Am I getting ripped off by dealer?

[Marshall E Fleury]

My car is currently at the dealers. I’m told $1300 for front right wheel bearing, alignment, and to replace some rear suspension bushings. To me, the sound appears to be coming in the center of the vehicle and not one particular side. When my car was on a lift at a friends I felt no play/wobble in the front tires from up to down. The sound is constant and gets louder 40mph +. The sound does not get better when turning car from left to right. I told the dealer that I am concerned it might be coming from the transfer case aka ptu . I received the whole run down that their mechanic has 30 years experience and knows what he’s doing. They even put their manager on the phone to Tell me it’s the wheel bearing. I sure hope their right. Anyways $1300 hundred dollars for a front wheel bearing and rear bushings??? Seems extremely high. Am I getting taken advantage of

There is a recall on the back bushings

 

[rmoore209]

My car is currently at the dealers. I’m told $1300 for front right wheel bearing, alignment, and to replace some rear suspension bushings. To me, the sound appears to be coming in the center of the vehicle and not one particular side. When my car was on a lift at a friends I felt no play/wobble in the front tires from up to down. The sound is constant and gets louder 40mph +. The sound does not get better when turning car from left to right. I told the dealer that I am concerned it might be coming from the transfer case aka ptu . I received the whole run down that their mechanic has 30 years experience and knows what he’s doing. They even put their manager on the phone to Tell me it’s the wheel bearing. I sure hope their right. Anyways $1300 hundred dollars for a front wheel bearing and rear bushings??? Seems extremely high. Am I getting taken advantage of

Well the rate at most dealers is well over $100 an hour. The front wheel bearing if 4x4 may be pressed in.can you give more vehicle specifications

 

[1Neptune]

I so agree with jmrdv. He is right on point. Dealer labor rates in Chicago is 200.00 /hr and up. Wish I did see 100.00/hr. and yes the dealer parts prices have a huge mark up. You will pay dearly at a dealership and not always get what you pay for.

 

[Terry Long Sr.]

Yes
Its a dealer
They (dealers) are really really high priced for repairs...like over $100 an hour + $100 just to drive it into their shop

OEM wheel bearing for your truck is $137 on rock auto takes about 30-45 minutes to change out

What rear bushings are they talking about??

Just because they are a dealer and somebody there has over 30 years experience does not mean they always get it right

ALWAYS ASK FOR THE OLD PARTS BACK< SHOW ME THE BAD PARTS, this helps you make sure you know what you are paying for

I agree with everything you said accept for the "Old Parts Back" part, they can get parts from their disposal ben and hand them to you and you probably won't know the difference and not even do the job they said they were doing ( Some places do that to those who don't know better or that trust them ). It sad that this happens but it does!

 

[J_C]

You are being taken advantage of, but it is "probably" just the same inflated escalation of rates that dealer shops have been perpetuating for a long time.

1) Charge more than full retail for the parts. 2 bushings $106? These are $7 to $20 parts depending on which 2.

2) Hub, SKF or Timken are about $120 or less.

3) Labor. $100/hr is not unusual, but they have padded hourly rates per job. I guarantee it will not take them 4 hours let alone 8 hours to do this work. They'd probably fire any mechanic that works so slow as to take 4 hours for this unless it was his/her very first time doing it. Likewise it could take you or I, 4 hours the first time, then probably 2 hours the next, given air or cordless tools, a lift, and a known sequence to follow.

NOW about that alignment charge... replacing the front hub, does not require an alignment. Replacing the rear bushings probably does, BUT they are required to do the rear alignment anyway when they replace the rear link under recall so they are double billing for something they have to do anyway!!

 

[J_C]

I agree with everything you said accept for the "Old Parts Back" part, they can get parts from their disposal ben and hand them to you and you probably won't know the difference and not even do the job they said they were doing ( Some places do that to those who don't know better or that trust them ). It sad that this happens but it does!

Absolutely always ask for the old parts back. No, they cannot maintain a parts bin full of hundreds to thousands of used parts for each of thousands of vehicles so they have somebody else's used part to give you as a trick. In rare circumstances that is "possible" but bordering on paranoia more than likelihood the majority of the time.

You should ALWAYS ask for the old parts back. Even if it is someone else's part, what have you lost by doing so? Absolutely nothing, and in some cases, that may even make them reevaluate their diagnosis because they didn't want to replace the part that they knowingly misreported as bad, just to tell you that they did and bill for it.

In this day and age it is not that hard to figure out if a part they give you back, matches pretty close if not exact to what it's supposed to look like, but if you're that suspicious of a shop, don't take the vehicle there in the first place, or if it's driveable, tell them you need to wait to do the repair to accumulate money, then mark the parts with a chisel, stamp, or marker, etc so you'll see if what they give you is what was on the vehicle.

Lastly, we don't even know if there's anything wrong with the rear bushings. If they are taking perfectly good bushings off one person's vehicle and handing them to the next person as "old parts back", that's evidence they've screwed two different people rather than only one. Any evidence at all is better than ignorant trust of someone willing to charge you $800 labor for what will probably take them 2 hours to do.

 

[Jim's Garage]

My car is currently at the dealers. I’m told $1300 for front right wheel bearing, alignment, and to replace some rear suspension bushings. To me, the sound appears to be coming in the center of the vehicle and not one particular side. When my car was on a lift at a friends I felt no play/wobble in the front tires from up to down. The sound is constant and gets louder 40mph +. The sound does not get better when turning car from left to right. I told the dealer that I am concerned it might be coming from the transfer case aka ptu . I received the whole run down that their mechanic has 30 years experience and knows what he’s doing. They even put their manager on the phone to Tell me it’s the wheel bearing. I sure hope their right. Anyways $1300 hundred dollars for a front wheel bearing and rear bushings??? Seems extremely high. Am I getting taken advantage of

How many miles, 2014 and needing a wheel bearing? I replaced a rear bearing assy on a 2006 Explorer 140K with one from Rock Auto fairly easy, dealers cost for parts is a rip off. Rear bushings? mechanics look for any little thing they can suggest to be replaced if they are on commission. Stay away from dealers.

 

[peterk9]

I lease my vehicles and have had the dealer do all the servicing for the past 21 years. No issues at all with the work or costs. Dealers have expenses as well and like any other business, they can't sell everything at wholesale prices. I agree that some parts can be had at a lesser cost elsewhere and in some cases dealers may price match. Mine has also offered discounts on some items. I have an excellent dealer and intend to stay with them in the foreseeable future.

Peter

 

[Red423]

Since you are in Livonia, I'll chime in. Yes you are being ripped off. Ask around the forum for a Ford shop not a dealer near to you. In Mi. there are thousands. Just because it is a Ford dealer doesn't mean anything any more. I have a 2016 and dealer ins. for the repairs. 100.00 CO PAY upon approval, when the a/c hose went out they were going to use an aftermarket part, this is the dealer not some "local shop" I went ballistic. The dealer also had to supply me the plastic keys needed in the FOB as they got lost by the dealer, I now have two metal brass replacements. They may have the ability to get OEM parts but they are just a repair center like any other ASE certified business. Get a second opinion before you spend 1300, if it is a front end issue there are tons of front end shops who specialize on that alone, and if it is a bushing issue it will show on a 4 way wheel alignment. good luck. To the poster from Canada above, AYE, the laws governing dealers in Canada are not the same standards her in the states, in Canada the dealer service centers are tightly controlled by national laws so the public isn't taken for a ride.......yours oh and yes I can prove out my statements.

 

[TOWN MECHANIC]

I always use lemon parts but do the work myself. As far as the old parts it’s mostly a waste of time unless it’s done in house and you do failure analysis yourself.thats why they call it a stealership

 

[TOWN MECHANIC]

Was supposed to say oem parts

 

[5OHHH]

What year explorer do you have? As a 20+ trans man and former dealer mechanic I have seen a few transfer case fail and none because of a bad bushing. However wheel bearings will fail and depending on the year some have be pressed while others ride on the bearing race on the rotor. Also the dealer and any other shop will try to upsell anything thst they see or know is prone to fail. A Ford dealer mechanic specializes in their specific area. In this case its the brake and front end department. This mechanic has worked on more Ford Explorers than he can count. Im not saying he is infallible however a dealersip will not keep a crappy mechanic employed. Just my 2C

 

[peterk9]

What year explorer do you have? As a 20+ trans man and former dealer mechanic I have seen a few transfer case fail and none because of a bad bushing. However wheel bearings will fail and depending on the year some have be pressed while others ride on the bearing race on the rotor. Also the dealer and any other shop will try to upsell anything thst they see or know is prone to fail. A Ford dealer mechanic specializes in their specific area. In this case its the brake and front end department. This mechanic has worked on more Ford Explorers than he can count. Im not saying he is infallible however a dealersip will not keep a crappy mechanic employed. Just my 2C

I'm not sure who your post is directed at but am going to guess it's Sparty9955 who began the thread. The profile in the margin shows he has a 2014 XLT.

Peter

 

[1sicbronconut]

Thanks for mentioning this.... they are replacing the toe link. Other than that I’m going to fix The rest myself. I’ll be paying the dealership $120 for the diagnostic fee. I just ordered the exact same wheel bearing Hub off rockauto For $140.

Good luck with the rear hub/bearing I've been a Ford tech for 32 plus years and that hub/bearing it's a bear of a job even more so since you live in a heavy rust area.

 

[Blackhawkxx]

Quote

I wonder what the $49.95 shop supplies are?

 

[de]

Well, if you don't have a relationship with a small shop, then you're at the mercy of your dealer. The smaller shop may charge just a tad less on parts mark up and labor cost. Since it's at the dealer now, you don't have the option of getting a second or third opinion from a private shop. Sound does travel though and may be hard to pinpoint. I have a '96 Explorer. It started getting the notorious whine at the air filter or so it seemed. Upon testing, sure enough, like everyone says, the culprit was the IACV. The sound from there resonates and makes it sound like it's coming from the air filter. It's like a trumpet player. The sound is really coming from the trumpeter's lips but it's getting resonated out the horn end. But that's not to say you're being incorrect. Just may be hard to tell where that sound is coming from. However, if it's an endemic problem with your generation of Explorer, it might be a no brainer.

There is a recall on the back bushings

 

[sandsprayer]

Absolutely always ask for the old parts back. No, they cannot maintain a parts bin full of hundreds to thousands of used parts for each of thousands of vehicles so they have somebody else's used part to give you as a trick. In rare circumstances that is "possible" but bordering on paranoia more than likelihood the majority of the time.

You should ALWAYS ask for the old parts back. Even if it is someone else's part, what have you lost by doing so? Absolutely nothing, and in some cases, that may even make them reevaluate their diagnosis because they didn't want to replace the part that they knowingly misreported as bad, just to tell you that they did and bill for it.

In this day and age it is not that hard to figure out if a part they give you back, matches pretty close if not exact to what it's supposed to look like, but if you're that suspicious of a shop, don't take the vehicle there in the first place, or if it's driveable, tell them you need to wait to do the repair to accumulate money, then mark the parts with a chisel, stamp, or marker, etc so you'll see if what they give you is what was on the vehicle.

Lastly, we don't even know if there's anything wrong with the rear bushings. If they are taking perfectly good bushings off one person's vehicle and handing them to the next person as "old parts back", that's evidence they've screwed two different people rather than only one. Any evidence at all is better than ignorant trust of someone willing to charge you $800 labor for what will probably take them 2 hours to do.

Absolutely agree w/ J_C.
If the vehicle is driveable, take it home, make an appointment, and then a non obvious punch or chisel mark.
I have a friend with more $ than patience, who years ago had a sweet small block Corvette , and blew the head gasket, so drove it straight to the closest shop.
When he got it back, it took me about 5 seconds to see there were 434 heads where the 292s had been!
Try revving those over 5500!
Yeah, he gets reminded of that regularly.......
Oh and 6 of us went on down to that shop, needless to say, he was able to get the heads back in a few hours, they didn't even ask for the "new" ones back -- some sort of administrative error.

 

[bj6395]

I had my driver side rear bearing replaced on my 16 Limited last year. It was clear that the noise was from that corner of the vehicle. That bearing had absolutely no free play when it gone bad except the noise, but I had wheel bearings replaced on other vehicles so I knew it for sure.

I bought genuine Ford bearing from Amazon for $108 when it was on sale. I remember last time I checked front and rear bearing hub is the same one for AWD explorer.

Anyhow I was trying to replace the bearing myself first but the aluminum knuckle was corroded so much that I couldn't break the bearing free. Eventually I I had to take the vehicle to a local mechanic shop and that guy finally broke it loose after pounding on it for 1.5 hours. My aluminum knuckle was almost destroyed in the process but I don't blame the technician because I saw how difficult it was.

At the end total cost was about $400 CAD to get it replaced. But it was a horrified experience to see my car took that much beating. I just hope never experience that again.

As for your case, I suggest pay the diagnose fee, buy a genuine part from Amazon and find a low cost shop. This kind of pure mechanical work can be done anywhere.

 

[Sparty9955]

Update....the front wheel bearings are a bit** . Started this morning and just finished. It didn’t take long to get everything off and down to the hub. Took the bolts off for the hub and the axle nut. Then it got real. I pounded and pounded and pounded. I tried some tricks I seen online with using bolts and nuts. Then pounded and pounded. Used a whole can of pb blaster and pounded some more. Got the torch out and pounded with the half sledgehammer again. I tried cutting the hub off but it only dulled my blades. Tried using a slide hammer to no avail. The neighbor came down and helped with the hammer. After a million tries......FINALLY, the wheel hub came off. What a bit** it was. $100 diagnosis fee from dealer. $140 motorcraft wheel bearing from rock auto. Total $240. Sure beats paying $1300 at the dealer!! And YES, the noise is gone. Thank you everyone

 

[410Fortune]

well done!