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Repair shop advice

3K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  ReiKo 
#1 · (Edited)
Seeing as how this is only the second or third time I have had a car into a shop, I lack experience with them. I do think, however, I know when I am being ripped off. Here is the situation.....

2000 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 auto, 130,xxx miles

Car developed an extremely rough idle and power loss, throws a #5 miss fire code. Seeing as how I am working full time and attending class full time I dont have time to fix it myself, though at this point I probably could have twice over.

Saturday: Call the shop to see when they can get it in, I am told first thing Monday
Monday: Drop it off when they open, told to give them half the day
Tuesday: I call them midday, "we have not looked at it yet"
Wed: I call again, "failed compression test and they need to take off the valve cover to find out more" They will call by end of day
Thurs: I have to call them again...."collapsed lifter, you need a new RA and push rod" said they would inject the lifter to save it...what ever...they say the head is in good shape
Friday:couldnt "save" the lifter, need to pull the head to replace it
Monday: "machine shop" they sent the head to for resurfacing says head is cracked, 500-700 for them to find a replacement
Tuesday: no update, other than they have an engine with 90k miles they can put in instead
Today: my three options are have it towed far far away from them and pay $500 for diagnostics and tear down, pay "at least" $2300 for this new engine, or pay $600 in labor plus however much a new head with be "if/when" they "find one" because "they are getting really rare and hard to find"

What would you do?

Sorry for the long post...a little pissed at the moment.
 
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#4 ·
This!

If you did not then you have a good case for the state if they are taking advantage of you.

The next thing is to find out if they are in fact being straight with you. Go get your head with the cracks, clearly marked, and this bad lifter, which should also be relatively easy to tell if it is bad.
If they are both bad, get it fixed. I would just get a the new cyl head. Looks like the heads run in the $500-650 range.

BTW, they are so hard to find we have 2 sitting in our warehouse system right now! You could have them over night no problem.
 
#14 ·
Ok, sorry...part of why I took it somewhere is due to extreme lack of time between school and work.

Nothing was signed...I filled out a form with my name and address along with a discription of the problem.

Special Ed::: I knew taking it in was going to be costly, no issue there. My issue is it taking a week and a half to get a diagnosis. The one mechanic even admitted they have worked on it for all of 5 hours "in between other jobs." Cost wise it was a "hey, is this price normal? due to my lack of experience.

Right now I am leaning towards just having them put in an engine, seeing as how I dont want to put the money into the head just to have the bottom give me issues in the near future.

Is $2300 for a 4.0 out of a '99 with 60k miles a fair price? Should I ask for some $$$ off for them taking so long resulting in me needing to rent a car for the last week?
 
#17 · (Edited)
Is that expensive to have done in a shop, no. Compared to a do it your self at home mechanic getting deals on parts and not paying labor or shop mark up on parts, yes it is expensive.

Most used 4.0Ls that a shop is gonna buy is coming from a salvage yard that most likely will give from a 30 day-1 yr warranty. Not find a deal on CL or a forum and buying out of somebodies pole barn. These motors are typically $1000 w/around 120k (just searched car-part.com in my area to get average price). Add mark up so the shop can make a buck which is typically x1.5. Then add in labor at $60-80 hr x what looks to be 8-9hrs as well as cost of misc such as plugs, fluids, etc etc...


$2300 is not a "bad" price to have a motor replaced by a shop. Esc. if they aren't adding in their time already spent on it.
 
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