Hi guys,

I went to the dealership this morning because I had front end vibration and I wanted them to take a look at what was going on. So here is what I was told:

2 Lower ball joints shot (Motorcraft)

2 inner tie rods shot (Motorcraft)

So I kindly asked for a quote. 882 CDN + tx including an alignment and labor! (parts were 495$+ tx)

So I went back home logged on to RockAuto and ordered the following

2 Lower ball joints Moog
2 inner tie rods Moog
2 outer tie rods Moog

For a grand total of 288$ CDN shipped to my door no extra fees. I will do the install myself and bring it in for an aligment.

You do the math... but there is no way you can trust the dealership these days! I'm getting more for less and to my opinion I'm getting better quality.

All in all folks I just wanted to let you know that if you need parts for your truck go to RockAuto and save tons of $$$.

Pat

Hey, I'm all for DIY, but what is it that you didn't trust at the dealership? Sounds like they were up-front about what they would charge you. They gave you a detailed quote ahead of time so you could make an informed decision.

But you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself, it's true.

They way I see it at 882$ + tx ... it's a steal. And you can't trust somebody who is trying to steal from you... even though he is clearly advertising he is trying to!

I use RockAuto for almost all my parts



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the price is all well and good but the parts are only warrantied not the labor so in 6mths when they are bad again you get to replace them yourself,also might want to pre-order tires to replace the ones your going to wear out.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying break your balls for wanting to save money, and being willing to roll up your sleeves to do the work yourself, I think that's great.

But being expensive doesn't make them a thieves.

Let's say you took your truck to get a quote for the same job to the service department at Walmart. Let's say they quoted you half of what the Ford dealer quoted you. Would you trust Walmart more, simply because they gave you a lower price?

From your quote, it sounds like they'd charge you $387 for labour -- including an alignment. The last time I had a 4-wheel alignment done at a tire shop, I think it came in around $200. Do you own an alignment machine? I don't, and I don't know where I could get one for $200 -- never mind that I wouldn't know what to do with it, even if I did.

Let's say installing those parts alone would have cost you around $187?

As for the price of the parts, everyone knows that dealerships usually have a relatively high mark-up on non-maintenance replacement parts. If I need a new plastic valve cap for my tire, my first stop isn't a BMW dealer (it would be Walmart!). Rockauto.com doesn't have to pay a staff of technicians or maintain a shop full of expensive equipment. They can afford to sell parts for less. I doubt they even have their own warehouse.

So let me ask you this: If you were the manager of a dealership service department, how much would you charge, so that nobody would think you were a "thief"? What price do you think would be fair?

Before you answer that question, keep in mind your answer has to be based on the fact that you:

1. hire and pay skilled staff, including techicians and trained parts people
2. buy and maintain a wide variety of specialized shop equipment
3. pay for commercial liability insurance
4. pay business taxes, heating, utilities, phone, etc.
5. pay for tax and bookeeping services
6. maintain an expensive and wide parts inventory
7. pay for the free coffee and old National Geographics in the waiting area
8. ... and at the end of the year, show the owners of the dealership you actually made some sort of a profit on the operation

When you say the dealer is charging too much, compared to you doing the job yourself in your driveway or garage, you are really comparing apples and oranges.

Sorry to go off on a rant like this, but it just gets under my skin when people expect something for nothing -- especially when it comes to service-work.

When you go to a restaurant for a steak dinner, do you get angry when your bill comes to $40, knowing that you could have made it yourself at home for less than $10? Are they stealing from you, as well?

Hell, if the price of something is the only factor, then we'd all be sewing our own clothes, cutting our own hair, and doing dental work on ourselves with a Dremel tool. Think of all the money we'd save!

(That all being said, I'm going to the Mazda dealer tomorrow, and the only thing I intend to pay for is having a new fuel filter installed at the time. So if they rip me a new one, I may be singing a different tune, shortly.)

1 -Alignment for 4 wheel is 89.50$+tx directly from a Ford Dealership. If you are paying
200$ you are getting robbed my friend.
2- If you clearly read my posts you will find that all I complained about is the price of
parts.
3- I totally agree on your saying that '' Sorry to go off on a rant like this, but it just
gets under my skin when people expect something for nothing -- especially
when it comes to service-work.'' I am willing to pay for skilled labor, as I am
not a really good tech.
4- As to comparing apple to oranges... ordering a steak at a restaurant and making it
yourself is exactly the same as giving your truck to the dealer and doing it yourself...
isn't it!?!?

Guilty as charged. I guess I got a little carried away. And maybe I didn't express myself very well.

I think what I should have said was, yes, dealership service departments charge more for parts than parts distributors, but there is a reason for that.

Dealership service departments (usually) provide top-level service, that places like Canadian Tire don't do. Naturally, you pay extra for that. I think shop rates are pretty similar -- give or take -- wherever you go. So they have to make the money somewhere, and that's probably through parts.

It would be interesting to compare the overall average profit margins of dealership service departments vs. independent garages. My *guess* is that is that they might not be too much different, but I could be wrong.

I have what I believe is a fair question; do you have the necessary tools to press the new ball joints into place?

I'm all for doing the work myself, however some things (IMO) are best left to the people with the tools; but hey, to each their own.

@ Blue Oval --> Ever heard of loaner tool program? Most Canadian Tires has it. You pay the full price for the tool and when you give it back they refund you. It's pretty convenient as most people will only use this kind of tool a handful of times in their lives.