Mechanics Are A Rip

I went to autozone today and bought a serpentine belt for my vehicle for roughly 20 bucks. I went to a mechanic, that I guess I've been starting to trust, to install them. Normally he would charge 89 bucks for parts and labor. OMG! Are you ufking kidding me! This seems to be a fairly simple DIY job! So he asked me what a "fair" price is...........................................I said 10 bucks in labor only. Just flat out 10 bucks. He told me it wasn't worth 10 bucks. Since it was at the end of the day, closes at 6pm and we got there at around 6pm to pick up my gf's grand piece, he charged us 20 bucks cash. Which he pocketed because A) he demanded cash and he never entered it into his computer. I have a hayne's manual and it seemed easy so I just asked him for some pointers. I guess it took 2 ppl to do it. One person to pull on the tensioner and the other to put the belt on. The dude working on my car (of course in so. cal. none of them speak any english), forgot how the belt is placed on the pullies. So i had to get the manual out of my car to show them. After 5-10min, they installed it, not even a tear of sweat.

SO YES IMO IT WAS WORTH 10 UFKING DOLLARS!!!!! .........retards.

The reason I didn't do it myself was because in my 98, at the rear set of pullies, they appeared to be hard to get to. Firstly, that damn AC line was in the way. Secondly, along the top set of pullies, the damn engine mount got in the way. Thirdly, I only had like roughly 3" in space between the pullies and the barriers. The bottom set of pullies were a pain (ie, they are so deep that its nearly impossible to get your arm down there (due to restrictions of clearance) and put the belt on right. The guy had to use both hands to create a circle with the belt and "lasso" the belt onto the ac compressor pulley area. This easy 5-10min diy would have taken me at least 40min to try and figure it out. Every time I engage in a new DIY I get scared that I might screw up or break something in the process; that in the end, I have more problems to deal with. So I paid the mechanic 20 bucks to do it and I watched him do it in the parking lot with my hood open.

Moral of the story?: IMO IT WAS WORTH 10 UFKING DOLLARS!!!!!!!

You paid the guy $20 to fix something you thought only cost $10, a simple job that you were unsure of tackling yourself which you believed was easy, you didnt get a receipt, and you are calling him a retard?

If you showed up at any workshop at closing time expecting work to be done on the spot, do you expect to get a discount?

See the irony?

You paid the guy $20 to fix something you thought only cost $10, a simple job that you were unsure of tackling yourself which you believed was easy, you didnt get a receipt, and you are calling him a retard?

If you showed up at any workshop at closing time expecting work to be done on the spot, do you expect to get a discount?

See the irony?

Indeed, the only thing I asked for however was some pointers, not for him to do it himself. I was paranoid that I'd get that belt off and I wouldn't be able to put the new one on. See my point? If for some reason I couldn't get it on, then I'm dead in the water unless I have my car towed! If anybody looked down into a 98 corolla and saw how exposed the belt was, would you pay somebody $10 to do it? Not necessarily your mechanic but anybody you knew? They slipped that off and on in 5-10 min and that to me is worth $10 bucks. The dude didn't even break a sweat, cmon. Its like sombody asking you to pay them 5 dollars to put your belt around your waist for you. Please....and mechanics charge 90 bucks for that? No..........

 

...........no.......

The mechanic knew as soon as he looked into my engine bay how easy it could be. He knew that instead of charging me $40-$50 he asked for $20 and pocketed it. If I was too lazy to change my own oil and I had all the parts I needed, I'd pay somebody $5-$10 bucks to do it. You know why? Because it it takes around 5min and a large part of that is waiting for the oil to drain. Thats why. But no, I didn't get a reciept. I probably should but I saw everything myself and its fine, unless the belt snaps or something then thats Duralast's problem. If you have read my other posts on this topic, you would have read that the reason I'm scared to tackle new DIY's is because I don't want to damage something in the process because its my first time. I don't want to destroy a pulley off the alternator in the process because I underestimated the fragility of it; as an example. But all in all, I do see the irony. I asked him to take a look and give me a point or two and he walked over to my car and said do you have $20 bucks? So, I know I didn't pry him to do it, he willingly inquired about it himself.

If I were in a position where someone wanted $20US to do something that I believed was $10, would I pay it?

No, I would go find someone who would do it for the price I wanted or Id learn how to do it myself.

Its not that difficult to change a belt, just loosen a tensioner pulley ( I havent done one on a Corolla yet, but I assume most inline 4s are the same ) and winding the new belt around all the pulleys in the correct order will be the hard part.

If you have a repair manual with photos, diagrams and steps, and the "correct tools", its little to no issue.

Then you start the car and look out to see if theres belt or pulley squeel then you know that its a bit loose or too tight, then readjust as required.

Everyone who does DIY work was a 1st timer at one stage, so I can understand the concern, but if you follow a good manual, have the right equipment and parts and have patience, it can be done.

I know I could strip a whole car and rebuild a motor, even though Ive never tried before, however, it would require a lot of my time, anything is possible, just boils down to the amount of time and effort you are willing to make to learn.

Your completely right, it was just my paranoia that I would destroy something that caused me not to do it first time or by myself with nobody to help/supervise.

Mechanics do get a good pay for their work and they must to make a living. If they do it for less than the going rate, they are undercutting their own business. Most people will not give out free advice, unless they are a knowledgable friend (or people here in this forum).

I have always encouraged others to do their own work to save money and to gain the knowledge and experience.

I never criticize mechanics, because I have friends that make a living as a mechanic. Some are better than others as far as quality and trustworthiness.

Changing any of the belts (timing belt is a little more difficult) is an easy DIY maintenance. Just like oil changes and filters.

Manuals definitely help and I recommend you read up on any task before attempting to do them.

Bottom line - expect to pay more for someone else to do the work.

Learn to do it yourself.

my general experience of mechanics (in australia) is that they are lazy, incompetant, and display a great deal of apathy. Most generally do not give a flying snip about the work they do. Some are just dishonest. I have had dealings with 7 different mechanics over the last 5 years. Only 2 of them I would trust with my toaster, let alone a $20k motor car with 15,000+ moving parts.

A mechanic can easily spend $40k on the tools he will use to do his job. If he's licensed then he had to go to school and apprentice for a few years. So changing the belt takes about 10 minutes and the book rate is probably 0.5h. What happens if he starts the job and finds the tensioner is seized and it takes him 2h to do it? Would you be willing to pay $160 to have that belt changed? Someone has to pay to keep the shop open. Someone has to pay his wages. Someone has to pay for his toolbox. Someone even pays for his years of expertise. That someone is the customer.

$89 to do a belt is a lot but $10 is as far at the other end of the spectrum.

A mechanic can easily spend $40k on the tools he will use to do his job. If he's licensed then he had to go to school and apprentice for a few years. So changing the belt takes about 10 minutes and the book rate is probably 0.5h. What happens if he starts the job and finds the tensioner is seized and it takes him 2h to do it? Would you be willing to pay $160 to have that belt changed? Someone has to pay to keep the shop open. Someone has to pay his wages. Someone has to pay for his toolbox. Someone even pays for his years of expertise. That someone is the customer.

$89 to do a belt is a lot but $10 is as far at the other end of the spectrum.

I am in Tampa, and the dealer charged me $117 for the serpentien belt. I realize mechanics need to make a living, I think it is the servie advisors who pile up unnecessary repairs by just scaring you.