Crysler 91 Fifth Avenue- Fuel Pump

Hi group.

My grandmother (who is 80) owns a 1991Chrysler Fifth Avenue.
Anyhow, last week her car died, and instead of calling me or my dh, she had it
towed to a local mechanic, who did the work.
He charged her 67.00 to diagnose the problem (and even though he repaired it,
he left it on the bill?)
202.00 for Faulty fuel pump, drain fuel, remove fuel tank, relace fuel pump,
reinstall, replace faulty pump connector, replace fuel filter.
394.58 for a new fuel pump (I know this is outrageous as I have priced them)
28.78 for the fuel filter
67.15 for the pump connecting pigtail
9.16 for 2 sealing connectors
2.65 for 1 qt. oil (!!!)
4.85 for "lifter kleen"

Total of bill with tax: 822.74 !!!!

I feel like she got ripped off. I could be very wrong. However if I am right
does anyone have any suggestions on what to do after the fact?
Again, I didn't know anything about it until it was too late. Thanks for your
opinions!

 

I would say he was on the high side of normal but I wouldn't say he
ripped her off. The pigtail seems a bit overpriced. It isn't any
easy job to replace an in tank electric fuel pump. The mark up on
parts is pretty much standard across the board.

Steve B.

 

thank you Steve. Makes me feel a little better.

 

It's high but just consider this - if the replacement pump fails, the
mechanic is
going to do it over for free since he sold her the pump.

Basically your paying for an insurance policy. You could have speced a
rebuilt fuel pump to the mechanic and while not all would do it, many
would. But then if the rebuilt pump fails you are stuck paying out another
$500 or so for getting the failed rebuild out, and replacing it, in which
case
the only thing the rebuild house is going to hand out is another rebuilt
pump
in which case you may not want (by then) to use a rebuilt pump.

So in this case, if the new pump fails, your not out anything, but you pay
more money initially.

You might also consider that for an 80 year old grandmother to handle
this herself without involving you or your dh she sounds like she is
pretty independent anyway. For her own mental health you would
be a lot better off praising her for handling it rather than making her feel
like she couldn't take care of something this simple.

Ted

 

For free? You know this because you're his boss?

A what?

 

Umm...no, not necessarily. Service work warranty policies vary from shop
to shop and job to job.

The lady didn't go in search of an insurance policy. She went in search of
a repaired car.

A "rebuilt fuel pump". Sure, right. For a 1991 Chrysler. Indeed.

Ted, could you please put a smidgen more effort into your attempts to look
as though you know what you're talking about? Even just a *small* smidgen?

DS

 

I agree that except for the pigtail $$,not really over charged. Have
you tried to do this work at all? You would understand the work
involved.


<<He charged her 67.00 to diagnose the problem (and even though he
repaired it,
he left it on the bill?)>>

It takes TIME to do a diagnosis and he should be paid for it.

 

Richard: Check your attribution. Your argument is not with me.

 

Greetings, Mrs Bing 357.

And what is a dh?

This is absolutely appropriate. You expect him to work for $0.00/hr to
figure out why the car is dead? Or perhaps you'd prefer a clairvoyant
mechanic who knows what's wrong with your car when you're still half a
mile from the shop. Or hey, how 'bout one who just randomly guesses and
throws parts at the problem, all of which you pay for?

No. A diagnostic charge is utterly appropriate.

Don't know where grandma's located. Let's assume a $75/hr shop labor rate,
which is about the middle of the scale these days. That's 2.6 hours. Maybe
a *tetch* poky, but not horrendously out of line. Especially if it's not a
California/Florida/other-nice-climate car. Elsewhere in the world,
undercar fasteners are gunked up with undercoating and/or rust and have to
be hacked at and fought with.

Well, it is full retail for a first-quality pump. It would only be
outrageous if the actual pump installed were not a first-quality item. Can
you find a pump cheaper? Surely. Is it worth having to do the job again
because you used a halfassedly-built part? No. Can you find the first-line
pump cheaper? Sure. Can you install it yourself?

Not out of line.

This is an expensive part.

Not out of line.

Retail customers pay retail prices.

I would squawk about this. I don't want anyone adding anything called
"lifter kleen" to my car's crankcase!

DS

 

Oh yes, I can see this now. 80 year old Grandma takes her car in for a new
fuel pump, a week later the car dies. The shop then attempts to charge
her another $822.74 for another fuel pump. The papers would have a field
day with that one. The negative publicity for the shop would be far more
damage than the $822.

And even better is if she's paid for this with a credit card. Wanna guess
what the
card company is going to do when she calls them? Ever heard of consumer
protection laws?

Ted

 

That may be but if an 80 year old Grandma comes into your shop a week later
and the brand new fuel pump you put into her car has died, I think you would
be
very foolish to attempt to charge her another $800.

I also believe most states (if not all) define any product as having an
implied
warranty of at least 30 days. So even if you can get away with legally
charging
her for more labor (politically stupid as it would be) you would have the
right to return the fuel pump to your supplier for a replacement. And even
if they didn't warranty it, and pulled the old line that you improperly
installed
the pump (this is usually the basis that people use for denying warranty on
electrical parts) if your buying $10K worth of parts from them every month
for your garage, they would be really stupid to argue over it with you.

How do you define a repaired car? Most people would define it as a
car that has a repair done to it that will last 30 days at least. A
warranty
IS an insurance policy.

Ted

 

I would think that it depends on the circumstances of why the
pump fails. Could be a failed ASD relay. Could be a blown
fusible link. Could be it's out of gas. Could be a defective
pump. Could be she backed over something and caved the fuel tank
in.
If the mechanic screwed up the install, then he gets to eat the
labor and parts, if it's from another cause, she gets to pay
diagnostic and repair, if it's a defective pump, it would depend
on the shops warranty policy. No shop is obligated to warranty
any part -for- their supplier. Many shops have a disclaimer that
states; "all parts warranties are by and thru the manufacturer."

Yeah, BIG headlines. "Fuel pump burns out."

Sure Ted. The human attention span rivals that of a goldfish.
i.e., Marion Barry as mayor of Washington D.C.

I don't need to guess. The procedure is pretty well established.
They ask -her- questions, they ask -the shop- questions.
What they won't do is go around giving shit away for free just
because she's a little old lady. If they refuse to credit the
shops account for services rendered, they had better have a
pretty good reason (another thing which wasn't specified in your
original premise).

I have, you on the other hand have apperently subscribed to a
bunch of myths.

 

No, Ted, that simply *is*.

Not on this planet.

DS

 

Sorry Daniel, I hit the wrong REPLY button. You and I usually agree
pretty much on here. I ALWAYS enjoy reading your replies, especially
because you pull no punches and call it like you see it.

 

Actually, your right. The states don't the Federal government does. It's
called
an implied warranty. A fuel pump that was properly constructed would be
expected to last more than a week if there were no extenuating
circumstances,
that is implied when it's sold. And it is true the time period isn't 30
days, it's
longer, depending on circumstances.

And as for auto service work, while I don't have the energy to dig up
all the state laws for all the states, a quick search shows that in Ontario
Canada
that by law a shop must warranty repair work, for cars, the warranty must
be for
at least 90 days or 5,000 km, whichever comes first. This must cover all
parts
and labor. So at least yes, on this planet. Undoubtedly there are states
with
similar laws. Perhaps Michigan residents should consider getting their
sleds
fixed across the border. ;-)

Ted