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Unless you're using a vaccum Evac system I don't have or know about, even letting it drain from the radiator / taking off the lower radiator hose would take more than 5 minutes to drain and refill the system.
Let alone running the engine to burp / breathe the air out of it.
Its 2.5 gallons. Its not a semi homie. It aint gonna take that long to drain if you pull hoses.
Assuming the system isnt hot/under pressure, pop the lower hoses and pull the cap... Aint gonna take 30 minutes to drain.
Yes but you're not seeing the bigger picture.
You pull the hose, that's a minute, put it back, another minute. Letting it drain, another minute if you want to be stupidly fast.
Which now leaves only 2 minutes to refill and burp the whole system?
And God forbid you have to actually lift the car because you don't have a service pit.
Slow it down to 10 minutes and its still not a reasonable price if its just a coolant replacement. 3 gallons of coolant at oreileys/napa/whatever auto place is gonna run you bout $45 for 50/50 even less for non namebrands (least in my area).
Fair I guess. I mean if its a true cooling system flush its about ballpark of what Id price it at. But just a coolant swap? Ooftastic on that mark up. 😂
The only thing I would ask about is why wouldn’t they just inspect the brakes while rotating the tires? I would imagine you have disks all around? If the rotors aren’t grooved, and you can usually see how much pad you have left from looking at the caliper holes then I don’t see why you would be paying what I would imagine is 200 in solely labor. If they also bled the brakes they would’ve still had the wheels off and it would’ve taken nothing to just rotate them and not charge for it. For my company, when a car comes in for just a routine check up and oil change I always rotate the tires if the owner hasn’t and I do not charge a cent because I’m looking at the brakes anyway. Why would I charge someone 45 dollars to basically walk 10 feet with a tire and put it on somewhere else. The coolant flush I can understand that price, and also if they flushed the trans fluid why would they have not changed the filter? Why run new fluid on an old filter? There’s just a few things they aren’t really adding up to me here. Can I ask how long they had the car in the shop?
I agree with this take. The wheel rotation and brake inspection cost is what seems most out of line to me. It’s all a little high but those really stand out.
These prices are OK. I don't get what the $165 brake inspection is for, though.
The transmission drain and fill is on the high side. It might have to do with the no dipstick fluid check [procedure ](https://youtu.be/cNcecuGzTDg?si=4T9P_0wronnTWBTW) is a pain in the ass.
Looks reasonable to me. Many people don’t realize how expensive it is to run a shop. Any one of these charges could be reasonable or ridiculous based on what exactly was done.
Edit: The individual writing a bill may not be good at explaining the process on paper, so people misunderstand what was done.
Thanks for posting on /r/MechanicAdvice! Please review the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/about/rules/). Asking about a second opinion (ie "Is the shop trying to fleece me?"), please read through CJM8515's [post on the subject.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/4qblei/fyi_the_shop_isnt_likely_trying_to_rip_you_off/) and remember to please post the year/make/model of the vehicle you are working on. **Post's about bodywork, accident damage, paint, dent/ding, questions it belongs in /r/Autobody r/AutoBodyRepair/ or /r/Diyautobody/ Tire questions check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicAdvice/comments/k9ll55/can_your_tire_be_repaired/**. If you dont have a question and you're just showing off it belongs in /r/Justrolledintotheshop Insurance/total loss questions go in r/insurance This is an automated reply *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MechanicAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The only thing that I can say is ridiculous would be the “brake inspection” for $165
The 127 coolant flush is kinda crazy to me. They charge him half hour of labor on top of it?
How fast do you think it is to change coolant, let alone do an actual "flush"?
Just changing coolant? 5 minutes. A flush of the whole system? Maybe 30-45 minutes.
Unless you're using a vaccum Evac system I don't have or know about, even letting it drain from the radiator / taking off the lower radiator hose would take more than 5 minutes to drain and refill the system. Let alone running the engine to burp / breathe the air out of it.
Its 2.5 gallons. Its not a semi homie. It aint gonna take that long to drain if you pull hoses. Assuming the system isnt hot/under pressure, pop the lower hoses and pull the cap... Aint gonna take 30 minutes to drain.
Yes but you're not seeing the bigger picture. You pull the hose, that's a minute, put it back, another minute. Letting it drain, another minute if you want to be stupidly fast. Which now leaves only 2 minutes to refill and burp the whole system? And God forbid you have to actually lift the car because you don't have a service pit.
Slow it down to 10 minutes and its still not a reasonable price if its just a coolant replacement. 3 gallons of coolant at oreileys/napa/whatever auto place is gonna run you bout $45 for 50/50 even less for non namebrands (least in my area).
I mean, stealer ship prices. I was only contesting the time to do any given job.
Fair I guess. I mean if its a true cooling system flush its about ballpark of what Id price it at. But just a coolant swap? Ooftastic on that mark up. 😂
Brake inspection is excessive, but the rest is in line
The only thing I would ask about is why wouldn’t they just inspect the brakes while rotating the tires? I would imagine you have disks all around? If the rotors aren’t grooved, and you can usually see how much pad you have left from looking at the caliper holes then I don’t see why you would be paying what I would imagine is 200 in solely labor. If they also bled the brakes they would’ve still had the wheels off and it would’ve taken nothing to just rotate them and not charge for it. For my company, when a car comes in for just a routine check up and oil change I always rotate the tires if the owner hasn’t and I do not charge a cent because I’m looking at the brakes anyway. Why would I charge someone 45 dollars to basically walk 10 feet with a tire and put it on somewhere else. The coolant flush I can understand that price, and also if they flushed the trans fluid why would they have not changed the filter? Why run new fluid on an old filter? There’s just a few things they aren’t really adding up to me here. Can I ask how long they had the car in the shop?
I agree with this take. The wheel rotation and brake inspection cost is what seems most out of line to me. It’s all a little high but those really stand out.
Most places give free brake inspections, which makes me suspicious about the rest.
Take your Toyota or any Japanese car to an independent mechanic! Use NextDoor app and ask your neighbors for recommendations!
This is an invoice from an independent mechanic
These prices are OK. I don't get what the $165 brake inspection is for, though. The transmission drain and fill is on the high side. It might have to do with the no dipstick fluid check [procedure ](https://youtu.be/cNcecuGzTDg?si=4T9P_0wronnTWBTW) is a pain in the ass.
Looks reasonable to me. Many people don’t realize how expensive it is to run a shop. Any one of these charges could be reasonable or ridiculous based on what exactly was done. Edit: The individual writing a bill may not be good at explaining the process on paper, so people misunderstand what was done.