Local Dealer is charging $450 for a coolant flush..
 

As some of you may or may not know I recently bought a beautiful base model 2009 garage queen with only 18.5K miles on it. I wanted to get the fluids changed on it since I'm unaware of the history of the vehicle.

Am I asking to be gouged since I wanted to go to the dealer for this? My thought was I wanted to make sure it was done right and the dealer would have the most expertise on my new baby. The prices for the other component flushes seem "dealer high", but I'm shocked with the cost of the coolant flush. That's $100-150 dollar deal on my F-150 at most. The service guy said it's a lot more involved--things like replacing the thermostat, etc (usually a $5 part), but I conceded. Was I being fed a line?

FYI, this is what I brought it in for:
-brake fluid flush ($150)
-coolant flush ($450)
-transmission flush ($250)
-differential flush ($250)
-headlight recall (free)

Any feedback is helpful. Sometimes you learn when you're burned.. :/

-Chris

Ouch! All those prices seem high to me, except for the brake flush. Maybe call another dealer or corvette shop and compare costs. Good luck!

:iagree: I do all the work on my cars, but if I didn’t, the last place I’d take my Corvette is the Chevy dealership.

If you prefer to have this service performed by a Chevy dealer shop around and you will find the price will vary from one dealer to the next.

Short version on why the coolant flush is so much money, it's all about shop time.
Hence although no one will be wrenching on the car as its warming up/idling for about 15 each with the distilled water for a flush or two, it's still sitting in the service bay stall during such times, with the labor clock still running as it just sitting there idling. So this alone adds about a hour shop time to the bill.

And its that kind of this way across the board for all shops, since I was going to have a shop change out my water pump in my truck since I was short on time, until I was quoted a grand to do the work. When trying to figure out why there was so much shop time padding, one of the hour padding's was the let the car warm up and idle for about an hour, for it final hot pressure test.

As for how much it cost me to change out the water pump on my own, took about a hour, and total including the coolant and new T stat, came to $70 (and the auto parts shop loaned me the needed specialty tools to spin the fan assembly off the pump for free as well).

On a C6 for raditor flush, 4 gallons of distilled water at $2, gallon of straight Dexcool at around $14, T stat with gasket $20, and just an hour of your own time.

If couldn’t work on it I wouldn’t buy it, you’ll go broke taking an old car to the dealer. Buy a FSM and learn how to do it yourself you’ll be happy that you did.
Back in the old days if you didn’t know how to do it and you’re three buddies didn’t either you were Sol.
now with the internet and YouTube fuck yeah we are all ASE master mechanics lol

Prices are high dealers overcharge labor rate around here is 140 yet insurance companies pay 75 hour

Easy stuff like fluid flushes and oil changes only take a couple hours. Do them yourself for like $200 total. OR take them to any decent shop like a Firestone if you don’t want to lay on your driveway. Chevy Dealers are not your friend, nor do they know more about your mass-produced assembly line Corvette than anyone else. Either way you’re getting the 17 year old rookie to change your oil, you’re just paying twice as much. I don’t mess with brakes because that requires stands and more effort than I care to exert so I pay for that, but everything else is easy.

This is exactly why we call them "Stealerships".

In my opinion, any new car dealer service shop is there simply to serve the manufacturer for warranty work.

Not everyone can do the work themselves, and many just don't want to. That doesn't mean they should not have a car they like. Regardless, try to find a trusted independent mechanic in your area. Maybe contact the local Corvette club to see if they can recommend a local shop.

Way out of line. 2 gallons of antifreeze and an hour of your time.

Since you're in Plano don't go to any dealer. Take your car to 21st Century Muscle Cars and let them do the work. They'll give you much better pricing, and they know 100x more about Corvettes than any dealer does.

Contact the corvette club in your area and ask for referrals to vette wrench turners

Failing that call your cadillac dealership. They love working on our cars

USAF

^^^This^^^

Had mine done for $275.....they put it on a machine and set the dials and away you go. Fluid is transfered , flushed and refilled.Heated up by the machine. Never went near the thermostat. Took all of 40 minutes.

Clif

-brake fluid flush ($150)
-coolant flush ($450)
-transmission flush ($250)
-differential flush ($250)

What's the labor rate - $125 per hour?
Here's a guess.
-brake fluid flush 1 hr $20 parts.. could include opening the ABS with a Tech II
-coolant flush ($450) 3.0 hours & 75 parts, seems high
-transmission flush ($250) 1.0 hour $125 parts, hopefully, drain and fill, w/filter.
-differential flush ($250) 1.5 hour $60 parts, seems high

Yes coolant change seems high for a typical "shop way" of doing things.
I've DIY'd this job, with multiple flushes and distilled water, and yes seems to take 3 hours as a home mechanic.
I also recall the diff fluid may be near $40 a bottle and takes two.

All FWIW good luck.

just to add, unless I'm wrong, the headlight recall you mention was for 06-07. Your 09 shouldn't even be affected.

Personally I try and stay out of dealerships.

I can't do the work myself. There are plenty of others who can't work on their own cars because they lack the skills, have various disabilities or it is not allowed in their apartment or condo complex.

I am in the Bay Area, so I know labor is high, but you guys are way low. It's been several years since I've been to the dealership, but at that time labor was $199/hour. The independent shop I use charges around $174/hour.

Nobody has mentioned what they do with the used fluids. Here they can't be poured down the drain.

Techs I've seen often work on several cars at the same time. While one car is draining or warming up, the tech is working on another car.

You will find differences of opinion on whether the transmission should be flushed or the fluid should be replaced without flushing.