Quick question: my local body shop quoted me $60 for labor to change my auto transmission and my rear diff. Is this a good deal?

 

fluid and oil? you might be able to find a better deal somewhere else

or change the actual tranny and rear diff? great deal! usually costs around 500-600 in labor

 

i have to provide all the fluids, nissan j-matic auto tran + nissan rear diff. $60 for the labor and labor only..

 

I think the average labor rate in the US is around $70 an hour so if they believe they can do it in an hour, you should be alright. I looked it up. But when I changed mine on my truck, it took the mechanic almost two hours due to waiting on COMPLETE drainage. The guy charged me for only an hour labor since I argued with him that smoking cigs and reading the paper while the fluids were draining wasn't sufficient "labor"

If you're cool with the guys at the body shop, I say go for it.

 

i wouldn't recommend going to a body shop for mechanical/service work. typically i'd say leave mechanical/service work to mechanics/service techs and body work to body shops.

but that's just me...

 

The rate sounds okay if they know what they're doing, can do it in an hour and drain both properly. If it suddenly turns into 2-3 hours, it's not such a great deal. Find some DIY's on the board here, see what goes into it and judge for yourself. Better yet, do it yourself!

 

Damn, labor rates out here are well over $120 an hour at most places. If someone quoated me $60 I would be worried about the knowledge of the guy working on my car.

Luckily, I have a connect at a local Nissan dealership. Any work I want or need done gets done on the side. I pay a tech $30/hr...

 

i paid my friend on the side (who's nissan tech) $100 to do a trans flush, differential drain and fill, and an oil change.

I provided all the fluids, and this was with a heavy discount because he was my friend.

$60 for all that is great, granted they know what they're doing. Which is probably the case, because drain and fill on the trans and differential fluid takes very little mechanical knowledge.

 

$60 bucks is a fair price.

 

Body shops sometimes employ mechanics. When a car gets cracked, sometimes more than just sheet metal gets broken. Changing fluids isn't that tough to do but it's up to the OP to determine if the shop is competant enough to perform such a task.

 

That's a good deal. I would charge someone ~$50 to do it at my house.

 

That is a good deal..