Have we been totally ripped off or what???any one with car knowledge?

SO, we have a mitsubishi Delica, people mover type bus thingo...its kinda old, 1994 i think. But was is pretty good condition when we got it a year and a bit ago.

Two weeks ago the brakes started making horrible noises and we had to get the brake pads replaced and some thing to do with the manifolds fixed ITMS...cost = $260

This week the starter motor packed in, its in a dodgy spot in the engine and alot had to be moved so that it could be taken out, fixed and put back in. The guy also put in some new fan belts. Cost = $1180

Just took it to get a wheel alinement and were told we needed two new front tyres as these ones have been worn out due to bad allinement. Cost = $440

Have we been totally ripped off or what!? seems alot to me, i know car stuff is exy but really....$1180!?!?!?!?

Sorry, sounds right to me.
A lot of that $1180 will be labour I would think.

Yeah sounds about right... the $1180 does sound excessive but by the sounds of things it was a big job, and alot of it would have been labour.
gotta love cars, eh?

Depends on how rare the car is, and yeah, the Delica is an import so that increases the cost of replacement part increases unfortunately.

What was the break down of labour to parts?

I have a Toyota Hiace super custom, also a import. Im up for some new shocky rubber thingys for the back & something also for the front. thats going to be about $300.

If the starter motor was in a dodgy spot you will find the labour would have been your costs. I would say it is probably about right. Best you can do is ring around & ask, say hey, I have a delica which needs a new starter motor, could you give me an idea on price.
Just for a bit of piece of mind though, I had a Kia carnival before the hiace & I had the timing belt snap on that. My bill to fix that was over 5k!

We are yet to recieve the invoice for that bit!!! but i will be insisting he sends it to us. He didnt actually replace that part as it was over $500 and he said he could fix it to a new standard for $375 so he did that instead.

If it sounds right to people who know stuff about cars then i guess im happy, i know nothing!!! :)

Um, I just copied all the details of this thread to the Man (who is still at work). This was the reply I got back...

:

---

Maybe if they got dinner, movie, dessert and ....... then $1180 would be ok but if not then im thinking that they got ripped!
After all, it is only 4 cyl diesel PAGERO running gear.

---

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. :hide:

Lol, I just realised he spelled Pajero wrong (not Pagero).

i would have said ripped too

Dh says it could be a bit high...

I ran this by DH. He said it depends on the hourly rate for labour. Some mechanics charge around $80-90 per hour. Some even as much as $120. He also mentioned that to get to the starter motor in a Delica requires the front seat to be moved and is quite awkward.

DH also mentioned that mechanics are not above charging more for more difficult jobs (or for jobs they don't really want). At least that's the case for his mate anyway.

Once you get the invoice, you'll have a better idea of how many hours it took to perform the job and what they charge per hour.
You may have been able to get a cheaper price if you'd shopped around. But it doesn't seem as though you've been grossly overcharged.

HTH

I don't know. I do know the reason I've really only owned Holdens, Fords or Toyota's is because alot of other makes are complicated to pull apart.
Eg - I had a Ford Explorer (Ford, but imported). The slave & master cylenders went in it (owner before us screwed up oils). Because of the way it was made, the whole 4wd gear box had to come out before they could be replaced. We were quoted upwards of $2000, but with after market parts we were lucky & it only cost us $800.
Mitsubishi's are commonly expensive for this reason.

I'm not a car expert, but I have an idea of whats what & where things go. DH & I have almost always done services & repairs on our own cars. Til now, we have an 05 commodore & it beeps at us for a service! If we could shut it up we would!!

In saying that though, I don't have much experiences with mechanics & their prices. I do know we were quoted at one about $500 to do a job that I probably could've done alone, for about $50! (DH ended up doing it, just thought since it wasn't huge I'd ask them, thinking $50 & saving DH the effort!)

What to do next time? Take it somewhere. Tell them its making an odd noise & where, & ask them to check it over for you. Someone will usually come out of the workshop & look then & there to give you an idea.
Then ask what it would involve (ask for a list) & how much they reckon it'd cost you. Then tell them you have to discuss it with DH.
When you are home, ring around everywhere you can think of to see how much they'd charge to do the same job. Ask hourly labour rates as well.

DON'T leave it for them to look at! I did that once for a stuffed auto gear box they told me they could fix. I asked them to ring me with a quote BEFORE touching anything. They ignored that request & charged me $500. I was a single mum at the time! I was annoyed, but paid. Went to pick up my car & it started slipping gears again 40 KMS down the road!!

Just thought I'd stick my nose in here, I'm a qualified mechanic and have worked with cars all my life - on the tools and at the service counter. Delicas, because they're a van but with a tiny little bonnety bit are an absolute pain to work on. All of those bills sound right to me...

All the brakes and wheel alignment stuff sounds about right for that kind of stuff. Re the other big fix-up, you really need to shop around when it comes to that stuff, if you get a consensus about what's wrong and how much it's likely to cost you know you're not being dudded, and it means you can compare labour costs etc. We had a really big fix on our car last year, and because the guy had pre-quoted he kept his labour costs down even though it took a lot more work than that.

well, we have only paid $450 of the $1180 bill so far, and STILL havent got the invoice from him. so before we give him any moremoney we wantthe invoice and a proper break down of costs etc. we had to call the same guy out again casue the fan belts he apparently fitted were still making a horrid noise...and the AC was now making ahorrid noise too, all things that either werent happening before he took the car or were ment to be fixed by him. he came to the house and did it for free though so that wasnt too bad. he seems like a really nice guy but i guess that doesnt mean anything does it!

Thanks for all the info ladies....

im not a car expert, but read it to df, he said it sounds like a big rip. also the fan belts sounded like they werent fitted properly thats why there was the noises.


Clover, there is a trick to get rid of the need service beep to apparently ;)

Hi all. I notice this thread is a little old but for what it's worth:

Have owned a 1995 Delica for about 5 years now and have pulled out the fuel pump, turbo and starter motor. It is as a few have said fairly tight to work on, however you do not need to remove the seat to replace the starter motor. With the car on a jack and chocks I pulled out the starter motor, cleaned and tightened connections and put it back all in the space of about an hour. The starter motor is held on by just 2 long bolts although the solenoid is a little tricky undoing. The starter motor can be wiggled down and out through the hoses and pipes under the vehicle. The engine and most of the suspension and running gear are common to Pajeros and so as long as that is taken into account then it is easy to get parts for them. There are a lot of helpful Delica webpages which give answers to most of the problems you have encounted plus quite a few fanatical owners only 2 happy to give you their thoughts and advice on problems and solutions.

most of it will be labour which is the killer...

$1180 sounds right tho.....