$850 is ridiculous! If that was the cause take your car back and put it in yourself. Even if you did tow it back home, it wouldn't be $850.

 

I agree. This is just one of those times where time is far more valuable than money. I'm only home to see my family Thursday night-Sunday night, and two of those nights have me out of the house for a while. The weekends go by fast when I don't have to deal w/BS like this as it is. In addition to traveling to work each week, I also run my own business from home which needs my attention on those days. It all adds up to no free time.

The diag cost is $140 and I'm stuck paying that either way. I figure that + the cost of a fuel pump/O-ring + the tow leaves me around $500 or so out the window. Even less if I get an OEM fuel pump and less yet if I get an OEM through the dealer. Not at all what I'd call "easily worth it" especially considering it's a 20 ****ing minute job, but the hassle, rushing around town, and lost time going back to the dealer (which of course is not close) and messing w/the tow truck just leaves me defeated and wanting it over with. Believe me, I'm a gearhead and even relegating myself to putting it on the truck in the first place made me want to cry. I'm more upset about the fact that I didn't just get a replacement and put it in to try anyway than I am about the money. Of course, that's mostly because it basically ended up costing me that money...

This is my first time ever bringing any car to a dealer for work, and I'm certainly not going to be back.

 

So the car is all set now. AS THE STORY GOES once they started it up one of my belts broke. So there, of course, is another couple hundred dollars to have it taken care of so I don't have to mess with it in my infinite rush returning home this weekend. On the bright side, I did want to change them for a while and we're in the middle of snow storms in Michigan right now so that is a cost I'm OK enough with.

If there is any consolation in all of this, they did diagnose other issues of mine and are not charging me. The initial conversations were to be a diag cost for the fuel pump issue (still kills me, I wish I just tossed a new one in without testing the pump itself like I planned in the first place) and then a diag cost for the other SES issues. Maybe they figured they got enough out of me for half an hour's worth of work so they threw me a bone. I laughed when they said $1100 for O2 sensors though, that I certainly don't need them to do nor is it a rush for me.

Out of curiosity, a diagnosis here is $140 per issue. What are you guys seeing at your dealers?