Jeep dealer pricing for timing belt & water pump R/R

yes · **Joined:** Mon Sep 26, 2011 11:32 pm **Posts:** 28

i am getting close to my replacement i am at 82,000 miles i would be interested in the NE replacement club also i am in rhode island !! i would gladly pay that for an experinced guy to do the job, if not i would have to do it myself, there really is nobody local with experince with these. keep me posted if this happens, i have a few more miles to go. thanks

geordi · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 1:53 pm

My travel to the NE area wouldn't be too expensive either, I Sam didn't want to do it or was unavailable. 2 or 3 of these would make it worthwhile I think, and a flight to Boston right now is cheap: 170

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 2:03 pm

It's not a bad idea, there are some logistics to work out and the more that we can do at once the better really.

emiperformance · **Posted:** Mon May 28, 2012 12:59 am

Sir Sam, if only you were not 2,100 miles away.

xhizzous · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2012 4:02 pm

I am in dire need of this as well with 99k miles as of this week. If there is someone around here that needs the change as well or anyone with experience that is interested we should set something up.

jws84_02 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:05 am

Let's get this figured out guys. I was thinking of flying sir Sam to my place. My shop is big enough to hold at least five Libby's. I'm located in Milford, il. Round trip airfare is $172 You east coast guys let me know if it's too far. Either way, if it doesn't work out, I'm prolly going out to him or east closer to u guys

jeepdan · **Posted:** Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:08 am

xhizzous wrote:

I am in dire need of this as well with 99k miles as of this week. If there is someone around here that needs the change as well or anyone with experience that is interested we should set something up.

I have remained silent on getting into this due to the limited days off that I have from my real job. But I'm considering doing a few timing belt/water pump R/Rs in the future at Sirsam's prices. I did three CRDs last summer. I have all of the Miller tools for the CRD and a clean garage.
Although kind of fun and self satisfying, it is not "easy money" as sirsam describes, as it is a six to eight hour filthy job.

Dan Walton, Wheeling WV

geordi · **Posted:** Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:02 pm

jeepdan wrote:

Although kind of fun and self satisfying, it is not "easy money" as sirsam describes, it is a six to eight hour filthy job.

Dan Walton, Wheeling WV

Then why would you do it for just $30/hr? You have the skills of knowing exactly what needs to be done and how so that it isn't a 3 DAY job, that is worth something. Time is money. A shop would charge $130/hr and have no problem booking every second of the 8 hours that the manual says the job takes, even though there are faster ways to do it just as safely. I can do it in about 4-5 hours, if I'm just working steadily and not rushing. For that, I charge $400-$500... Depending on what else the owner wants done.

You are the repairman that knows which screw needs to be turned, and how far. Sure, anyone can turn that screw. But YOU are the one that has the knowledge. That is valuable. When figuring out pricing, you can always negotiate your price LOWER to the buyer... But you can't negotiate higher.

jeepdan · **Posted:** Sun Jun 03, 2012 1:05 pm

geordi, I can't disagree with your logic at all, I may have to reconsider. Other lost members here are probably mumbling to themselves "geordi, shut up"

geordi · **Posted:** Sun Jun 03, 2012 1:54 pm

jeepdan wrote:

Other lost members here are probably mumbling to themselves "geordi, shut up"

I get that a lot :mrgreen:

Nobody ever says I'm wrong however - I like a cheap price when I'm buying something just as much as the next guy... BUT, I have found through careful observation (of buying tools and seeing which ones survive more than one job) that buying CHEAP actually costs you more than buying GOOD.

Buy it cheap, you will buy it more than once b/c it just won't last. Buy quality (Usually Made in the USA!) and you will only need to buy it once.

At the same time, I don't like it when people do quality work (as I'm making the safe assumption that Sir Sam does) yet price themselves far below what they could be asking. All it does is water down the market and make everyone's efforts less valuable, possibly making them care less about their work. This happens in the film industry where I work ALL THE TIME, with people having to buy 50, 60, 70 THOUSAND DOLLARS in gear just to be able to work a given skill.... Then whoring themselves out on a project for $200 / day (12 hour day!) and not charging anything for all that gear.

PROPER rates for something like that scenario would be $550 for the labor (10 hour rate, OT extra) and $350-400 for the gear per day, possibly discounted to 4-days-gets-you-a-week if it is a long job. The people doing it for $200/day aren't just killing themselves, they are killing me, my colleagues, and the kid who hasn't even joined the industry yet, b/c we will not be able to make enough to afford to buy the GEAR needed to even start in this industry.

Sorry... I kinda drifted off topic there, but this is a systemic problem in this country, and it helps NOBODY.

Jeep dealer pricing for timing belt & water pump R/R

Who is online