Is this a reasonable quote?

[Qwerty321]

I've been quoted $380NZD for replacing both rear bump stops, as well as $420-480NZD for replacing the rear discs and rear brake pads. The handbrakes need re-balancing and are included in the quote.

Also, I'm getting a transmission cooler installed (No Service needed apparently as the oil is in good condition) for $280.


Do these sound like reasonable quotes to you guys? Any comments?

[Qwerty321]

All in all the car had a thorough inspection and these were the only issues found. I have to say I'm extremely impressed with the car. 420,000 and still going strong. Kudos to you Ford, you've built a tank of a car.

[Feathers]

If you have any space, or a friend with a garage and ramps, replace the bump stops yourself. I think I paid $27 for aftermarket ones from Pedders. It takes about 10 minutes.

Otherwise, I'd be shopping around. That seems steep.

If that isn't an option, then at the very least I'd do some research and supply the parts to the workshop you go with.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by Feathers

If you have any space, or a friend with a garage and ramps, replace the bump stops yourself. I think I paid $27 for aftermarket ones from Pedders. It takes about 10 minutes.

Otherwise, I'd be shopping around. That seems steep.

If that isn't an option, then at the very least I'd do some research and supply the parts to the workshop you go with.

Yes that's what I was thinking too. The Bump stop quote is quite exorbitant for the work required. I won't be looking at doing the work myself for two reasons, 1) I don't have the time and don't have the equipment and 2) Even if I could, I heard that replacing the bump stops is a massive pain cause they new ones just wont fit properly and require a lot of force and some lube etc. etc. Atleast that's the case with Nolathene ones. I'll definitely be shopping around for some quotes on the bump stops though.

[Shonky.]

rear bump stops are easier to change than a road wheel

[Feathers]

I literally just backed my car on ramps to be able to get under it, pulled the old ones off by hand (they were stuffed), and with a little rubber lube, and not that much elbow grease, popped the new ones on. Simples.

Unless you're looking at specific pads and discs for an upgrade, they can all be sourced quite cheaply as well.

[RANGEREST]

For a $1000-1100 you could fly me over from OZ, buy a cheap jack and socket set, I could do those little jobs then you could take me skiing

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by Feathers

I literally just backed my car on ramps to be able to get under it, pulled the old ones off by hand (they were stuffed), and with a little rubber lube, and not that much elbow grease, popped the new ones on. Simples.

Unless you're looking at specific pads and discs for an upgrade, they can all be sourced quite cheaply as well.

Like I said, I don't have ramps or jacks, so up till now I've only done work on the car that either doesn't require me getting under it or is accessible when I park it so it's propped up on the kerb.

The way I see it, the bump stop quote was definitely a rip off, considering these are quotes from AA Service (They do the best inspections), I'm not surprised. I'm looking at taking it to an independent that I've used in the past for machining the front discs, and getting both the rear discs and the bump stops done at the same time. Assuming he's doing the discs and having the car up on jacks, I don't think the bump stop would require any extra labour charges. I checked and I could pick up some replacement bump stops for $55, so any quote higher than $80 for doing the bump stops I'll be immediately turning away, especially when he's already got the car up on the hoists when replacing the discs.

Oh and also, I believe the AA quote was a general baseline quote that they have for a bump stop replacement job. I understand most cars have the bump stops within the coil and require a wee bit of work to get at. In which case the $380 quote makes some sense.

EDIT : My bad. Turns out a pair of rear bump stops is going to set me back $98. Guess I'll have to settle for any quote sub $130 for the job them.

[scottyg938]

surely you've got the standard jack for the car?
I put some superpro ones in mine, didn't need any grease or anything to get them one, little bit of wiggling back and forth to get the stock ones off and then same to get the new ones on, job done.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by scottyg938

surely you've got the standard jack for the car...

EDIT : Ignore this post. I did a stupid

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by Qwerty321

Oh my god.....

It never occurred to me to use the jack that comes with the car for tire changing. I always just assumed that it wasn't designed for other use. I'd be willing to risk it without jack stands just cause I won't actually be getting under the car, just putting a hand in and fiddling around with the bump stop. I had a look and they seem like a pretty simple job to get done, I'm definitely going to give them a go myself. Worst case, if they car drops due to extremely bad luck, my arm should be fine in the clearance between the car and the ground anyway, might get a bit of a fright and maybe a bruised hand, but I'll live

Do not do that. Very unsafe as those jacks are flimsy.. You can easily break an arm or do worse damage to yourself, and you'll probably be looking underneath behind the wheel as well so your head gets under there as well.
.
Invest in jack stands and a proper 2000kg jack that you can then use for years to come.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

Do not do that. Very unsafe as those jacks are flimsy.. You can easily break an arm or do worse damage to yourself, and you'll probably be looking underneath behind the wheel as well so your head gets under there as well.
.
Invest in jack stands and a proper 2000kg jack that you can then use for years to come.

Yea, that's what I'd thought previously, thanks for clearing that up though. I always thought they jacks that came with the car looked a bit too "cheap" for my liking.

I guess it's time I finally bit the bullet and bought some jack stands and a proper 2000KG jack. Would your recommend going with Jacks and jack stands, or going with ramps?

[Silver Ghia]

Total tools have a 2000kg low profile jack for around $170 that would fit under the bumpers or side skirts. Normal trolley jacks can be a problem to fit underneath the modern cars.

They would also have 2000kg safety jack stands. Get the type which have four feet rather than the ones with a metal base and square section tubing welded in vertically.

[sierra63]

In regards to the use of the trolley jack, does anyone have a diagram or pictures, on where exactly are the recommended locations for the jack, and the stands on a Ford Falcon.

[Shonky.]

Originally Posted by sierra63

In regards to the use of the trolley jack, does anyone have a diagram or pictures, on where exactly are the recommended locations for the jack, and the stands on a Ford Falcon.

good pics and commentary in this thread

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthr...ht=jacking+car

[Tassie f100]

Seems tome to be a lot of cash for a job that should entail about $120 discs and pads,$40 bump stops and about 2 hrs labour.Better you take 2 days off work and take the time to do the job yourself.

[Tommie]

In terms of the bump stops, the price you were quoted is insane. They are about $30-40. To replace you dont even need stands or jacks etc. I just slid under the car and wriggled the old ones off and pressed in the new ones (from pedders) in. And my car is lowered too. Suggest you have a go as it was easy as, and will save you a fair amount of $.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by Tommie

In terms of the bump stops, the price you were quoted is insane. They are about $30-40. To replace you dont even need stands or jacks etc. I just slid under the car and wriggled the old ones off and pressed in the new ones (from pedders) in. And my car is lowered too. Suggest you have a go as it was easy as, and will save you a fair amount of $.

Yea I checked it out. I talked to my usual mechanic who's doing rotors and mentioned how the bump stops were really easily accessible and he told me to bring it in so he could look. Anyway, he's said $100 for the bump stops job, which is really good cause the part itself is around $90 through his supplier, so I'm just chucking him a tenner to switch them over. I asked him about the ridiculous quote I got from AA, and he reckons it's cause AA usually deals with euros and most of them have the bump stops within the suspension, that combined with the high parts costs would quite easily drive the price up to the $300's as labour is $90 an hour or so. AA would easily overcharge by $50, but that's no surprise, everyone knows AA charges high rates. I'm fairly confident that if I had taken the job to AA, they would have only ended up charging me $200 at the most, they may be costly but they're an honest franchise.


And you got to factor in the NZ factor mate. The parts here are always going to be costlier than over the ditch. All the spares we get here are likely imported over from aus, so you've got to factor in that cost, as well as how our dollar is typically significantly weaker than yours. The quote I got for the parts is straight from Supercheap Auto. $97.77 including GST for a pair, and Repco were fairly similar in their pricing too.

[Shonky.]

So they inspected the car, diagnosed it as needing bump stops replaced, but were unable to be sure of where they are located and how much labour was involved?

Mate. They tried to rip you off. Pure and simple. I wouldn't make or accept excuses for them.

Glad you're getting it sorted without getting it too hard in the butt. You were right to check on here first, that's what the forum is for

[Mainlube]

Just wondered how they new the oil was OK?

Did they test it?

Or did they guess?

If they are using the old sniff and look method then if it's knackered enough

to tell that way (which is extremely unreliable) the tranny usually suffers before it looks bad enough to tell?

Just wondering?

Cheers

Steve

[arronm]

They have X-ray glasses they got from the backpage of the comic book

[Qwerty321]

On the note of the oil, I'm fairly sure they have an oil testing machine. I believe its a proper machine for engine oil and some spot/swab disc style tests for ATF. Whether or not they used it is of course another story, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

On the note of the quote, the inspector and quoter are different people. They have a team of about 7 people working in the workshop, one of them did the inspection and then wrote down everything that was wrong on the inspection sheet. The quote comes from the receptionist person. She basically fills everything from the report into the computer and selects everything that is wrong, and this then gets printed out with a quote on it which is whatever is listed as estimate for that job on the computer. Obviously its not a great system. I know AA do have a policy of genuine parts for everything so that could also drive up the price. I was given a copy of the inspection sheet and the print out quote. Inspection sheet which is hand written by the inspector has no quotes on it.

As I said, I never planned on getting the job done with AA. I just went there for the inspection as they do inspections best. Have rolling roads, suspension test machines and what not.

[Qwerty321]

Them trying to pull a fast one is a possibility. All I'm doing is playing the devils advocate here to get both sides of the story. Either way, this makes no difference to the actual situation and really isn't worth us getting riled up about.

[Tommie]

Don't think anyone is getting riled up. You asked if quotes were reasonable and received some responses. All good.