Labor Cost of Replacing Heater Blower Motor and Resistor

[djjerme]

It waffled out the name of a female deer? That's weird.

Jane waffleswaffleswaffles
John waffleswaffleswaffles

Dough?

[e30austin]

Say you think your starter is bad:
Did the shop diagnose the starter as the problem, or did you bring them a part and ask them to put it on the car? What happens you just asked them to put the part on and it didn't fix anything? What happens if your OE starter fails after a month? Obviously your warranty covers the part, but who covers the labor of putting in another starter? Do you have to buy a second starter so the shop can just remove and replace, or does your car take up space on their lot/lift while you wait for a new starter?

When a mechanic diagnoses an issue, supplies the part, and installs the part, all the responsibility is on the shop. As a shop, I wouldn't want to warranty any customer supplied part or the labor to install it. Also as a shop, I wouldn't want to lose profit to an online retailer.

So personally, I would be nervous about a shop that gives up profit and assuming the labor cost if a part fails.

This. All this. Having done this a while, I really don't like using customer supplied parts, but if they want to be a cheap ass and install their parts they "got for super super super cheap on that new FCP EURO site", I will, in rare, certain situations and do not want to hear fuck-all when said POS Chinese part fails.

That being said, the job isn't bad if you have an M10 or M20 powered car. Any of the twin-cam (S14, M42, 24v, etc) engines are more annoying to work with, but it is most certainly doable. Expect to pay two hours shop time if you take it somewhere. Possibly more, depending on which car you have. The last 318is I changed one on took me about an hour all said and done. That annoying ass wiring harness cover gets right in the way.

[MrBurgundy]

Probably going to pay about 2 hours.

They might up their labor a little, since you're bringing the parts and that is a profit loss for them.

I hate when customers bring me parts :p

Like said above, it is worth it to have them do everything. If it shits, they warranty parts and labor.

[cory58]

Say you think your starter is bad:
Did the shop diagnose the starter as the problem, or did you bring them a part and ask them to put it on the car? What happens you just asked them to put the part on and it didn't fix anything? What happens if your OE starter fails after a month? Obviously your warranty covers the part, but who covers the labor of putting in another starter? Do you have to buy a second starter so the shop can just remove and replace, or does your car take up space on their lot/lift while you wait for a new starter?

When a mechanic diagnoses an issue, supplies the part, and installs the part, all the responsibility is on the shop. As a shop, I wouldn't want to warranty any customer supplied part or the labor to install it. Also as a shop, I wouldn't want to lose profit to an online retailer.

So personally, I would be nervous about a shop that gives up profit and assuming the labor cost if a part fails.

I trust my shops and they trust me. We both understand that there is no warranty on repairs when I supply the parts. If I did not trust them enough for that arrangement, I would find another shop. They also know I'm a BMW enthusiast (with 3 old Bimmers) and not a douche that would unfairly rip them online when a part I supply fails. They value my long-term business over a markup on a part. Maybe a certain type of shop attracts a certain type of customer, or maybe it's a Southern thing.

Cory

[MrBurgundy]

Through my experience, it will one day end up a bad experience for both parties. Once I did a clutch on a car and the clutch kit he gave me ended up being shit. I ended up taking the tranny out 3 times. I did that to ensure I installed it correctly before I called the customer telling him he gave me a bad part and I need to charge him XXXX dollars again to install the right one. He ended up saving a few bucks on the kit, but at the end of the job he paid labor twice, which ended up being hundreds more than if he would have ordered the right parts through me to begin with. After that experience, I only install customer supplied parts if they're genuine.

[e30austin]

Through my experience, it will one day end up a bad experience for both parties. Once I did a clutch on a car and the clutch kit he gave me ended up being shit. I ended up taking the tranny out 3 times. I did that to ensure I installed it correctly before I called the customer telling him he gave me a bad part and I need to charge him XXXX dollars again to install the right one. He ended up saving a few bucks on the kit, but at the end of the job he paid labor twice, which ended up being hundreds more than if he would have ordered the right parts through me to begin with. After that experience, I only install customer supplied parts if they're genuine.

10/10 agreed...

[e30davie]

Sometimes i think id like to work on cars for a living. Then I read threads on this. I think ill just stick to it as a hobby with the only stakeholder being myself.

[e30austin]

Sometimes i think id like to work on cars for a living. Then I read threads on this. I think ill just stick to it as a hobby with the only stakeholder being myself.

It's definitely not for everyone. However, if you specialize in one or two things and get really good at them, it's a good thing for everyone. Nothing is perfect, but the reward outweighs the risk, IMHO.

[JasonC]

It waffled out the name of a female deer? That's weird.

Jane waffleswaffleswaffles
John waffleswaffleswaffles

Dough?

You can thank RUFFLZ for that and part of the NOR-CAL crew for that.

[ForcedFirebird]

According to repair shop data, the m42 and m20 cars show .9 hours to install a blower motor. If they charge you other than what everyone else in the country is looking at (shop software), they are over-charging.

Side note: My shop allows customers to bring parts, but as mentioned above, no warranty. Had a good example of this once. Porsche Cayanne starter. Customer balked at the price of an OE starter, provided his own knowing there was no warranty. Well, only two weeks later we had to do the job again. Not a big deal on most cars, but that particular engine is direct injection with the starter under the intake manifold (V8). At the time the car was still fairly new and starters were in the $600 range, he purchased online for $300-something, but it was the 7hr install time that hurt (twice).

[jhaurimn]

if only it was that easy lol, the m42, and m50s etc, you may as well remove intake

No need to remove the intake manifold on m50/52 cars, theres enough room.

[e30austin]

No need to remove the intake manifold on m50/52 cars, theres enough room.

No, but removing the intake or dropping the subframe down sure makes it 10000x easier. I prefer dropping the subframe a couple inches, personally.

[McGyver]

Has anyone seen OP lately?

[Das Delfin]

OP, if you have an m20 car, it's worth your time doing it yourself. I've taken mine in and out multiple times now (first with another used one, then with a brand new motor, then I had to take it out to replace the wipers), and it's always been way cold outside when I happened to be in there. It's not hard at all, just involves some thinking and patience, mainly when navigating the motor past the intake manifold. Also, the metal clip that holds the motor itself doesn't like to go in unless you get it perfect, so pay attention to how it comes out. Should take you an hour and a half top if it's your first time.

One time I had a shop replace a freeze plug on my '89 Toyota pickup with the V6, which they said they couldn't get to without taking one of the heads off. I wasn't mechanically inclined at the time and my dad offered to help pay for it, so what was supposed to be $300 naturally became head gaskets, entire new cooling system, timing belt etc etc. It took a week and a half for the shop to do. A few days after I got the car back it was leaking coolant again so I had it towed back to the shop. It was a slow leak not coming from the rad or t-stat housing or any of the hoses. After they'd had a bit to look at it they deemed that one of the freeze plugs hadn't been installed correctly.

How much of their shit was BS, I don't know - I'm guessing quite a bit. But it was satisfying knowing they'd have to do the entire job over again because it was under shop warranty, which would not have applied had I been hunting around for parts trying to save $20 here and there.

[fakeplstctrees]

dont be surprised when they quote you 1000$


its a major pita depending on motor

It's a M20B25 engine, super easy job. I would have done it myself if I had the experience, tools, and garage. I think I paid about a hundred bucks.

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