Rear Shocks for my car

[Ava]

I am in shock!

I was just quoted $592 for rear shocks for my car.

Is this price reasonable? I always go to the same garage. Since I know nothing about cars I go to one garage, let them get to know me, realize I'm an excellent customer and over time they take good care of me. I used to have an excellent mechanic right next door to my old job but I had to change a few years ago when I started working for the bank.

The "new" mechanic realizes I always bring my car to him, and now he's started to remembering my name and my car, and offering me discounts each time I take the car for something, explaining everything, and doing all he can to keep me a happy customer.

Still, $592 is a lot of money.

The good thing is that, finally, after so many years of working and studying, I can finally afford something like this. I don't like to spend the money, but I can do it.

[billisonboard]

I am always in the front seat of my vehicle so I never worry about the rear shocks. I figure if my passengers don't want to hit their heads on the roof of the car, they can pay for new shocks. 

[kent]

Apr 25, 2015 9:52:42 GMT -5 Ava said:

I am in shock!

I was just quoted $592 for rear shocks for my car.

Is this price reasonable? I always go to the same garage. Since I know nothing about cars I go to one garage, let them get to know me, realize I'm an excellent customer and over time they take good care of me. I used to have an excellent mechanic right next door to my old job but I had to change a few years ago when I started working for the bank.

The "new" mechanic realizes I always bring my car to him, and now he's started to remembering my name and my car, and offering me discounts each time I take the car for something, explaining everything, and doing all he can to keep me a happy customer.

Still, $592 is a lot of money.

The good thing is that, finally, after so many years of working and studying, I can finally afford something like this. I don't like to spend the money, but I can do it.

I just went through the same process.  I had one rear shock leaking and asked them to do both.  The bill would have been $472 but because I'm a long time customer and the car has only 25,000 miles on it, they did it for free.  It appears the majority of the cost is labor. 

[obelisk]

If the shop purchases the shocks from a dealer, the cost will be highest.  I recommend purchasing the shocks on-line and then having them installed by the shop after you receive them.  Last year I purchased front and rear shocks including springs for an '08 Lexus RX350 for almost $1000 and then had a shop install them for $250 including alignment. 

[Ava]

Apr 25, 2015 11:03:48 GMT -5 obelisk said:

If the shop purchases the shocks from a dealer, the cost will be highest.  I recommend purchasing the shocks on-line and then having them installed by the shop after you receive them.  Last year I purchased front and rear shocks including springs for an '08 Lexus RX350 for almost $1000 and then had a shop install them for $250 including alignment. 

Good to know. I will have to call them and ask if they would install shocks purchased by me.

The biggest cost is labor, I'm sure. That is very expensive. The garage charges $105 an hour.

[obelisk]

 The garage should not have an issue with you providing the parts.  A lot of time, the garage will charge you for the convenience of having the shocks delivered from a local source (dealership) within a few hours after the car has been dropped off.  The garage will not pre-order.
For most cars, the labor should not exceed 1 hour real time and I am not quoting the so called book dealership time. 

[obelisk]

For shocks I recommend this site from experience if it fits your car.

www.kyboutlet.com/

KYB is the original manufacturer for most Japanese cars and many others.

[Tiny]

Have you noticed a more bumpy ride or more 'roll' from the back of the car? Or additional noise (creaking) or a kind of one time 'creaking' after starting out on a drive that goes away?

How old is your car? How many miles?

I'll 'fess up to never having replaced shock absorbers - but then I'm a low mileage driver in a relatively flat, well repaired road kinda place. usually have under 100K on a ten year old car.    So my experience may not be applicable to your situation. 


If you do have them replaced (I'm not voting for or against doing it) you should be able to do it on your own time frame. You aren't endangering yourself or your vehicle by not replacing them ASAP. I just say that in case you want to wait a few paychecks and do a combination of 'cash flow' and credit card (for the rewards - by paying in full when the bill comes) to pay for the repair. I don't feel that this is an 'emergency'.

[TheOtherMe]

I keep my cars until they die a natural death, so I have had to repair shocks.  Not repairing them can wear out tires, which then costs $.  

Last time I needed them repaired, my long time garage in Colorado did all 4 for around $800.  I had taken my car there for over 20 years and trusted the garage.  They also showed me where they were leaking.

With most car repairs, the biggest cost is labor and they go by the book, not the actual time that it takes.

[kent]

My local Sunday paper carries a weekly bit called "Car Talk" and this week one of the issues discussed was shock absorbers. According to the person that wrote in, the cost to replace the rear shocks on his MBZ was quoted at around $1,200. The car talk guy said that same job on a Ford Explorer would run about $600.

Now, more to the point. The article mentioned a website used to find a good, non-dealership local mechanic to save money:

www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files

I have no personal experience but it might be worth a try

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Apr 26, 2015 10:57:31 GMT -5 kent said:

My local Sunday paper carries a weekly bit called "Car Talk" and this week one of the issues discussed was shock absorbers. According to the person that wrote in, the cost to replace the rear shocks on his MBZ was quoted at around $1,200. The car talk guy said that same job on a Ford Explorer would run about $600.

Now, more to the point. The article mentioned a website used to find a good, non-dealership local mechanic to save money:

www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files

I have no personal experience but it might be worth a try

Click and Clack have a decent web site that recommends local, non-dealership mechanics.  The last one I found in KY I found that way and they were great.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Apr 26, 2015 10:57:31 GMT -5 kent said:

My local Sunday paper carries a weekly bit called "Car Talk" and this week one of the issues discussed was shock absorbers. According to the person that wrote in, the cost to replace the rear shocks on his MBZ was quoted at around $1,200. The car talk guy said that same job on a Ford Explorer would run about $600.

Now, more to the point. The article mentioned a website used to find a good, non-dealership local mechanic to save money:

www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files

I have no personal experience but it might be worth a try

These are the guys who did the NPR Show "Car Talk".  Hilariously entertaining and yet still brilliantly informative.  If you have never heard the show, it is well worth your time.  

Sadly, one of them passed away recently.