Does $450 for a 15K service sound right?

[JGLaneJr]

Folks -- asking your help with a little cost-comparison. Just had the 15K service on my truck (dealer in Birmingham, Ala. ), and the total came out to $444. 74, with a few small discounts through dealer coupons. The work included:



> Oil and filter change

> Rear axle and diff service

> Front axle service

> Fuel filter replacement

> Air filter replacement

> Tire rotation



Does this sound about right? Absolutely love the truck, but ouch, that's a chunk of change. Any thoughts or perspectives would be most appreciated ...



-- JGLaneJr.

 

[R_Painter]

roughly 100 in lube and filters,a pair of jack stands and a floor jack You could buy all the stuff new do it yourself and still save money do the maintaince yourself that way if something is broken you know where to point the finger at.

 

[ssanders60]

Compared to my dealer in Jax, Fl. your price is probably better,

the axle service is $260 for both, oil change is $79. 00, early on

after I bought the truck the fuel filter change was quoted

to be $120. 00, tire change $26. 00. I'd say you received a

fair price for all that you quoted. Try to purchase some coupons

that average in cost of of 32. 00 dollars per oil change. That's what I do.

The $260. 00 I spent was a waste, the oil was good, there was no

ground metal in either differential, I suspected they overfilled

the front differential due to the immediate blow out of the

pinion seal which cost $159. 00 shortly afterwards.

'03 had 73,00 on it at the time, now has 75,000.

 

[04 Diesel Power]

Do it yourself!

 

[BTighe]

take it else where if you cant do it yourself.

 

[DPKetchum]

Else where may be just as much money or more. Each shop has its own ovehead and cost of doing business. Also there is a range of quality of parts and personal doing the work. Ask quetions and price of each item. Not just how much is a 15k service. These are exspensive trucks. I just spent $200 in labor plus I supplied all the lubes(about $200)to service my 06 Gran Marquis 4. 6. It also has a external fuel filter that was $59. 00 parts and labor etc. At a Ford/Mercury dealer.

 

[makelemen]

I go to the Cummins shop and buy FleetGuard filters which are a lot cheaper than the Mopar from the Dodge dealer. Some deals from Geno's might be cheaper still. I have saved thousands by doing everything myself.

 

[roperteacher]

I'd say a bit much. I change my own oil, Diffs, fuel filter, air filter ect. Oil costs me about 42. 00, Fuel Filter is 14. 00, Oil Filter is about 10. 00. Get all my supplies from Genos... . It's easy to do yourself

 

[JasonCzerak]

$120 for a fuel filter change? What the hell kinda highway robbery is that? that is easier to do then even the air filter!



filter $20-ish

time: 5 minutes



I can see the labor charges in the axels, that does take time to pop the covers, clean up the RTV, re-seal, Wait for it to cure 20 minutes at min. then fill.

 

[R_Painter]

$120 for a fuel filter change? What the hell kinda highway robbery is that? that is easier to do then even the air filter!



filter $20-ish

time: 5 minutes



I can see the labor charges in the axels, that does take time to pop the covers, clean up the RTV, re-seal, Wait for it to cure 20 minutes at min. then fill.

the new aam axles do not use rtv the gaskets are reuseable I changed both differentials in about 30 minutes

 

[JGLaneJr]

Good point about itemizing the costs -- here's how the 15K service bill is broken down:

> Oil, oil filter, and air filter ($18 labor, $72. 30 parts)
> Rear axle and diff service ($60 labor, $83. 89 parts)
> Front axle service ($60 labor, $97. 38 parts)
> Fuel filter replacement ($40 labor, $21. 25 parts)
> Tire rotation ($19. 95 standard fee)

From those totals, $61. 36 in discounts were subtracted. Then with taxes and so forth, it came to the $444. 74 grand total ...

-- JGLaneJr.

 

[Sled Dog]

WAY TOO MUCH!! $61. 25 to change the fuel filter, PLEASE!! TRY$14. 00 and 5 minutes in your driveway. JMHO

 

[MMeier]

Do it yourself!

Yeah! what he said!!

 

[jelag]

Years ago I used to sell major equipment to dealers... during this time I used to watch some of the techs doing scheduled maintenance on cars... the techs loved the work as they had figured out how to shortcut 4-6 hours of flat rate time into about 1/2 of the time... . most of the guys that I knew could flag 20-22 hours in a 8 hour day doing this work... .

The customer would drop the vehicle in the morning and pick it up at night... . with the overlap in the time the techs flew through the process...

I personally do this work in house with my own people at a fraction of the price... it was mentioned above that this was 100 worth of parts... . I assume that's about right...

Just my thoughts.....

 

[JasonCzerak]

the new aam axles do not use rtv the gaskets are reuseable I changed both differentials in about 30 minutes

At 15K. I had the dealer do the axles as I just moved out of state and had not not even a socket to my name and renting a basement (that's my excuse! and I'm sticking to it). I did watch them change out the fluid (and replace with amsoil) and don't recall a gasket... ... I've used RTV ever since... ..... Hmm I'll check into this in the spring when I do my yearly fluid replacements and pick up some gaskets. Sure make things less messy. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[brods]

Good point about itemizing the costs -- here's how the 15K service bill is broken down:



> Oil, oil filter, and air filter ($18 labor, $72. 30 parts) $68 parts (Valvoline dino, FG Stratapore, Mopar air filter (Geno's))

> Rear axle and diff service ($60 labor, $83. 89 parts) $31 parts Mobil 1 syn

> Front axle service ($60 labor, $97. 38 parts) $19 parts Mobil 1 syn

> Fuel filter replacement ($40 labor, $21. 25 parts) $15 parts (7 mic Genos)

> Tire rotation ($19. 95 standard fee)



From those totals, $61. 36 in discounts were subtracted. Then with taxes and so forth, it came to the $444. 74 grand total ...



-- JGLaneJr.

$133 in parts. Add a couple bucks for shop rags and cleaner. Figure around $140 doing it yourself.



Just be glad you didnt have to do the transmission service. ATF+4 was $5/quart last time I checked. Up to 15 quarts if you plan on flushing all the old oil out.



What the heck are the "parts" on the axle service? Disposal costs? Did they replace the re-usable gaskets with new ones?

 

[wcjp]

Just did the axles, transmission, transfer case and added the Geno's transmission filter today. I bought too much fluid. Today's fluid cost was near $137. Can't believe how easy rubber gaskets made this. My Jeep is going to get rubber gaskets. Can't believe I depended on RTV. Used to buy oil from Costco. Just found a great supply of CI4 oil. Buy all of my filters from Cummins Northwest.

 

[RHestand]

Not only can you save $ by doing it yourself, it gives you the opportunity to roll around under there,look around, and spot any possible small problems before they become big ones.

Two other things come to mind:

1. I know it's done right.

2. It makes me feel so alpha male, crawling around under my big truck.

 

[DPKetchum]

And if you DON"T want to do it yourself thats a fair price.

 

[klenger]

Ouch. 15K axle service is overkill and the dealer is taking advantage of that. I do all fluid changes, tire rotations, and filter changes in my garage, and I'm not all that mechanical.