Am I being screwed?

[eric99gt]

Normally I would do something like this myself, but I'm down at school and don't have access to any tools. What i'm having done is having my radiator, lower and upper coolant hose, and my thermo changed out by a local shop. They quoted me $400 with the cost of the rad being $134. Does this seem high? By the way this is on a 1988 Olds cutlass with the 2.5

[SappySE107]

RE: Am I being screwed?

Buy the tools, you don't need that many to do this job. Thats insane though they gotta make money. I don't know the w body 2.5 setup that well, but if its anything like a normal 2.5 in a calais and the w body is setup like a 3.1, this is an easy as hell job.

[RednBlack]

Rad. $134, 2 hoses, maybe $30, T-Stat with Gasket, $8, 2 gal A-Freeze,$20, 4 hose clamps$4, misc,(They always add that),$20.=$216 Plus 4 hours book labor @$40/hr.,=$376. Labor may be higher in your area. Sounds about right for a shop. I'd do it for 50 bux. You buy the parts, No clamps and no misc.

[614streets]

That estimate is on the high side but its in the area. Techs got to eat too.

[RednBlack]

Not really a "Tech", but I do understand shop prices, and it's not far off. Can't expect anything to be done in a shop for less.

[patgizz]

$40/hr? wow up here its $75-100. that job could easily run over $500 here.

[RednBlack]

I haven't really had anything done in a shop in about 15 yrs. Except my tranny, and that was from a friend, so it doesn't count. Guess I'm a little behind. Or ahead, depends on how you look at it.

[614streets]

Yeah Im certified for marine tech and the average shop rates go from 40 - 75 per hour. Of course thats flat rate hours.

[v6h.o.]

Its an easy job to do on your own Eric. Just takes some simple hand tools. not that hard at all.


Our Dealership shop rate is 105$ per hour, If that sounds expensive, the Chev dealer across the street is 120$ per hour.

[eric99gt]

Oh I know I could do it myself. But I'm down at school with no tools and nowhere to work on the car. I sucked it up and paid the $400. $45 for two hoses...I was like what???

[Manitcor]

yeah most shops are north of $60 an hour for labor. For a job like this they are prob quoting labor from a Mitchell book or something like that.