How much do dealers try to rip you off? This much....

It's all from a little book. This is the job, this is the amount of time required, these are the necessary parts, plus cost of bending unsuspecting customer over... carry the two... Heh... dealer math.

Im NOT trying to be funny but...I dont understand why someone would take there Mustang to the Ford dealer for performance stuff.

After the Warranty is over, in my opinion, that should be the last time you go to the dealer. There are plenty of Mechanics around with there own shops, who specialize in performance and things of that nature. Private shops, are generally $10.00-$15.00 an hour less, then the Ford dealer. Depending on what shop you use...they are more then willing to work with there long time customers.

Why let the Ford Dealer take shots at you??

Ozone89 said:

Im NOT trying to be funny but...I dont understand why someone would take there Mustang to the Ford dealer for performance stuff.


Why let the Ford Dealer take shots at you??

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hmmmm......lets see>??
1-because the ford dealer has all the neccessary tools to work on all ford vehicles
2-because the ford dealer has all the latest FORD diagnostic equipment
3- and MOST important-the ford dealer has the trained techs who have 10 times the knowledge of these independant shops. bottom line-you get what you pay for!

anyone who has changed gears or a rear-end knows that its very time consuming, and expensive. its not a drop in and go affair. theres getting the crush sleeve tightened to the correct torque specs-and i dont mean tighten to 120 lb. ft, i mean turning torque. then you have to install shims, check back lash, remover the carrier and re-adjust shims to proper spec. its not as easy as you think. but if the shade tree shop installed a whole new carrier, thats a little easier because he doesnt have to replace the old parts-hes just dropping in a whole new unit. i looked in the book the other day to find book time to change gears in my stang.......it was like 6 or 7 hours just to change gears!! just my $.02 since i see it everyday!

vtecgsr952000 said:

hmmmm......lets see>??
1-because the ford dealer has all the neccessary tools to work on all ford vehicles
2-because the ford dealer has all the latest FORD diagnostic equipment
3- and MOST important-the ford dealer has the trained techs who have 10 times the knowledge of these independant shops. bottom line-you get what you pay for!

anyone who has changed gears or a rear-end knows that its very time consuming, and expensive. its not a drop in and go affair. theres getting the crush sleeve tightened to the correct torque specs-and i dont mean tighten to 120 lb. ft, i mean turning torque. then you have to install shims, check back lash, remover the carrier and re-adjust shims to proper spec. its not as easy as you think. but if the shade tree shop installed a whole new carrier, thats a little easier because he doesnt have to replace the old parts-hes just dropping in a whole new unit. i looked in the book the other day to find book time to change gears in my stang.......it was like 6 or 7 hours just to change gears!! just my $.02 since i see it everyday!

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See...there is always 2 sides to everything. You forgot to tell these people that...they are shops that specialize( do you even know what that word means?...I mean honestly) in just rears... or tranny's etc. I know for a Fact, the Ford isnt the only ones who have the latest equipment.
Plus, Some of these custom shops (as far as Mustangs go), are Ex-Ford mechanics. I would never trust the Ford dealer to install a Kenne Bell Supercharger or anything along those lines. You just said that...Ford would know Better then a kenne Bell dealer itself...performance is performance my friend. Your bias opinions are not the whole Truth....2 Ford Mechanics could'nt diagnose my O/D not backing down and working properly..told me nothing was wrong. A 3rd dealership pulled the pan and saw metal shavings....and you want me to take my car to the Dealership?? NO THANKS!!!!

Some of these Ex-Ford mechanics wanna Start there own custom shops to focus on things that the Ford Dealer doesnt. Some of the custom shops are just plain old Motor heads with a wealth of knowledge.

Bottom line is...your bias opinions are gonna steer people in the wrong direction!!! I could see taking a vehicle to the dealer for NON-performance things...I can agree with that. However, I would'nt let the Dealer touch my car if it had any mods!!!

People tend to let bias opinions pass as actual facts!!

yes, performance is performance, but theres quite a bit of difference between installing gears and a kenne bell s/c kit! and asking me if i know what the word specialize means........where did that come from? no one said anything about any specialized shops! i simply said that i would trust a dealer with trained tech's more than i would joe schmoe's auto repair down the street! i think YOU need to get things straight before attacking me-since im the one who works in the dealership everyday and get to deal with many different people everyday! oh, and BTW, try to explain this part of your post to me......or any other tech for that matter!-

2 Ford Mechanics could'nt diagnose my O/D not backing down and working properly..told me nothing was wrong

um.......overdrive backing down?? i thought overdrive was a part of the transmission where the output shaft is spinning faster than the input shaft through an overdrive gear? maybe im wrong!! and how do i know that the ford tech's that diagnosed your truck werent a couple of idiots-OR that they couldnt verify the problem? and also, maybe the 3rd guy just dropped the pan cause he didint know what else to do and got lucky? neither of us know for sure, buti guarantee it doesnt work like that where i work!

vtecgsr952000 said:

um.......overdrive backing down?? i thought overdrive was a part of the transmission where the output shaft is spinning faster than the input shaft through an overdrive gear? maybe im wrong!!

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somehow the car will go into overdrive and out of overdrive. i don't know if it's electrical or mechanical, but you just described what overdrive is, not how it actually functions in the tranny

inferno9898 said:

somehow the car will go into overdrive and out of overdrive. i don't know if it's electrical or mechanical, but you just described what overdrive is, not how it actually functions in the tranny

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yes, over drive is achieved through a set of planetary gears and clutches/bands and is controlled electronically. there are plenty of possibilities that could cause this concern. maybe it has a input shaft speed sensor problem, or output shaft speed sensor problem, or a valve body problem, who knows? could be a shift solenoid, or even a wire that broke off or got chewed through by a rodent.......theres many posibilities.

i dont think Ozone was treated properly, and the problem should have been addressed with him in the vehicle if needed, or whatever was needed. you never send a customer home without fixing the problem unless you simply couldnt duplicate it. ford Dealers, NOT ford, need to straighten up. all it takes is one dealer to make us alll look bad.........

Was 2 different Ford Dealers who make all the other "Good" dealers out there look bad.
Finally my Brother's Dealer got down to the problem and replaced the Tranny cause of shavings.

Why didnt I take it there in the begining?? Didnt want Special treatment.

As far as the O/D problem, your attempt at making me not knowing the answer was kind of lame. If I knew the answer, then I wouldnt of had to take it to a Ford Dealer in the begining huh?? But, everyone knows that...when you press the O/D button to off...the vehicle backs down(something kicks in) when over speeds over 40mph.
I must of struck a nerve cause...you wanted to focus on a technical question and wanted a technical answer in the end.

Im not like most people..I let the professionals take care of my vehicle needs. You never beat a Professional at his own Profession!!
With that said, Im sticking to my original reploy to the to thread here..
Why in the world, would I take my Car to the dealer for Performance realted things? Why would I pay a Ford Dealer Mechanic, to spend time on my car, when he wouldnt know the set-up, and it would be like..the blind leading the blind.
The funny thing about this whole topic is...the 3 family members I have working for Ford, all say the samethings. So why should we listen to your advice, when they are biased opinions??

You make it sound like the Ford dealers are Kings, when it comes to performance mods to the Mustang.

You have young guys coming on this board, not knowing anything, and relying on these forums for "truthful" answers. Then you make your salesman Pitch that Ford's mechanics are this and that....thats not the example we should be giving these young guys!

I stumbled onto a good dealer-service solution for my car, anyway - bought it from a Lincoln-Mercury-Jaguar dealership as a trade-in, and brought it there during the warranty. I continue to bring it there even after the warranty, because they have terrific service and yet it's all 100% Ford. The only drawback is sometimes if they need a Mustang-specific part it might take a day. And I can't say they are downright cheap, but they are very reasonable. I can't speak for all L-M dealerships, but this one is fantastic. They have a sister Ford dealership that I haven't gone to because it's farther away.

I have owned many makes of vehicles and I can tell you that almost without exception the dealer themselves will charge more for a repair than anyone else. This is not to say its because they have better trained personnel, not hardly - most dealership mechanics that I have seen are idiots simply because the dealer will provide them with people coming in for service no matter what whereas independant shops lose lots of potential business every time they screw something up.

How about the GM dealership that put $1200 worth of parts onto my 96 T/A (including one or two they broke themselves) because they couldn't diagnose a bad EGR valve - 5 minutes after I drove it off the lot I had it fixed. How about the Ford dealership that had no idea at all why my 95 Mustang wouldn't stay running for longer than 20 minutes, and then took 15 to start up again...I ended up trading the car in after 4 trips of that crap. How about the Nissan dealership that wanted to flush the tranny and replace the filter on my 98 Sentra, AT MY EXPENSE because the transmission was grinding the 2nd gear teeth off every time you shifted...the car had less than 10,000 miles.

Unless its a warranty repair, I stay far away from dealerships...

Ozone, once again, i never said anything about performance parts........re-read the posts! I was simply stating that the dealership has trained tech's to fix ford vehicles.

You can go on and on about your family working at ford dealers, but when it comes to warranty work and all other repairs of that nature, the dealer has to have someone trained on that specific vehicle before they can work on the car. for example, when the new 6.0L diesel came out, you couldnt submit any warranty repairs unless you had a tech with 6.0L diesel certification working on it. thats not to say that all techs are senior master techs, but they have ford specific training, whereas joe schmoes repair has some guys with good knowledge, but most of them just know a little about cars and that gets them by-OR they used to work on old school muscle cars, and cant do **** with todays electronically controlled cars.

i realize many people come here for advice, and thats fine. im sure there are plenty of ford techs on here as well, and i will always support the work of ford certified techs AND good customer service-NO matter the cost compared to some fool who does oil changes and brake jobs for $10 less per hour. i want someone who knows the car, and the trained techs get their training through the dealer-since its only available through the dealer. look at all the mustang monthly magazines you want, but you gotta go to school to get the real training these guys have. not tryin to start ****, just tellin the truth!

Pitch Black said:

So I tore up my rear end a few weeks ago and had it towed to Ford. $1500 for new bearings, stock gears, and labor.

Just got my car back today from an independant mechanic. $425 for a completely new 8.8 tlok w/ 4.10's intalled. Holy **** does Ford ever try and rip the crap off of you

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Fords hourly labor charges are based off the mean income of your area. My area is $50/hr labor charge. The Ford my friend works at is $60/hr labor charge. I had my friend at the $60/hr dealer rebuild my rear and install a new ring and pinion for $180 bucks. Looks like your independent mechanic ripped you off.

Want cheaper labor? Get everybody in your metro area to make less money. .

our shop rate is 70 bucks an hour......in St. louis, and chicago, ive heard its anywhere from that to 90 bucks an hour!!

Ford tried charging me 155 for a SINGLE ignition coil after telling me it was 50 a week earlier(found one on ebay for $18). Also told me "about 400" for a window regulator and have it installed "its about 4 hours of labor"(BS!). I bought the regulator from ford for about 50 I think and paid a body shop 40(1 hour labor) for them to install it.

jbrown said:

Ford tried charging me 155 for a SINGLE ignition coil after telling me it was 50 a week earlier(found one on ebay for $18). Also told me "about 400" for a window regulator and have it installed "its about 4 hours of labor"(BS!). I bought the regulator from ford for about 50 I think and paid a body shop 40(1 hour labor) for them to install it.

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ignition coils are between $95-105 each, so that price sounds about right.