Department at the Canadian Tire at 64th and Deerfoot in Calgary, check your estimate. I'm not saying that they're going to try to screw you like they obviously tried to screw me but, if you see something that looks out of wack, get a second opinion.
Oh, and don't take their parts prices as gospel either. Shop around if you can. Canadian Tire wanted to charge me $561.35 for a new fuel pump but I found one for$487.90 at the Auto Value Parts Store. I saved $73.00 in the time it took to make 3 phone calls.
I'll be doing the plugs and plug wires this weekend. Can't guarantee that I'll be faster than the mechanic but the odds are looking really good! Will update accordingly...
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