My car died a couple times today and so i had it towed to this garage near my house. When i got there i explained what was up and they ran their tests and told me what i already knew - my alternator had to be replaced. So i hung around the shop for awhile (cause the owner asked if i wanted an oil change and i did need one) and finally after an hour the owner really didnt say much to me which is fine- he was busy making phone calls for parts to other cars there - but he never said anything about mine, how much longer it would take, cost, what the plan was,ect. I finally asked if they had an alternator in shop and they didnt so i told him that since he had to order the alternator i was going to leave and come back later. I left my cell number.
So i figured he would call when he tracked down the alternator and give me an estimate (like they do when you leave your car for them to check your brakes or whatever) but no call came. I work nights so thats the main reason i left. I got about four hours of sleep... but they never did call.
So i gave them a call (in total this was about 8 hours after initially getting there, just as a point of reference) and they say %26quot;Yeah, it's ready%26quot;. I go pick it up. It cost 300 for the alternator, 200 for labour, and came out to 550appr. with tax. I saw the owner outside when leaving and chatted him up for a quick second then mentioned how i had figured he would call first before replacing it and that 500 bucks for an alternator was killer. And he was %26quot; Oh well come back inside%26quot; and he grabbed 30 bucks from the register and gave it to me. I was sooo confused at this point.
Was he giving me cash back cause he over charged me? (you will just have to trust me on the fact that he wasnt doing it out of the goodness of his heart.. i can explain why but it would take two more paragraphs - just trust me on this for now. I didnt care about the 30 bucks. Usually that would be what i tip the shop manager and mechanics for a job like this.
I dont want to give the wrong impression here as if the $550 is the problem. I would pay more than that but im just tired of seemingly getting ripped off by this place. Not too long ago i paid over 400 just for the front two brakes at this place (night shift, different shop manager)
I live in Toronto Ontario Canada. My car is a 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe. 85,000 km. Was this a good price? People in the area and a buddy from work all say it depends on alot of things like car and the place you go too and its hard to specifically say how much something like this would cost BUT they all agree it seems like ALOT. Do you all agree or disagree? Im really interested.
The only reason i go to this place is my dad went there 20 years before he passed and i continued going.. but i dont have the same relationship with this guy my dad did and there are other places nearby like midas and soforth. I dont know hardly anything about cars btw. Im not stingy at all in spending money for car stuff but i would hate for these guys to think im a fool and can just take advantage. Any advice and opinions are more than welcomed.Alternator replacement - please read (even though its long)?I have paid $350 here in California for a rebuilt one for a 1993 Toyota Celica. That included labor. Um..I thin they are suppossed to call you before they do work.what happened if you wanted to price shop or you didn't have the money? And did he give you $30 cash back because he had your credit card on file and he just automatically charged it? Yikes. I know your dad had a relationship with this auto place...so maybe you should communicate with these people a lil more or ask people you trust if they have a good reasonable mechanic that they trust.Alternator replacement - please read (even though its long)?Do you have any idea what an original equipment manufactures (OEM) off-shore alternator would cost for your car? How does at least $575.00 American dollars sound plus installation. Welcome to the would of foreign car ownership. I realize you don't have the wide selection of auto parts in Canada as we mouthy people from the USA.
If you can't change your own oil you sure as heck couldn't have changed the alternator even though they're both easy jobs.
Here's a good one for you. I was at Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne last Sunday. I struck up a conversation with a Canadian racer in the pits. I asked what brand of racing oil he was using. As it turned out he was using discount store Castrol motor oil and this was this third engine of the season. He had never heard of Brad Penn Racing Oil which is made in Bradford Pennsylvania. I would guess that 90% of all racing divisions in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey use Brad Penn oil which is rich in the anti-additives zinc and phosporus.
You shouldn't use this in a street car because zinc and phosporus will poision the catalytic converter.Alternator replacement - please read (even though its long)?Part Number: AU75750075R
Manufacturer Number: 575-0075R
Hyundai Alternator zoom
List Price: $202.42
Our Price: $171.54
You Save: $30.88
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AUTO 7 ALTERNATOR, REMANUFACTURED -- 110 amps; A high quality, direct fit OE replacement alternator.
Fit Note: 110A
Condition: RemanufacturedAlternator replacement - please read (even though its long)?What you paid was probably a fair price. The alternator sells for between $160-300 USD depending on supplier. You paid a lot for labor, but I don' know what the rate is. The alternator is held on by two bolts and has one wire and one plug on it. It takes about a minute to get the belt off. So make your own judgement.Alternator replacement - please read (even though its long)?All auto work is expensive. I highly recommend buying the repair manual and perusing through in your free time. You'll come to find out that a lot of problems that would normally cost you an arm and a leg can be done in afternoon and not even half as much. That's how I got started. I started with oil changes, moved on to spark plugs, brakes, alternator repair and now I am tackling my car's emission system. It really gets easier.
And just as motivation for you, I replaced the front brakes on my parents' 2006 Scion xB for $25 and 45 minutes.
Good luck!!
