Did I Get Ripped Off?

Lets see. Not sure how sales tax works in IL, so lets forget that.
Subtract 43 from 300 leaves 257. Assuming $85 per hour labor would
indicate about 3 hours work. Seems excessive to me. I work in the
service dept. at a Chevrolet dealer and I think you got ripped off a
little. Perhaps your labor rate is higher there.


On 31 Jul 2004 19:59:40 -0700, (chudwuh) wrote:

>I had the thermostat and gasket and valve cover (short 4-bolt
>aluminum) gaskets replaced on the Chevy 350 in my street rod - they
>also tightened a power steering hose. The bill was $300 of which $43
>was parts and taxes - the rest was labor. To be fair, they said (and
>I have no reason to disbelieve) they had to clean off a lot of oil the
>leaking gaskets had sprayed on the engine. On the other hand, there
>is no alternator, A/C compressor, etc in the way of the covers - just
>a few wires.
>
>This is very reputable shop I have used for 20+ years - I know the
>owner and the service manager pretty well. They've never been cheap
>but not exorbitant either and their work is always high quality
>(although lately the quality seems to be slipping while the price goes
>up). I don't think they would intentionally shaft me but this seems
>pretty high for a simple job. Opinions? What's the job worth? If it
>makes any difference, I'm in east central IL.