John Mulders Posted June 23, 2011 Report Posted June 23, 2011 Not sure how this works in other places. We have a Toyota Corona 94 model for the boys when they visit. So when the bi-annual safety was due I checked and fixed the obvious (lights , wipers) and thought it would be no problem (the car has been partially submerged last rain season but is running fine again). It was rejected as there was too much play/wear on the front-end bushings. No problem and I asked my mechanic what the costs would be, estimated 125 $ parts and labor. But then he called as he was trying to get the bushings at the local Toyota dealer parts shop. They don't sell the bushings as parts but you have to buy the whole front-end arm.... 300 $ per piece. Seems Toyota finds it easier to make money that way as stocking small parts doesn't generate money... Fortunately my mechanic found someone who had a spare set of these bushings and will fix it tomorrow. Really makes me angry, it is a rip off and you can't do anything about it. Alternative would be purchasing the parts outside the island but that also cost extra (S&H , import duties). On the other hand, there are shops on the island where you can buy bolts , screws etc per piece at very reasonable prices. Can you get the parts locally or do you face the same expensive costs for large replacement pieces? John Quote
greg g Posted June 23, 2011 Report Posted June 23, 2011 Seems lots of stuff is going that way these days, Honda CRV drive Drive shaft U joints are only available with the driveshaft for 400+ bucks, Ball Joints for my Ford Explorer are available only whit the control arm attached for about 90 bucks each. no profit margin in 15 dollar parts. and they can charge more for pulling and replacing the Assembly. Living on an island doesn't make things easier as every thing has to be shipped their. I had to replace a front hub bearing in my explorer, as an only sold as the whole deal including the ABS stator and conector, and bearing pressed in, new lug bolts and dust cap. dealer was 90 buck, local parts houses 60 to 85, found them on the web for 60 bucks a pair. So I bought the pair and got free shipping on a +$50 order. Quote
greg g Posted June 23, 2011 Report Posted June 23, 2011 nope, mexico, same place NAPA get parts from.... Quote
Lefebvre Posted June 23, 2011 Report Posted June 23, 2011 Try this one - the actuator on my turbo charger went on my VW Jetta - the dealer doesn't sell that part - they only change the entire turbo charger. Luckly you can buy just the actuator on line for $100 - that saved me quite a bit of money. I never got a quote for the turbo replacement, but I'm sure it would have been well over $1,200. Mike Quote
randroid Posted June 23, 2011 Report Posted June 23, 2011 Gents, My Lady Wife bought a headlamp bulb for her 2004 Dodge from a local dealership and they offered to install it for only $50. Took me fifteen minutes at home. -Randy Quote
John Mulders Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Posted June 23, 2011 Gents,My Lady Wife bought a headlamp bulb for her 2004 Dodge from a local dealership and they offered to install it for only $50. Took me fifteen minutes at home. -Randy Randy, that sounds reasonable, that is only 200$ per hour John Quote
Don Coatney Posted June 23, 2011 Report Posted June 23, 2011 As I have said before. My wife once bought a new Honda. A year or more (after the warranty had just expired) she left the windshield wipers on (stopped at mid cycle) when she parked the car for the night. That night there was a freezing rain that froze the wipers to the windshield. Next morning she started the car and the wipers were still on trying to run. With the ice they could not run so it stalled the wiper motor and burnt up the relay that controlled the wiper motor. I then investigated why the wipers will not run and find the fried relay. This relay was external to the wiper motor but bolted to it. The relay was not available at NAPA or any other parts store. So I went to the dealership parts counter with the fried part in hand and told them I needed a replacement. They scrolled through there puter and thumbed through there book and promptly told me that the relay and wiper motor were a "unit" and I could not buy just the relay but I had to buy the motor assembly for a few hundred bucks. I then asked them what was the purpose of the relay. They told me the relay was there to protect the wiper motor in case the wiper motor was bound up and could not run. I told them the relay worked well and did its job as the wiper motor was still good. They were really excited to hear this but I still walked out of the store with a burnt up relay. I went home and re-wired the wiper motor to run direct from the power source with no relay. Still had all the fancy functions such as all the speeds and the park position. Sold the car a few years later as is. Quote
P-12 Tommy Posted June 24, 2011 Report Posted June 24, 2011 Here's a good one.... A couple of weeks ago I changed the rear air springs on the 2002 Navigator. Furd wanted 501 bucks a piece. I bought a pair from a place in Pompano Beach for 150 bucks a pair with lifetime warranty. Go figure! Took two hours to install. Tom Quote
Jim Saraceno Posted June 25, 2011 Report Posted June 25, 2011 I have a Jeep Patriot. They are known to go through front end bushings very quickly. I had mine replaced at about 40,000 miles (or 6,000 after warranty) and they also had to replace the whole control arms as they are all one unit. Luckily I had bought an extended warranty otherwise it would have cost me about $800. I like the Honda relay concept Don spoke of... Put a relay in the circuit to protect the motor from burning up but don't sell the new relay so you have to buy a new motor anyway. Kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? Quote
greg g Posted June 25, 2011 Report Posted June 25, 2011 on a non auto related item. I need to replace the mixer on my shower in the main bath of the house. Can you buy just the mixing valve. No!! at least not at the big 2 HI box stores. Probaly at a plumbing supply house but at our stores only available as a group with shower head, and spigot, that I don't need. Quote
TodFitch Posted June 25, 2011 Report Posted June 25, 2011 on a non auto related item. I need to replace the mixer on my shower in the main bath of the house. Can you buy just the mixing valve. No!! at least not at the big 2 HI box stores.Probaly at a plumbing supply house but at our stores only available as a group with shower head, and spigot, that I don't need. My local hardware store has the mixing cartridge for the valve in my master bath's shower. And there is a great reasonably local plumbing supply that caters mostly to the trade but also sells retail if the local hardware store doesn't have it. I do have an aversion to the big box stores so I don't know if they carry that stuff or not. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.