I just read in the roofing thread about people who say that the average person shouldn't attempt certain things at home....such as roofing or installing electronics in your vehicle.

Yesterday, I troubleshot a cel in my '06 Sierra to a bad evap solenoid vent valve.  I also found a tsb out about it, and there is a new replacement valve that has a remote intake filter to be installed above the tranny.  The original set up is stupid as it's a dust and dirt magnet.

After calling around, I found out the part was cheapest at a dealer, so I went to the closest Chevy dealer.  The parts guy just about fell over himself telling me how this is a complicated procedure best left to GM techs.....to the tune of $700-$1200 depending on any "complications".

 Cost me $120 for the valve, $25 for heater hose and clamps, and took me a little more than an hour to install it....most of that time was spent r&ring the bed (easier to remove the bed than drop gas tank).

Anyone else have any interesting "best left to professionals" stories?

I had acquired enough tools to do just about anything now. I need a few dial indicators yet though. 

I refuse to pay someone to do work I can do unless I don't have the time.

I still know a guy that will do my trans rebuilds (727) for $500 if I drop it off.  But that will end soon too as I am going to "learn myself" the tricks to the 727's 

I really haven't heard "you need a "pro" to install this for you in years. But I go to the same places for stuff all the time so they know me. 

With the exception of welding the brackets on to my rear axle and putting the disc brake hardware on them, I have BUILT my truck! A shop charged me $400 and I'm not great at welding at all (hopefully, once i get this garage built, that will change). I swapped the front axle to a non cad unit, lifted it 4" with new springs on the front, flipped the shackle and added a leaf to the rear, Installed 4:56's in place of the 4:10's along with new diffs,  researched hydraulics and added my winch (with my neighbors help, we fabbed a front bumper for it). Pulled my transmission and case, replaced the old 360 with a TBI version (tank, lines, wiring) and reinstalled with a new clutch, rewired my whole truck (approx 20 hours with a multimeter)   installed new seats and gauge panel. I have almost every tool needed to work on this rig. If i find i need a special tool to do something, I buy it Now, tell me again. What is a mechanic? This truck has been a great teacher and this website is a very useful tool!

That's how I did the one on my old Dakota. 

OK I used an engine hoist to lift the bed then blocked it with wood. 

you guys are completely right, especially about dealerships. i myself am a mechanic and generally 99% of the time work on my own stuff unless its something that i just absolutely have no clue on or the other guys in the shop dont know about (like when my 6.5 diesel took a dump.) but i work for a bmw dealership so to be blunt the clientel we deal with usually are the suck a## doctors and lawyer types. but a perfect example of how much customers can be overcharged- yesterday i had a 2005 328xi come in for a oil burning smell. simple enought the valve cover gasket was leaking which is typical. the ticket was customer pay as they were out of warranty. the customer was charged 7 hours for labor going by bmw labor times. it took me all of an hour to get the cover off and clean it, then another hour and a half to go back on, clean it up and test drive. granted ive done several valve cover gaskets mostly because we have been having a huge lifter recall lately so its pretty gravy. but our labor rate is $88 an hour. 88x7= $616 plus the gasket cost. i never paid attention to the labor time and when i realized how high it was i said something to my service writer. their answer was "thats what bmw says it takes so thats what we charge. kinda made me feel bad about my job knowing i was raking someone over the coals that much. but other than diagnosing bad modules, electrical bugs, or software programming issues, most repairs even on a new bmw could be done by the average person

One of these days I need to do a write up on the diagnostic software I bought.  It's already paid for itself.  I got it from Palmer Performance.




A brake job was what got me into working on my vehicles in the first place....that was about 10 years ago.  Before that, changing the oil and a flat was the limit of my knowledge.

He can't do that here Rory has the you-boob rights. 


WOW! I guess I need to charge more for my shop rate here, it's $18hr.

I worked at a Cheby dealer in 81-82 and made $3.75hr...... 

And at your age, probably thought you had the world by the tail. 

if its a warranty job we dont get any diagnostic time for the most part. unless its a real headache car that we have multiple hours in then we usually get 75% of what we had in the job for diag. on customer pay to diagnose a check engine light its a flat half hour. our warranty jobs suck, so like most places our paycheck comes from customer pay for the most part. and your right on the wages too joe. me personally i make $19 and there are two older techs that have i think two more credited classes than me but i dont think they make over $25. most of the new guys get started at $12-$15 depending on training or experience.

Dang and O though $100 for brakes plus hardware was enough. I guess I need to raise those prices too! 

At my shop labor is 65 hr.  Brake jobs are 149.99 per axle up to a one ton then they are 175.00.
That is parts and labor (unless you need hard parts like rotors or calipers) and includes turning the rotors. also includes a garauntee.

I work for no less than 50% straight commision.
Timing belts? easy enough. just did a V6 Saturn last week Labor cost 489.oo parts 2200.oo (yup) dealer item only parts. Now WHO is raping WHO? btw 2200.oo was OUR cost Customer parts cost was 2250.oo

By the same token i also did a Honda civic timing belt  labor 150.oo parts 124.95 . So where is the fairness there? i dunno

Going to a mechanic shop to have work done is simple. Always remember a few things
1[ ALWAYS get a second opinion
2[ never settle for second rate work or parts
3[ ALWAYS look at employees personal vehicles including owners...are they less than 4 yrs old? newer vehicles sometimes mean they charge more ( not always )
4[Ask around.....word of mouth reputation can be a money saver and still get a good job done.
I have been in this business for about 30 yrs and have seen these questions asked and seen people get a better job for less cash  just by asking the right questions and keeping thier eyes open.


One last food for thought;We are doctors for your cars , right?
                            WHY DOESNT ANYONE COMPLAIN OR DO ANYTHING ABOUT PAYING 300.OO FOR YOUR MEDICAL DOCTORS SIGNATURE. bUT CRY ABOUT SPENDING 3.76 FOR A SPARK PLUG FOR THEIR CAR?

I AM NOT TELLING YOU THAT YOU ARE WHINING OVER THE SHOP CHARGES AND NOT REALLY DEFENDING ANY SHOP.
I like some mechanics work my ass of for a 4-500 weekly paycheck and i can sleep at night. OR i can get a 800. weekly paycheck and sdrive a new cummins
 Which would you rather see?
I see the prices in the ealeir parts of this thread and i can see why some are appalled and dont understand what others are complaining about.
will be continued

Thats because you CARE about your truck.  Some mechanics will charge you the hours listed in the book and then get it done in 1/4 that time by cutting corners. They likely just bolted the gears in and called it good with whatever amount of backlash and contact there happened to be.

In every direction in life, more and more I am taking care of my own issues because other people dont seem to CARE about what i hire them to work on, just cashing my check.

I love taking pride in every job I do, no matter if it's my own vehicle or another person's vehicle. I always make sure it's done right and to my own standard and the customers. That's what keeps them coming back and my name clean and trustworthy at what I do.