Secrets About Car Repair Cost That Nobody Will Tell You
For a long time now, the do-it-yourself car repair mechanic for auto repair has been gone. As a result of this, costs associated with fixing cars have increased due to the cost of tools, insurance rent etc. That being stated there are secrets about car repair costs that will not only save you money but a lot of time and anxiety.
Highly Sophisticated Cars Today
Today’s cars are more sophisticated and expensive so are their secrets about car repair costs for today’s cars? Absolutely! Hybrid cars are not only more expensive when you buy them, they are currently more expensive to fix than cars that run with a conventional gas engine so who wouldn’t want to learn secrets about car repair costs for these technology wonders.
Working on a Hybrid or any newer vehicle for that matter is a specialty today; it is not something you want to trust with your next-door neighbor who works on his old 1975 Chevy Pickup. This higher technology, along with more and more gadgets on your car, is going to cost you when something does not work correctly and trust me that will happen it is just a matter of time. Learning secrets about car repair costs can be extremely helpful if you understand a few things. If you’re not interested in learning for yourself, no problem we got you covered by reaching out and lettings us handle the complete auto repair process for you at mycertifiedmechanics.com
Costs
Let’s look at a few costs that have changed over the years, so you get a better handle on the secrets about car repair costs. For starters a CVT transmission for a 2001 to 2003 Toyota Prius can cost around $8,695 a far cry from my 1997 Ford F350 transmission that costs $2,500 back in the day. So, a good secret about car repair costs here is to look ahead to what the costs will be when your vehicle needs repair at the time of purchase.
As we progress further into automotive technology, some fear we will find ourselves deeper in debt when these cars break down, that’s why it’s important to learn the secrets about car repair costs if you value your hard-earned money. Hybrid cars are going to represent a large portion of our future in this country like it or not. With your vehicle being the second most expensive item, you ever buy it makes sense to understand the secrets about car repair costs.
Today’s cars that aren’t Hybrid are running turbochargers and superchargers that help force air through the engine, generating a bigger explosion in the cylinder and increase in power. These devices typically operate at high rotational speeds, which make them vulnerable to damage and susceptible to heat. When they go bad, it can cost about $1,600 to replace them, with related repairs spiking the price by $700 to $3,000.
When a catalytic converter fails, it is pricey. Repairs can cost up to $2,692. It is the parts that are expensive, not the labor. And thieves today are cutting them out in grocery store parking lots as they can get hundreds of dollars from a metal salvage place for the metals that are used to make your car run clean for the environment.
Hybrid batteries are often bundled with an integrated motor-assist battery, which charges it. Change one and you have to change both — to the tune of about $2,700 plus.
Clogged fuel injection pumps, this device delivers fuel into the engine’s cylinders, it is a relatively common problem for some drivers. A Honda fuel pump might run a couple of hundred dollars and be straightforward to change. But in trucks and SUVs, the repair can cost upward of $2,900 plus.
Today the cost for an engine replacement can cost upward of $8,000 plus, leading many car owners to scrap the vehicle altogether.
So, what are the secrets about car repair costs?
There are three types of repair charges:
1. Overcharged, (generally infuriates you if you know about it)
2. Undercharged (can’t seem to fix it correctly the first time costing you more money and time in the long run)
3. Charged what it is worth. (Everyone benefits)
Labor Costs
Where I come from (western states), the average shop charges are $85 – $146 for a flat rate hour. A flat rate hour is a time set by the automotive repair industry to estimate how long it may take to repair your car. Believe it or not this right here is a great secret about car repair costs. It protects you the customer so that the repair shop has an industry standard to follow and doesn’t go off charging you whatever they think they want to. It is also a great secret about car repair costs to ALWAYS get a second estimate. This will keep those working on your car honest.
A flat rate hour shows that a 2009 Maxima with a 3.5L engine requires 3.3 hours to replace the spark plugs. At an average of $115.50 per flat rate hour that totals $381.15. You may think a spark plug is a spark plug, but that is not the case anymore. The spark plugs for this car cost over $20 each, multiply that by six, and you have a total of $120 for the spark plugs. These plugs are Iridium Long Life spark plugs, required by the manufacturer to do the job properly. Total for labor and plugs is $501.15 for what used to cost you $89.95 years ago on a much less expensive car. The best ad I saw years ago was “We fix $89.95 Tune-ups.” The secret about car repair costs here is to have the right certified mechanic working on your car. The very next secret about car repair costs on this repair would be a thorough diagnosis before the work is even preformed. This will have a cost as well, but it is best to have this done so that you know exactly what is wrong instead your mechanic throwing parts and labor at a problem that in most cases will not rectify the problem properly.
Examples
Here’s an example, your mechanic puts the spark plugs in the vehicle to the tune of $501.15. He then finds out the engine has major complications which requires $3,500 of parts and labor. He is going to charge you for the $501.01 either way you go so follow our secrets about car repair costs and save yourself the cost and headache.
Here’s another example – your mechanic puts the spark plugs in the vehicle to the tune of $501.15. He then finds out you have bad injectors or coil packs. You just wasted $501.01 if the mechanic didn’t do a thorough diagnosis, this is not the parts store quick check, this entails about one hour of going through each system on the vehicle to analyze what’s good and what’s bad. Thorough diagnostics is a great beginning secret to saving on car repair costs.