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I start wondering if dealers equalize Corvette with $$$ and owners will accept any quote immediately. Maybe there are too many Doctors and Lawyers in the city
AutoNation Chevrolet in Doral, Florida quote me $800 in LABOR only for replacing all 4 Shocks
1201 NW 89th Ct
Doral, FL 33172
877-871-8293
AutoNation Chevrolet in Miami, Florida quote me $750 in LABOR only for replacing all 4 Disc Brakes
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They either just do not want to do the work (hence the high quote) or are on their prices. Best bet if you can't do the work yourself is shop around for a good shop that charges reasonable rates for the work.
Years ago I was traveling with my '01 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it started to run hot in traffic due to the electric fans not switching on. I was about 90 miles from my home, so I called a Jeep dealer to get a quote to replace the electric fan relay. The dealer quoted me around $800 labor and $100 for the part plus tax. Dealer said the high labor charge was because they need to take much of the front end off to access the relay. Needless to say, I passed. So I visited nearby family and waited until 2AM and drove home in the cool night air without any traffic so I had no overheating issues, the temperature ran normal. The next day I went to the nearby Napa and bought the relay for around $40, unbolted my headlamp and cut a hole in the plastic housing beneath and accessed the relay in a couple of minutes. Then I removed and replaced the relay, re-attached the plastic cutout piece with aluminum tape and re-installed the headlamp, the whole job took me about 20 minutes start to finish. I found the same relay on line for under $30 shipped but I needed it immediately.
I'm sure that the dealer would have done the repair the same way for the quoted $900 plus tax. I saved $860 and a lot of time.
Go to Orlando, Tampa or anywhere else if you don't have a friend that can help.
It sounds like the mechanic is making more than the doctors and lawyers.
Edit; One thing I didn't consider is that when they work on the brakes, they may be required to warranty the entire brake system for safety and liability reasons (possible legal issues related to safety). I'm not sure though but I have noticed that brake work is abnormally high in legitimate shops.
I think that part of the problem is that they know you have to have a lift to do much of anything on a Corvette.
There no difference in the mechanics ability to work on a Vette vs a Tahoe........ once you get it up in the air, but you've got to get it up there.
Complete BS. Can't think of many jobs on a C5 that require a lift, short of removing the engine or doing the clutch.
Usually extremely high quotes are nice ways of turning down jobs. I'm sure they have other stuff they'd rather be doing than tying up a bay for shocks or brakes. Both of these jobs are easy to DIY anyway.
I have replaced all my shocks, calipers and rotors/pads (twice) - one wheel at a time in my garage with just a jack?
I had to heat up my caliper bolts to get them to come loose using even an impact wrench, but once they were heated they came out effortlessly. Only other caveat was I made the mistake of trying to reuse the lower rear shock bolts - they are only meant to be torqued once - so both mine broke on the first try. New bolts, no problem torquing them to spec.
I have replaced all my shocks, calipers and rotors/pads (twice) - one wheel at a time in my garage with just a jack?
I had to heat up my caliper bolts to get them to come loose using even an impact wrench, but once they were heated they came out effortlessly. Only other caveat was I made the mistake of trying to reuse the lower rear shock bolts - they are only meant to be torqued once - so both mine broke on the first try. New bolts, no problem torquing them to spec.
I was unaware that the shock bolts were TTY's. Why would the use them? I never heard it mentioned here before.
I'm getting ready to install my shocks. I guess I will try to find the bolts now.
I was unaware that the shock bolts were TTY's. Why would the use them? I never heard it mentioned here before.
I'm getting ready to install my shocks. I guess I will try to find the bolts now.
I reused mine ... on the rear the FSM torque spec is WRONG...many have busted the bolt trying to obtain the 162 ft lbs if I remember right... Just torque it to 100 ft lbs and call it good