car is having issues cranking I take it to a mechanic, says I need a new battery and oil in my car. He orders the battery does 30 minutes of labor and filled 3 up quarts of oil. He's charging me $325 for all of this, I'm positive this is way too much should I say something about it & he also mentioned something else but i couldn't hear him but it shouldn't be anything bad that can be fixed in 30 minutes. What do I do, is $325 too much the car is a 99 miata.
Seems a little high, but I’d just be grateful that he is honest enough to tell you the truth about the repair being minor. If you decide that’s too much you could just pay him for the diagnosis and go elsewhere or fix yourself. That’s simple stuff. Personally, I’d just pay it and get on with my life.
Autozone has the battery for 141, but the fees for throwing it away and core charge with tax would be around 175. Oil Change depending on what you get can vary, Full Synthetic for my truck is about 100 dollars. Cheap Conventional Oil Change is around 40, I believe. I'm not a mechanic though.
175 including labor? The 3 quarts is like 20 bucks & donut I just don't feel like paying 325 right now the max I thought it'd be was 200. Man it's like every mechanic tries to screw me. Should I tell him this is too much?
Shop rate for a mechanic should be 70-100, and a lot of places will have a 1-hour minimum on labor. Ask him for an invoice.
AutoZone will install the battery for free. If he has already done the work I don't know what you can really do. Maybe the "couldn't really hear him" work was something costly. At least that is what I would tell myself.
Not a mechanic but a JayLeno's inspired ...it does not hurt to ask him of what part you didn't hear..... also...it could be a crank shaft sensor or an oil level sensor ~ 150$
It sounds high to me, but there's two things to consider. One, what was the "little thing" you did not hear. I could have easily been an easy fix but the part was expensive, and two, did you authorize him to make those repairs after he diagnosed what was needed? A third question is why didn't you change the battery yourself and add 3 quarts of oil. That's the most basic stuff you can do besides putting gas in the gas tank. Do the basic stuff yourself and save yourself a lot of money!
Synthetic oil change is probably 50-60 bucks or 40-50 if you go to walmart, but you probably need conventional which is 25 buck.. A battery would be 120 and its easy to change. I think he probably ripped you off for 120 dollars.
$150 for the battery, $50 for the oil. The rest is for labor including diagnosing the problem and services. $325 is a bit on the higher side, but it's not worth fighting the business for the $50 you were overcharged.
Did you get a high end battery? Could drive up the price as well. You really should be asking for a detailed invoice. Hard to know otherwise. Also - like mentioned above, they could have a 1 hour minimum for labor.
Nice Chris Fix reference lol. To the OP, sounds like you were screwed, but probably because you didn't check things yourself. It's pretty simple to take battery to AutoZone and have it checked for free and it's also easy to check your oil levels. You could of easily shopped for the battery and installed it yourself and it sounds like you didn't even get an oil change, he just filled it up since it was low. I'm sure he didn't use synthetic for you, probably the cheaper stuff, so it definitely sounds like you got hosed. Probably about $125-175.
It pays to learn basic vehicle maintenance. Changing a battery and adding oil is not very hard to do. I would suggest to check your oil more often. If your car was three quarts low then it has been neglected way too long.
3 quarts of oil low? That is a fine line between your car working and never working again. As others have said, why couldn't you add oil yourself or hell, check the oil once in a blue moon? If you are 3 quarts low it is either leaking somewhere, the engine is burning a lot of oil or you have neglected the basic maintenance for way to long. Regarding the battery, that is literally 2 bolts (maybe 1 extra if you have a tie down over the battery). That is so simple to change yourself. All of that labor you just paid ~$150 for you could have done yourself in 15 min. You def need to find out what the other thing was you didn't hear as well. You don't take a car to a mechanic and let him just go to town on the car without knowing what is getting done and what the cost impacts are going to be..
my two cents - you maybe got a bit overcharged for the work, but i dont think you got "screwed" or "ripped off"...at least beyond what would normally be expected in that situation. depending on the battery it could have been anywhere from $80-$150 - did they have it there or did someone have to go pick one up from an autoshop for you? that would certainly add to the bill. as others have said, changing out the battery is easy. any autopart store will test it for free and with a wrench you can change it yourself. oil change could be anywhere from $30-$50 - but 3 quarts too low is not normal. you could f*** up your car like that. not knowing what he did makes it hard for anyone to give an assessment of whether or not you got ripped off. for all we know he might have hooked you up and done you a favor.
Sorry to hear you had car problems OP! I don't want to be that guy, BUT your username seems eerily appropriate at the moment... ironic or no?? ....... ....... .......
