Guys;

i purchase this several items i called corvette paramedics in NEW JERSEY to quote me on installation of this parts.
front- springs,shocks,and tie rods, wheel alingment
rear - leaf spring,shocks,strut rods
pypes exhaust headders back

i was quoted 1718.00 would you guys agree that is a bit to much

 

OMG whats thier labor rate???

 

98.00

 

You'll get lots of votes for "do it yourself" here, me included. Buy some decent hand tools if you don't already have them, secure a sheltered space, and go to work. None of this stuff is insurmountable. There are even guys on here who do there own alignment, although I admit that's not something I've ever tried...the info is out there though. Take the $1700+ that you save and buy some more parts!

 

some of the price is built in considering the fact that you purchased parts and brought them to the shop asking them to install them for you.. they cannot guarantee the parts and there is more than a small chance that the parts may fail and that you will come back at them for it. the parts may also not fit.. they don't want to take the chance.. they add in a price to take that into consideration.. sort of like the corvette tax when painting a corvette.. shops know that owners require higher perfection to the service and have to pay subsequently for it.

would you take your own bacon and eggs to a Dennys and ask them to fry them up for you?

 

looks like we were typing the same thing at the same time!

They seem to not want to do this job for you and have priced it to reflect that,likely because you are supplying your own parts.Keep shopping,it shouldn't be that hard to find someone more reasonable.

 

The rate is certainly high, and that figures to almost 18 hours of labor which also seems excessive. I would keep looking.

 

Well mine is only 80.00 but that still seems like alot of hours for what work your talking about. Not making the parts margin is not my favorite type of work to take in but I dont turn anything away, or run it off by doubling the time it should take. That stuff is all basic B tech jobs.. keep looking or do it yourself!

 

I have done this job on a few forum members cars and charged way less than this. CP does not do their own alignments, they farm them out. I found out who is doing it and take it there myself. The shop gives a forum discount also. The exhaust I would take it to Dennys in Trenton. They will build you a custom exhaust system that will fit and sound better than anything you buy that is supposed to fit. As for the springs and shocks and stuff it is about a 4 to 6 hour job total.

 

I asked CP for a quote to install my pre-purchased front end parts a few years ago and also got a high quote. They will do the work but they will not guarantee it unless they sold you the parts, even if it comes from the exact same supplier (they use all the same ones you and I do...). Don't even bother going back if something fails.

Nice guys, good part prices, but pricey labor and slow turnaround.

I agree completely with Gordon about muffler shop and the alignment shop CP farms out to (which is EXCELLENT). Most of what you're looking to have done is pretty easy.

Enjoy, Steve

 

being on the other side of the fence I would say it seems reasonable. There are a lot of unforeseen issues that can come into play, IE: rusted fasteners, butchery from previous repairs etc. Also an alignment on one of these cars can take 4+ hours if it is done properly.
As far as the parts issue goes, if a customer wants to supply their own parts, I do not have an issue with that nor do I jack up the labor to compensate. IT's actually easier and cheaper for me if they do so. By the time I shop for the best price, find out who has it in stock, do the paperwork, pay the increased insurance premiums on the business insurance, the 20% markup we use is barely breaking even.
However I also will not be responsible for the fit or function of customer supplied parts. WHY??? I had a custmer bring in a clutch that he purchased on ebay. We installed it and found it was not functioning properly. We removed it and found that the hub on the disc was tweaked. OF course the customer blamed us and I wound up eating the cost of the replacement disc and the labor. After that I instituted the policy.
I cannot speak for another shop but can speak for mine. When a car leaves here it is right and if it isn't the customer knows why. Getting it right takes longer than slamming parts on.
I will close in saying that 17 hours to do all that was mentioned including the alignment doesn't seem to be totally unreasonable IMO. It is possible that if everything goes well it might be a bit high but if it doesn't, and it rarely does, it might be a bunch shy. These cars are 30+ years old and with that can come issues.
My two "SENSE"
BTW no offense meant to anyone in any way

 

Since you brought the parts in, your quote shouldn't be higher than $1000....from anybody.

Oops. I didn't include the pipes; $1200.

 

guys i do agree the price being high i do have some time but it seems everytime i try do do something i end up with bad consecuenses so i figure bring it to somebody to do the work my main concern is to find a reputable shop to do the alingment like you guys said this is B mechanic work ,,,,,

thanks

 

Of course you have bad consequences the first time you do it! That's why you have to do it 3 or 4 times to get it right. The first couple are just practice! I would puctuate this with one of these: , except that there is too much truth in that!


Just because you have the parts on hand, doesn't mean the job will go smoothly and be easy, and usually due to no fault of yours. I could do all of the things you need done except the alignment (well, if you want the exhaust welded, I would have to involve a neighbor), but there is no way I would count on that being a one-day affair. I wouldn't even blink if a professional quoted me that job for $1000 labor + the alignment, so we would be talking $1200+. Would I think $1700 is too much? No, not completely out of line if it was the folks I wanted to use and they were going to stand behind their work.

Like others have said: the suspension stuff other than the alignment is pretty straight forward work with a jack, some jack stands and common wrenches. An impact wrench and a compressor come in handy for suspension and exhaust jobs, but are often not required. Do you have a reasonable place to work on the car?

 

Having done most of this myself as a car rookie here is what I would estimate.

Front springs, shocks and tie rods - 4-6 hours
Rear leaf sping, shocks and struts - 2-4 hours
Exhaust - 2-3 hours
Alignment - 2 hours

So that's 10-15 hours.

Shops generally have a 'book hours' that they use to quote something. For example, a proper alignment is a 2 hour job, and that is the quote they will always give.

 

These guys are Corvette mechanics and have al lthe tools and have done this job many times so it should not be any surprises for them. They have all the lifts and tools for this. The front springs shocks and tie rods are all related and the shocks have to come out for the front springs. You knock off the ball joint and the spring comes out. Really it should take them no more than 1 hour per side. The rear spring and struts are the same. Some things have to come off anyway. The only problem the ycould run into is a stuck shock bracket which the yhave done hundreds of times. So maybe 2 to 3 hours on this. The exhaust can be tricky because I have never seen one of these pre fabbed systems fit correctly. I paid 600 for a built system from the headers on back with mufflers. So to install a system might be 2 to 300. The alignment they farm out. I know who the yuse and I have used them and it cost me a little under 100 for the alignment.

Now Corvette Paramedics is a very good shop and does qualitly but you will pay for it like most specialty shops. I do all my own work and have done and am doing some work for a forum member right now, so these prices seem out of line to me. They have to make a living and their shop is always busy so this is what they charge.

For what you want done it is an easy job and you could probably do it yourself or find someone local to help you out. As I said above Dennys in Trenton does excellent exhaust work and he is not that far from you. You might give him a call and discuss your situation with him and see wha tyou can work out.

 

Here in Florida it's about $80/hr. I changed my rear leaf spring myself, wasn't too hard, but muscles I didn't even know I had were hurting the next day. You should be able to do some of this yourself. I'm not a mechanic, but I would do everything but the tie rods & wheel alignment and maybe the exhaust (only because I have ramps and probably couldn't get it high enough to work on).

The last time I had exhaust work done was on a Firebird, Headers back. It was $500 but that was custom work.