Expensive Alternator
(This is from my cheesy – geek blog, but i thought it might be ok to post it here.
Get this … my Jetta’s dead alternator will cost me $510 at the dealership for the part and $170 in labor to put in and they can’t get me in for almost TWO WEEKS!! This is unacceptable.
I found the replacement Bosch part online (a 120 Amp instead of the stock 90 Amp) for my car @ $160. With $30 for shipping and a $115 core charge, that’s not cheap, but the core charge is refundable and the $30 shipping gets it here overnight!
I have also found a mechanic within battery-driving-range that will drop in the alternator for me for about $75. Hrm …
Buy better parts online, service locally, 1-2 days. Net = $265.
Dealership stock part + service in 2 WEEKS: $680. (+ rental car fees, towing fees, etc – could be a lot more)
That’s just obscene.
Although, from what I hear, this is not JUST a VW problem, but there seems to be no advantage to using the dealership other than the fear of voiding one’s warranty.
Does anyone else get over-charged that bad?!
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you_moron Said,
May 24, 2005 @ 7:53 am
Dealership – You guys do realize a dealership will ALWAYS charge you more to work on a car? NOT JUST VW. Ford, Chevy, Audi, Benz, BMW, etc. They will all charge you more than a mechanic because they work on the type of vehicle EVERYDAY. Also, dealerships are privately owned not owned by Volkswagen. If you wanna buy a car, buy a car from a good dealership. Not just the one down the street, go to a renowned dealership.
Of course parts are cheaper online. The company buys in bulk(most likely) like costco, so its cheaper for the consumer. Way to go num nuts.
formerAuditech Said,
May 25, 2005 @ 1:01 am
and again…… – didn’t you go read the treads? didn’t read the one about VW jacking up the price on parts on purpose to cover the cost of their numberous recalls and other things of that nature did you? ummm nope you didn’t.
does it make you feel like a big man to insult someone over a forum board? go back to your little VW fan sight, you aren’t going to win any battles or any fans over here. especially when all you can do is instult and spout off and not back a single damn thing up.
you_moron Said,
May 27, 2005 @ 9:04 am
ff – actually i DID read about that. Ok, explain why the Ford dealership charges my dad so much. Last time I checked ford wasn’t owned by VW. *smirks*
Post edited 05/27/05 9:04 AM by you_moron
V-dubber Said,
May 27, 2005 @ 9:44 am
Expensive Alternator – Hey you_moron,
Just wondering, maybe you said it someplace else…but what do you drive? (year, make, drivetrain)
Facts: cars cost money, maintenance costs money, insurance costs money, repairs cost money. Anytime you pay a premium for a new car, pay a permium for dealer service, you should be spending NOTHING on repairs (given your car is still fairly new)…that is where VW has some serious issues to deal with. You can’t expect to rape a happy customer on maintenace AND REPAIRS and expect them to buy your car again.
Post edited 05/27/05 1:38 PM by V-dubber
formerAuditech Said,
May 27, 2005 @ 12:17 pm
money money – 20 bucks to me isn’t much, but to someone else it is………
look what you say is high may not be to someone else. Ford dealers are cheap when compaired to say VW dealers. hell VW dealers on average charge the same amount as freaking BMW and Benz dealers. go talk to a customer that takes their car to a Benz or BMW dealer, i can almost promise you they have a better experience. so they charge more for what exactly over at VW?
hell my friend took her beetle in for a check engine light cause some stupid independant shop screwed up putting a set of spark plugs in her car (ruined the wires because they didn’t have the correct removal tool) and they charged her two hours diag time and confirmed what i thought. well i never had her hood open before now but when i did i noticed that her coolant was low, her poly v belt was badly cracked and in need of replacement, her oil fill cap was leaking, and her vacuum line to the FPR was almost in two pieces. yet the tech said NOTHING of these problems on the repair order. WTF…that is really just sad. it is a tech’s job to note other problems that they see, especially stuff that would leave someone walking like a broken v-belt could. i couldn’t believe it that they didn’t note a damn thing, that is just sad. so i ask you why are they charging so much when they aren’t doing half their job?……oh and when i replaced the wires one of the ends on the coil pack crumbled in my hands and now she needs a new coil pack, man i just love VW quality parts.
Post edited 05/27/05 12:18 PM by formerAuditech
you_moron Said,
May 31, 2005 @ 8:04 am
d – My car happens to be a 1996 Passat VR6 5 Speed. I don’t mind putting money in to any vehicle. Do you put money into your house when something goes wrong? From the sound of it, you call up the contractor and bitch to them.
twengl Said,
June 1, 2005 @ 2:44 am
Expensive Alternator – you’d think VW could learn a lesson from hyundai. a few years ago their reliability was terrible. they seriously addressed the problem and have improved steadily ever since. they were near the top of the last jd powers survey, which is a pretty remarkable turnaround.
not that i would ever buy one.
twengl Said,
June 1, 2005 @ 9:44 am
true to your handle.. – moron- all i can say is that if you don’t mind putting money “in to” a car, you certainly couldn’t do better than a volkswagen.
V-dubber Said,
June 1, 2005 @ 10:09 am
wood screws – Well, as a matter of fact, if I had problems with a NEW home I probably WOULD call up my contractor and complain about problems of a certain nature.
If my roof needed to be replaced in 3 years instead of the expected 20 (the same as a clutch going at 15K instead of 90K). If the contractor used the wrong materials (screws, nails, etc.) & things were falling apart, I’d call and expect it fixed. I can assure you if I bought a new house and the wiring was done wrong, causing a fuse to blow every 10 minutes…I’d surely call and bitch at the contractor.
To clarify for you_moron, I bought my car knowing it would be an expense…not an investment. While I was hoping buying a new car would offer savings on repairs… I expect to pay for having my fluids changed, tires rotated, and other scheduled maintenance. I can even expect to have an occational “”random”" breakdown or replace the occational alternator, battery or starter…those things just don’t last forever.
What is NOT acceptable is the “”bury your head in the sand”" approach VW takes with problems with their cars. “”I’ve never heard of ignition coil problems on the VR6…”" is what I was told after my second coil blew in the span of a year. Mine didn’t even qualify under the recall (luckily I was still under warranty).
In relation to most of the people on this board, I’ve been fairly lucky to date. (knock on wood). I haven’t had any MAJOR problems, and I like driving my car (‘02 GTI GLX). It moves quick, stops well, has nice features such as climate control & a good stereo. It also has safety features not available on comparable vehicles (side-curtain airbags & electronic stability control). My gripe with VW is due to the fact that they have refused to address known design flaws and their customer service is flat-out insulting. Since sales are sagging, there is no doubt in my mind that the company is using the service department to make up the revenue gap. How else could they cover the dealership overhead?
What FormerAudiTech says about $$ is completely true. For some of us, $12 a spark plug isn’t a big deal. For others, it is. In my mind that is VW’s way of “”firing”" the customers they no longer value.