W. T. F.!! $998.00 !!!

[Donne Trav]

Dealership to charge me a whopping $998.00 to replace my
supposedly leaking water pump — one that I replaced 2 1/2 yrs.
ago. My first thought was maybe a gasket leak?? And maybe remove
the pump — scrape old gasket and replace.??
But, $998.00! COME ON MAN!!

[catbert]

The fact that you replaced the pump recently doesn't mean it wasn't the problem. Most garages won't put an old water pump back on unless you direct them to do it.

[Huskerman]

The dreaded Corvette Tax...........Might want to shop it around a bit to see if some independents will do it cheaper then the stealership........sounds like a lot to me.

[96gs917]

I bought my 96 polo green LT4 in 99 with 15k miles on it. At 18k I needed a water pump. I had an extended warrenty
so I didn't have to pay but 3 years later @ 25K the water pump began to leak from the weep hole. Antifreeze would
leak onto the belt, splatter all over the hood, and cause the belt to slip making the power steering notchy. I did have to pay
for the second water pump which cost me $695.00 not through the dealer. (I still have the receipt) I thought it was a little
high but I didn't have time to do it myself, and I didn't want to cause any problems with the Opti. So far the Opti is fine and the
car runs great. This second water pump, or third if you count the original pump, hasn't had any issues to date, and the car now has
39k on it.

I would go to an independant shop. They tend to be cheaper as Huskerman stated.

[Scottsredvette]

Replaced mine about 1 year ago, private shop that does a lot of work on Vettes. Cost was just a tad bit over 400.00 with a one year guarantee. This is on an 89 with about 139,000 miles on it now.

[aboatguy]

Replaced mine about 1 year ago, private shop that does a lot of work on Vettes. Cost was just a tad bit over 400.00 with a one year guarantee. This is on an 89 with about 139,000 miles on it now.

1955-1991 SBC pumps are a different animal than the 1992-1997 LT1 pump. However, your's should have been much easier to replace.


Donnie 998 wouldn't be out of line for a GM LT1 waterpump, OPTI and labor.



MIke

[GS Diva]

I was wondering if the $998 price was for an optispark. Sounds like way too much for just a water pump.

Elaine

[Vettelt193]

The pump MSRP is $454.84. Available from GM Parts direct for 236.52. The stealership probably charged you the book rate hours (guessing 3-4) plus coolant, etc. and full MSRP for the pump. Pretty standard from them which is why I only use the stealership for very specific issues. I can't stand the fact that you pay a premium for techs that know what they are doing but they still charge you the full book hours regardless of what it actually took them. The $100+ an hour they charge would be great if they charged actual time only. My guess is the tech took 1.5 hours to change the pump and charged at least double that.

The funny thing is the water pump on the LT1/4 is very reliable because it is cam driven Vs. belt driven where there is a bunch of side load on the pump bearing. It should be a 100k mile pump but I guess every once in a while there is a dud though.

[93Rubie]

The pump MSRP is $454.84. Available from GM Parts direct for 236.52. The stealership probably charged you the book rate hours (guessing 3-4) plus coolant, etc. and full MSRP for the pump. Pretty standard from them which is why I only use the stealership for very specific issues. I can't stand the fact that you pay a premium for techs that know what they are doing but they still charge you the full book hours regardless of what it actually took them. The $100+ an hour they charge would be great if they charged actual time only. My guess is the tech took 1.5 hours to change the pump and charged at least double that.

The funny thing is the water pump on the LT1/4 is very reliable because it is cam driven Vs. belt driven where there is a bunch of side load on the pump bearing. It should be a 100k mile pump but I guess every once in a while there is a dud though.

That is how flat rate techs make money. Doing the job under book time. The kicker is you get paid the same whether you do it fast or take 8 hours and only get paid 3 or 4. The potential to make money is there and the potential to lose money is there too.

I know all about that stuff, I work flat rate. I DON'T recommend it. Most times due to lack of work, I get screwed over BIG time.
You want better quality of work and a fair pay for the tech demand they get paid hourly. The only ones who really benefit from flat rate is NOT the tech or the customer. The dealership ONLY, they make money by screwing over the tech and the customer.

A WELL paid tech might make $30 an hour on the VERY high end. Most around my parts make $10-25 or so depending on experience and training. Too bad they don't pay for quality of work or good ethics.....I'd be making more than I am. That $100+ you can see is MOSTLY pocketed by the dealer. I'm WAY to honest to be in this business and I suffer for it financially. Which I why I want to go back to an independent and hourly or get out of it entirely. I'm sick of all the jag offs and crooks.

Sorry I had to vent on this one.

[Huskerman]

@ 93Rubie......I hope you stay in it. Appreciate your integrity, that in the long run is all you get to take with you.....

[93Rubie]

@ 93Rubie......I hope you stay in it. Appreciate your integrity, that in the long run is all you get to take with you.....

Very good point.

[Vettelt193]

That is how flat rate techs make money. Doing the job under book time. The kicker is you get paid the same whether you do it fast or take 8 hours and only get paid 3 or 4. The potential to make money is there and the potential to lose money is there too.

I know all about that stuff, I work flat rate. I DON'T recommend it. Most times due to lack of work, I get screwed over BIG time.
You want better quality of work and a fair pay for the tech demand they get paid hourly. The only ones who really benefit from flat rate is NOT the tech or the customer. The dealership ONLY, they make money by screwing over the tech and the customer.

A WELL paid tech might make $30 an hour on the VERY high end. Most around my parts make $10-25 or so depending on experience and training. Too bad they don't pay for quality of work or good ethics.....I'd be making more than I am. That $100+ you can see is MOSTLY pocketed by the dealer. I'm WAY to honest to be in this business and I suffer for it financially. Which I why I want to go back to an independent and hourly or get out of it entirely. I'm sick of all the jag offs and crooks.

Sorry I had to vent on this one.

In my experience the stealership charges the book rate if the tech takes that amount of time or less. If the tech runs into issues and it takes longer then the stealership charges the extra hours. As a customer I don't know who gets the money... all I know is it came out of my wallet. That's why I have an issue with it. If it was flat rate every time and as a customer I win some and lose some depending on the job I wouldn't mind it. The fact that they gladly charge when it takes longer but never charge less when it takes less is where I take issue.

[bucwheat]

Do it yourself again.

[93Rubie]

In my experience the stealership charges the book rate if the tech takes that amount of time or less. If the tech runs into issues and it takes longer then the stealership charges the extra hours. As a customer I don't know who gets the money... all I know is it came out of my wallet. That's why I have an issue with it. If it was flat rate every time and as a customer I win some and lose some depending on the job I wouldn't mind it. The fact that they gladly charge when it takes longer but never charge less when it takes less is where I take issue.

I totally get your position. Fair is fair. However, most dealerships are not fair to the tech or the customer. They should NEVER charge additional labor time without approval. I agree if they are going to charge extra then they should charge less if it takes less time. This being only playing fair. That would not be fair to the flat rate tech unless they still gave them the book time for the job.....Yeah, right, the dealers often screw over the techs just as much as they do customers.

I know if we run into problems we typically do not charge extra. That being said my service manager is very focused on the Service part of service. Consequently, he has better numbers and the shop makes more money than our "sister" dealers. We have better customer retention and satisfaction. The place I work is on the up and up. Its not a stealership, sales or service. I've worked in stealerships before, never again. My philosophies don't jive with those that are crooks. Hmm...lets see happy customers who return and we make more money than those that screw people over....what a crazy concept.

Honestly, most dealer owners are so busy counting their pennies and trying to save a dime here and there they are missing the dollars. (Dollars=Big Picture). You might lose on a deal one once in a while but if you treat folks fair they'll come back, instead of screwing over everyone that walks in and NO one comes back.

I'm just a stupid mechanic WTF do I know.

[catbert]

Dealership aren't always any worse than independents. I just took my daughters car in for a timing belt replacement, and told them to replace the water pump while they had the belts and sheet metal away from the front end of the engine. When I got the car back, they tried to charge me labor for belt replacement and charged the same labor bill for the water pump replacement. When I called them on it, they looked shocked that I was on to their game and dropped the second charge without another word. And this was my friendly home town indy garage that lives by word of mouth recommendations. All greed is not corporate.