$136.00 vacuum line?

[Longgone]

This is not about my B`cuda, rather my 2003 Dakota. A couple weeks ago the engine light came on. All of the major systems (oil pressure, charging, temp.) were okay so I didn`t freak over it too much, but it bothered me so I decided to take it to the dealer and have them diagnose it. I took a look over things myself and didn`t see anything obvious and most everything is under warranty still. I dropped it off and got a call later in the day. The mechanic hooked it up and it showed a code in the gas evaporator recovery system. The truck has only 16K miles on it, but the warranty had run out on everything but the drivetrain. The service writer said it would be $188.00 dollars to fix the problem.(The gas cap was replaced about 6 months ago.) I declined the repair and picked up the truck. A $52.00 charge and my light was still on. A good look under the hood revealed two cracked vacuum lines at the charcoal canister. I replaced them with $2.80 worth of vacuum line and NO MORE LIGHT!

 

[demon seed]

You know John, you just hit on one of the biggest "cash cows" of the auto repair sector. I'm told by a few of my friends that the biggest most often code generator is when the vehicle owner leaves the gas cap loose and the check engine light comes because the fuel tank is not coming up to pressure. the owner takes the vehicle in and the unscrupulous shops tighten the cap, clears the code and charges 1 hr shop time which could be from 75$ to 125$, at least in my neck of the woods. :wack:

 

[64dartwagon]

They only replace parts not fix them. It is one of those "so you can't sue them" things. Because the manufacturer doesn't recommend just replacing the cracked section. They won't make money that way for the parts being sold to the dealer. Same type of thing for all the other stuff, especially the brake system. You can't just get new shoes and a drum cut. No No No you need hardware, wheel cylinder, axle seal, brake system flush, oh and possibly a new master. Just in case. Because they don't want you to come back 3 months later with somthin near what they worked on, because they will get the blame. It's like that thing of "I had them add windshield washer fluid 3 months ago and now my windshield is cracked. It's all their fault." They are covering their a$$es.

 

[fishy68]

John I know where your coming from man. A few yrs. ago we had a Pontiac Sunbird that started running rough and I was working 60-70 hrs. a week and didn't have time to mess with it other than I took a quick look at it and didn't see anything obvious so I dropped it off at the dealer but I just told them to fix it. Got the bill for $100+ for a freakin little vacuum hose that I could've fixed in 5 minutes. I didn't see it when I looked at it cause it was cracked under the bottom side.

 

[AdamR]

My sister went threw this. # times to the shop and they kept telling her tighten the gas cap. Turned out to be a pin hole in the fuel line.

 

[dodge freak]

Newer cars and trucks can be nice sometimes, thats untill they break down, then they screw you.

 

[Ace]

The thing I hate most about them is how they are put together. My wife's Sebring is perfect example of automotive engineering gone mad. Nice car, runs great and everyting, but a nightmare to work on. Three good examples:

Need to change the plugs? Start by pulling the intake manifold. You can hardy see the ones in the back. Want to replace the serp belt? Fine, pull the RF wheel and remove several pices of inner fender parts before you can even start on the belt. Tiny leak under the water temp sender? Forget it, throw in some stop leak. You cannot even get a wrench on one of the flange bolts, much less turn it. Insane.

I dread working on that car. Fortunately it's been good so far, but that can't last forever.

 

[1966 dart wagon]

yep new cars have some good stuff behind em but working on them is a nightmare, like yesterday i picked up a 94 blazer from my uncle it hasnt run in a while, so i go to start it just turns over decide to replace the spark plugs :| i worked for 2 hours and got 3 done, broke one wire so now i need to replace that(prolly should anyways) man its a pain in the ***, couldnt stop saying "f'ing gm design" i couldnt stop thinking about how easy it was to change the spark plugs on my slant dart woo :toothy7:

my friend had a stealth you had to remove the intake to get to those rear spark plugs to he told me cost him $800 for new spark plugs and stuff, my god.

another example when we went to pick up the blazer(above) yesterday my dads new 04 evnoy has a electronic tail gate the motor has failed twice so far and there is no mechanical way to open it so the dog had to go threw the cab, what a pain :angry4:

also in one of the new car mags they had an article on old cars and how you can just drive em and dont have to worry bout the headlights not turning off, no traction control, no electronic crap to screw up

 

[grumpuscreature]

In future remember that any problem involving the emissions system of a car is covered under a 50,000 mile warranty the dealers don't want you to know about. There will be no mention of it in your owner's manual, or any other publications you receive from the dealer on delivery.
The EPA requires the manufacturers to certify that each new vehicle will only emit X amount of pollutants for 50,000 miles of normal service. Anything that breaks or is defective, and affects the emissions, must be replaced by the manufacturer free of charge to the consumer. If the manufacturer does not comply and a complaint is filed with the EPA, the manufacturer can lose their certification.
The dealers get away with the gouging going on because most people don't know to say, "Shouldn't that be covered under the emissions warranty?" when they are presented with the diagnosis and estimate by the service writer. Hope this helps. :thumbup:

 

[Longgone]

Well this time they got my $52.00, but thank you Grumpus, I`ll remember that.

 

[FASTBACK340]

A $52.00 charge and my light was still on. A good look under the hood revealed two cracked vacuum lines at the charcoal canister. I replaced them with $2.80 worth of vacuum line and NO MORE LIGHT!

Ever hear the old story (and I mean OLD....) about a guy bringing his car into a shop with the engine running rough and having the mechanic twist the mixture screw to smooth it out. When the car owner complained about being charged $30 to turn a screw, the mechanic says "It's $5 for my time to turn the screw, $25 for knowing WHICH screw to turn".

As a rule, when it's a legitimate repair it can get expensive. You don't pay off a $3,000 generic scan tool (a dealer scan tool, such as Nissan's Consult-III, goes for $6,000 w/ software cards....) fixing cars for $10. And when it's a required repair in order to recieve your yearly inspection certificate (as in NYC where a SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT on will fail you....) people pay.

Is it a rip-off? For an easy fix like a cracked vacumn line, maybe. For a situation where there's a cracked seam in a plastic fuel tank that's temperature sensitive and causing pressure loss, or an intermitent electrical issue such as a poor ground or harness connector, you can spend quite a bit of time diagnosising the problem. It's like anything else, time = money.

Consider yourself lucky you spotted it and fixed it on the cheap. I highly recommend picking up a simple scan tool that reads, clears, and reports system readiness. Actron makes a decent one for about $100. Chip in with a few buddies and it pays for itself the first time you use it. And as for those pesky cades, here's some help:


http://www.troublecodes.net/technical/

Yeah, shelling out money for questionable serivces sure can suck. I feel the sting every time I pay my PayPal fees.... to e-Bay no less, AFTER paying them to list & sell my item! Grrrrr!



BTW: Fixing late-model cars with all the on-board computers and specialized diagnosistics can be a real pain in the ***.... And I like being paid for my knowledge. THAT'S why I go to work everyday and try and earn a good living, and try to maintain a 94% or better CSI rating by doing it right.