Dealer Charging Me Wayyyy Too Much?

Question

So recently I took my car (2001 Land Rover Discovery II) to the dealer because I was having a problem with the air suspension. So my warranty covers that so I took it to the dealer to get that fixed.

So next thing you know the dealer calls me the next day and they say that my battery is dead, even though I got a brand new battery from Autozone for $80 like 8 months ago, so I'm not sure how the battery died. Anyway they are charging me $200 to replace that, and if I choose not to they will charge me 1 hour labor because they said they'd have to jumpstart it and everything everytime they'd have to work on the car. ($114/hr is what they charge for labor), so I guess I have no choice there.

Then they also tell me that I have the wrong types of brakes, but they're saying it'll be $1400 total to fix that and I told them to just leave the ones I have now because I just got those last year and they are perfectly fine.

They also told me all 20 of my lugnuts were damaged, which I am very confused as to how all 20 of them got damaged? They said it could've been whoever changed my brakes or worked on my car at any local mechanic place. So now they are saying they have to replace all 20 of them ($18 each), plus charge me 3-4 hours labor on top of that just for the lugnuts because they claim they had to spend 3-4 hours chiseling and torching off all the lugnuts. I have no choice but to get the lugnuts replaced now because I can't drive without them.

But this is ridiculous, I came in to get one thing fixed under warranty, and now am having to pay $200 for a battery, and now $360 $500 labor just to get my lugnuts replaced.

Is this way overpriced or is it about right? Also I'm not sure how the lugnuts were damaged, do you think the dealer could've damaged them and also ruined the battery on purpose? I know there's now way I would be able to prove it, but I'm having to pay $1200 just for these small things which is ridiculous IMO. Is there anything I can do about this? Because even if I don't want the lugnuts they will still charge me 3-4 hours labor for having to remove them all.

So I'm guessing I have no choice but to pay it and get my car back, but still this is wayyyy too much IMO.

Answer 1

This is what dealship mechanics call "up sale". Its also the reason small independent mechanics like me stay in business.

Everything is hour driven in dealerships, flat rate. I know it sounds like alot to pay but the dealership is paying their mechanics plus all the insurance on them and they have to make money. So $200.00 is alot to pay for a battery, but somebody figured out the battery was bad, lets call that .3 (18 minutes) then they had to tell the service advisor and get their permission (actually your permission) to change it. lets call that .2 paperwork was written up and a phone call was made. Now after you ok it the battery has to be removed which means the hold downs have to be removed as well .2. Now the tray is cleaned and a new battery has to be requested fromt he parts department .3 now the new battery is installed with the hold downs being replaced .3. Now were at and hour and six. Thats why things cost so much at a dealership. Im not saying its wrong, dealerships work like that. As for your brakes, if they are truely wrong and the dealership has disassembled them they cannot put them back together incorrectly. That would make the dealership liable. I dont know what to make of the lug nut deal, sometimes 1 is stripped but all of them?    

Answer 2

You are being screwed, the "wrong brakes" would not install, Lug nuts are 1 or 2 dollars a piece not "$18.00" you can remove every lug nut on the car and replace it in 4 minutes if your slow. It takes less than 5 minutes to use a shop booster to jump a car and your 8 month old battery was still under warranty even if it did fail (which I doubt).

All dealer mechanics suck but this is bad even for a dealership. I feel for you, it sounds like you learned the "dealer mechanic" lesson the hard way, we all do but your case is epic.

Good Luck, sorry to hear your tale!

Answer 3

Be like "Listen b*tch. I aint got time fo yo punk azz sass. You better lower da price on these repairs or im gonna get a couple of ma homies in hur, specifically Bovice, Van, Orpheus, and TYrone, and we gonna whoop yo azz for every dollar too high, you lil c*nt. ANd make me a sandwich"

Youll get it fo free

Answer 4

Sounds like they had some downsie working on your car, left the key on while working on the suspension for hours, draining it.

THEY probably screwed up your lugnuts

And yes this is rediculous, and another reason while i will never own a car that is of no quality but has a ritzy reputation.

You would have been better off with a '94 Olds Achieva, You wouldnt of even had to pay as much for the whole car as you did for the lug nuts.. IMHO

Answer 5

Tell them to stop immediately. They need to re-assemble all work performed that was not explicitly approved by you, then you need to tow the car somewhere else. Have someone follow you to jump it and drive it to another shop if necessary. That is completely ridiculous.

If the lug nuts are damaged, take it to whomever performed your last work and demand that they fix it.

Answer 6

I would first have a one on one meeting with the General manager of the dealership, face to face in his office.

If that does not work then get a wrecker over there and get your vehicle to someone you can trust.

Pay for the damages done and get out of there and never go back and threaten them with a full page ad in the local paper,local news,internet etc.

Answer 7

Dude, you bought a Land Rover.  Any British built automobile is just a hole with 4 wheels on it that your dump money into but a Land Rover is perhaps the worst.

And I can absolutely see how a hack shop would put cheap brakes on it and then strip all the lug nuts.  Land Rovers use a highly non-standard 25mm lug nut and many mechanics don't even have the proper impact socket to remove them since Rover's are generally so rare.  So they improvise.  

I hate working on Land Rovers at my shop.  Nothing but trouble.  I have a customer with a Freelander who knows to call 3 days ahead just to get an oil change so we can get the right oil filter.  That's just ridiculous.  Get rid of this turkey as fast as you can.  Owning a European automobile does not make you smarter, more sophisticated or increase your chances of getting laid.  It just means you spend more time in the shop and pay a lot more for repairs.