I have never worked in a garage, not even my own most of the time. I started working on cars when I was 14, that was 45 yrs ago, so I've learned a couple of things under the o'l shade tree. If that shop took 7hrs to replace your altenator they shouldn't get paid for the 2.5 they lost and you shouldn't have them do anything else on your Tour IMO.
I don't do all my own work but even the first time I did a Tour alt I could have made money on the shop time.
I have a shop that I take my Tour to when I am busy and need something done. They know I have the cd and at times we have discussed proceedures before they start doing something. I have passed info from here and other sources to them about how things should be done, and we have a good relationship. Once they were supposed to check out an oil leak they found where they thought is was coming from and they were going to fix it. I told them to change the serpentine belt since they had to remove it in the process anyway. They found the leak was not where they thought and I did not have them fix it. They tried to charge me 1.5 hrs to change the belt. I said no way that was something I'd have done myself and if they had been correct in the location of the leak in the first place (I paid $75 to have it located using dye) we wouldn't be here. They only charged me for the belt. So we are square.
Shops ought to get what they are worth and everyone needs a fair profit. Excessive charges and changing job scopes are the products of rip-off garages. Your shop didn't loose anything they gained knowledge at your expense.
Happy New Year,
AF
I think you are a little too hard on us. It has been over 20 years since I rolled my tool box home, but I remember the time I spent as a mechanic very well. Also, a good deal of the time since then has been spent as a service adviser or service manager.
I was recognized by Ford as "one of the premier drivability specialists". I was the go to guy when others in the Los Angeles Region couldn't solve the problem. I was also the go to guy locally for hot rodders that had modified their cars and couldn't sort out the tuning.
There were a lot of times that I had much more time in than I could flag. I remember spending over 40 hours sorting out a fuel injection problem with no factory support on a new car only to discover the diagnosis manual led me down a blind path. According to the manual the baro sensor was defective. Eventually it was determined that the baro was reading correctly, Ford had not allowed for a high pressure weather system settling in most of those two or so weeks. I think I flagged about 2.5 hours.
I don't think that should disqualify me as a mechanic.
On the upside, I averaged 12 to 15 flagged hours a day, with several over 20. The very best day I had was just short of 40 hours. Everything I touched that day turned to gold. I think I still have that flag sheet in my tool box.
As a matter of curiosity, how long do you think it would have taken to change that alternator had you not read about it here, using the accumulated knowledge of several enthusiasts?
I have a lot of empathy for those that still work in the trenches. As a service manager, I didn't have a lot of tolerance for mechanics that proved to be hacks or butchers. At the same time I didn't take accusations that someone was a hack if I knew better from observing his work. Maybe that why I'm defending those of us that aren't hacks.
Mechanics are humans. Treat them like they are and you are likely to get better service from them.
I hope that you see the tone from this post that I'm not trying to start a war, but just expand some understanding.
