Mechanic wants almost double the quote for blown head gasket?

LHermestri on 20/01/2015 - 15:09

So, I noticed my Xtrail 2002 was overheating when accelerating in a freeway, and took the car to a nearest mechanic right away. He inspected the car and found some water in cylinders 2 and 3, and missing coolant. He then said it was a blown head gasket. I decided to take the car to my regular mechanic on the Central Coast for repairs, told him the whole story and he verbally quoted $1200 if everything goes smoothly but can go up if not. He also promised to keep the cost to a minimum as I am his repeat customer and that he would call me if cost goes up. I agreed and left him the car.

I haven't heard from him for over a week and decided to call. He said he was waiting on the head to come back fixed to him and that the head wasn't cracked or anything so I was lucky. Well, fast forward to today, he called me in the morning and said the car is ready to be picked up. And when I asked him about the price, he replied "yeah, the total cost is $2200". I then reminded him of his verbal quote, to that he just said that it all depended on amount of work, etc. I even asked him why he didn't call since the price did increase, and his reply was " yeah, well, sorry". I tried to negotiate a better lrice, but all he offered was to take GST off if I pay cash. He then rudely cut me off and said "think what you wanna do and give me call back, I have work. Bye".

I really can't pay that amount of money now, and was thinking of going in and offering him $1700 in cash or else asking to pay in installments. Is there anything else I can do? One friend of mine who is a mechanic says its a $1000 dollar job, but unfortunately he lives in a far west of NSW.

Thank you.

Automotive

Comments

  • Gunther on 20/01/2015 - 15:14
    +1

    yeah….. get quotes in writing in the future.

    • Hermestri on 20/01/2015 - 17:26
      -1

      I will in the future…

  • pax on 20/01/2015 - 15:15

    Given you didn't get a quote for the repairs, and didn't tell the mechanic to call you with confirmed costs before proceeding with repair, I think you are a bit stuck.

    Think of it a lesson learned that when a verbal and pie in the sky costs come in, always direct them to confirm costs before proceeding with repair.

    • Hermestri on 20/01/2015 - 17:25

      Well he did say he would call if price rises significantly.. And when I called, he said I was lucky since the job was not difficult.

  • [Deactivated] on 20/01/2015 - 16:30

    wow huge difference between $1200 and $2200

    • Hermestri on 20/01/2015 - 17:18

      It sure is… Took me by surprise!

  • slow on 20/01/2015 - 16:34
    +5

    Real estate agents, investment advisors, car mechanics……. extreme caution required

    • Hermestri on 20/01/2015 - 17:24

      Yeah, add to that plumbers and electricians.. Have been burned before.. I really trusted this guy though!

  • Paul Atreides on 20/01/2015 - 16:51
    +3

    Did you drive to your mechanic on the central coast? You really shouldn't drive with water in your cylinders (you can't compress water bro).

    There's a fairly decent difference in costs between blowing a HG and blowing a HG with water in your cylinders.

    • Hermestri on 20/01/2015 - 17:22

      Yes I did. The guy who first diagnosed the car told me not to drive it, but my mechanic said it is OK as long as I drive slowly and take radiator cap off!

      • [Deactivated] on 20/01/2015 - 22:49
        +5

        wtf. You risked cracking the head and pistons at the very least. Dump the turkey asap.

  • porsche804 on 20/01/2015 - 17:29

    sounds cheap considering the amount of work required to do a head gasket on one of those xtrails, usually 3k would be normal after the head surface has to be polished, engine oil and filter changed, clean the water out of the cylinders and it would usually take 10 hours if nothing breaks on something that old. The labor rate where I work is $180 p/h

    • mskeggs on 20/01/2015 - 18:23
      +3

      I'd love to have a mechanic that would replace a head gasket for $1000.
      I think $1200 was very optimistic, and $2200 is not extravagant.

  • stemcell on 20/01/2015 - 17:34
    +2

    Edit: Sounds a fair price.

  • porsche804 on 20/01/2015 - 17:37
    +2

    and they usually check if any valves were bent, and replace all the stem seals while they are there at the machine shop.

  • ozhunter on 20/01/2015 - 18:22

    Is there anything else I can do? One friend of mine who is a mechanic says its a $1000 dollar job

    go get another quote?

  • Ughhh on 20/01/2015 - 18:51
    +1

    Is there a legal work-around for 'unauthorized repair (at $2200)" ? Whats stopping them for charging $10k?

    • ozhunter on 20/01/2015 - 19:02

      Whats stopping them for charging $10k?

      Nothing, but sure the customer would get another quote for that price and that mechanic would lose profit.

      • Ughhh on 20/01/2015 - 19:12
        +3

        But in this situation, the repair has already been done.

  • Ughhh on 20/01/2015 - 19:16

    OP, what if you get your partner or friend to ring up (pretending not to know you) and get a quote (estimated max charge perhaps) for the same exact problem? If the quote is significantly lower, you could argue with them being unfair and perhaps would aid with the negotiation.

  • endotherm on 20/01/2015 - 20:32
    +1

    I'd be asking for an itemized invoice. Then try and work out if the work could have been done for $1200 and how much is unnecessary and unauthorised markup and bill padding. You should be able to argue that $1200 was a verbal quote which should be enforceable as a verbal contract. Even if I were quoted $1200, I'd still allow a little wiggle room, as it is an initial guesstimate and unexpected problems arise. An additional $1000 is just taking the piss. Nearly double isn't wiggle-room, and should have been discussed with you and authorised before doing the repairs.

  • woz on 21/01/2015 - 07:59
    +2

    Here's a different perspective. Let's say the mechanic had phoned and said the repair was bigger than first thought and the cost would be $2200 instead of the $1200 first quoted. What would you have done? If you would have reluctantly OKed the repair then the outcome remains the same except for the annoyance at not being called. Only reasonable move going forward is to pay the bill and decide if that annoyance at not being called is enough to shift to a different mechanic in future.

    If however, you would NOT have authorised the repair after being phoned, then your only realistic option is to pay the bill to immediately get your car back, and lodge an application at the small claims tribunal for damages to recoup SOME of the cost and let the tribunal decide.

    I had a similar incident when I smashed my car (no insurance). Took it to a repairer for quote, which was steep but impressively itemised. Took it to another repairer for a second quote. Second quote was cheaper, and gave them the go ahead. Repairer called a couple of days later saying that there was more damage than first thought, and tried to jack quote up by $1000. I refused, and was told the car was partially dismantled already, and was advised to go ahead with repair. Again I refused, went back to first repairer, explained situation, and asked if he would be prepared to pick up car and parts and perform repair. 1st repairer agreed.

    2nd repairer then phoned and tried to 'negotiate' a price, but I refused and said the car and parts would be collected. Repairer refused to release car unless I paid $400 for work already done. I paid the $400 just to be disentangled from the shyster. To be honest, apart from the cheaper price (no I did not give the 1st price to beat), the 2nd repairer was dodgy from the moment I laid eyes on him.

    The irony of the story was I opted to have the car repaired but not repainted as per the itemised quote, and the 2nd repairer must have been really annoyed at me having the gall to choose which of his itemised quote to perform, as he failed to repair the CAR with one excuse or another for SIX MONTHS!! I eventually lodged a small claims tribunal application, where they contritely appeared in court, and paid a pretty hefty raft of damages to maker the matter go away.

    Moral of the story: there is no such thing as an honest mechanic.

  • Charity on 21/01/2015 - 09:25

    When you are dependant on other people, and ignorant of the subject and then still sign the deal - expect to be ripped off. (sorry, someone needs to tell you so you will learn.)

    It doesn't matter if the subject is stock market investing, going to the dentist, or buying a bargain… same applies.

    Do your homework about the subject, shop around for good advice and learn to ask questions.

    That way you will have more to bargain with - instead of just glazed eyes and crossed fingers.

  • rigby75 on 21/01/2015 - 09:42

    2k for the job is normal. Head service, new timing belt, spark plugs gasket kit, water pump, coolant, oil, filter, radiator hoses, drive belts, radiator cap, radiator service price these and your looking at over 1k in parts plus like the other post mention 10 hours of labour it soon adds up. Did it need a new radiator? I would be guessing but he also fixed the cause of the issue. Head gsskets normally blow because of cooling system issues.

  • roosters93 on 21/01/2015 - 09:52

    Which mechanic on the Central Coast is this?

  • EdAus on 21/01/2015 - 11:36

    First I would ring a Nissan repair centre.
    Tell them you discovered the water issue yourself. You had to drive a few km after finding the problem.
    Ask them what's the worst case price assuming the head is not cracked. Tell them you are unsure whether to repair or scrap the car.
    If their price is anywhere from$2000-$3000, then your mechanic probably did a fair price job.
    My old Ford EF (1995) head gasket cost me just over $1200 2 years ago.
    Your friend mechanic should have given you two price ranges. Simple no problem fix, and a "holy shut" thats damaged, prices.

    Your judgement.

  • Hermestri on 22/01/2015 - 12:57
    +1

    Thank you everyone for your input.. So I have just picked my Xtrail up. Could not negotiate a single cent off and guy refused to release the car unless I pay the whole amount(I could just "release" it myself since I was parked on a street and I had the second pair of keys but I'm not that kind of person). Itemized price breakdown below:

    Head service $540
    VRS kit $270
    Head bolt set $84
    Engine oil $32
    Oil filter $13
    Coolant $25
    Spark plugs $43
    Thermostat $56
    Labour $1210

    Is it fair?

    • rigby75 on 23/01/2015 - 07:36
      +1

      Looks okay to me. But why did the gasket fail in the first place?

      • mini2 on 23/01/2015 - 13:14
        +1

        Seems like a regular occurrence on high mileage Xtrail's.

    • Wallyt99 on 27/01/2015 - 23:46

      Look at post earlier…Parts and head service alone were over $1000.

      Take out the head service - still well over $1200.

      NO Way could he have charged like this and done it for $1200.

      Fair price = $1200 + 540 + 84 + 56 =1880.

      Small claims over $300? Or new mechanic?

  • Cheeper on 23/01/2015 - 12:09

    The price of $2200 for that job is reasonable these days for a "non backyard" mechanic. It's not cheap but it is not what you would call rip off either.

    The sore point is what he initially quoted is a long way from the end result with no explanation of why. Such is life… just pay up, you have no way of forcing him to drop the cost.
    Some things you just have to roll with and put it down to a lesson learnt.

  • morpheu on 25/01/2015 - 13:34

    In the service industry when work is scarce the quotes are lower just to get the job which is what i think this mechanic did, the more honest ones will add a disclaimer like "depending on work involved" etc but when it comes to head gaskets there can be colleratal damage which makes quoting harder

  • Cheeper on 25/01/2015 - 20:14

    Hope the op got a written warranty with the job?

    • Gunther on 27/01/2015 - 08:54

      99% of mechanics will have some sort warranty as part of their terms and conditions for at least 30-90days. Usually says on the tax invoice.

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