0 How much for that alternator?

How much to put an alternator on my car?

I hear questions like that all the time. Rather than pick a number out of the air, I counter with a question of my own. “Why do you think you need an alternator?

There are two common reasons a motorist would ask that sort of question. The first is that someone said their car needed an alternator, and quoted a price that was shockingly high. The second possibility is that the car has a problem like a dead battery, and the owner has decided an alternator will fix it.

In the first case, there could be several reasons for the high price. The motorist may simply be out of touch with the true cost of car repair. The repair may have been quoted with a top quality alternator, when the motorist can only afford something cheap. Finally, there may be a complication to doing the job, and the garage quoted additional time and material to cover that.

All of those situations are best resolved by a customer and repair shop that collaborate to reach a solution. A price shopping motorist is not likely to obtain a good result, because there’s more to a good repair than the lowest bid.

I’m always happy to explain the reasons behind the probable cost of a repair. Do we have to take parts off for access? If so, it makes sense to service them, too, but that costs money. Do we have choices when it comes to replacement parts? Much of the time you get what you pay for, but there are times when aftermarket parts can service the purpose at lower cost.

Motorists will do much better working through those questions with one shop, where they know the person and the vehicle. Taking a quote and simply price-shopping by phone is very unlikely to get a good result because the questions that need to be answered are not strictly those of cost.

What about the motorist who just decided he needs an alternator? Some shop owners would say, the guy asked for an alternator. Sell him one! Who cares if he needs it? I’ve never really subscribed to that school of thought. If someone thinks they know what the car needs, I say, If I put the alternator on, and the car still has the same problem, how are you going to feel?

Few motorists consider that possibility, but in my experience, it’s very real. It’s amazing how many people will think it’s my fault if the car still has a problem, even though they made the diagnosis.

Once again, the best answer is to find a mechanic you can trust and discuss the problem with him rather than make an impulsive decision on your own.

So that leads to the biggest question of all: How do you find a mechanic who is capable, trustworthy, affordable, and all the other things you want? That is the subject of another post . . .

Detail: How much for that alternator?

0 The Amherst High School Car Club Visits John Robison's House

This afternoon, I invited the car club from Amherst High School to my house. Last winter, one of the kids had read Look Me in the Eye, and he'd asked to come see the cars. Today, he bought some of his friends. These 10th graders told their story in words and pictures, and I thought I'd just turn their email into a blog post on this fine Tuesday evening.

My son Jack was on hand to help pull cars around, and he took the car club members for rides around South Amherst. We pulled the Corniche convertible out for the first time since last fall, and he even took a carload to the gas station. This is their story:

Arriving at John's House



Stefan looks great in the Mercedes 560SL


Isaac and Noam in the Jaguar XJS


Checking out the ex-British Army Land Rover Defender



Noah's favorite



Who wants to ride the Harley?


Checking out the Bentley Turbo R


Filling up the Rolls Royce


Jack was our chauffeur



Cruising in the Rolls



And then there were cookies


Thanks, John!

Detail: The Amherst High School Car Club Visits John Robison's House

0 Shopping for service when money is tight

Now that money is tight, people have started price-shopping for everything. Even car service. I’m all in favor of spending my money wisely, but choosing car service on the basis of the lowest price quote may not lead to the outcome you want.

If you want a new GE oven, price shopping makes sense. GE sells the same oven to all their dealers, so you can indeed choose on the basis of availability and price. You can even do that with cars. A brand-new Camry is a Camry, no matter what Toyota dealer it comes from.

So you may be fine choosing your new car on price, distance to the dealer, or attitude. But when your car needs service, the picture gets a lot more complicated. A recent Consumer Reports article pointed out the huge variation in price quotes for a 60,000 mile service. Their reporter called around and got very different prices from a mix of dealers and independent garages.

The implication is that you can save money by making a few phone calls. But what exactly are you getting? I’ve done similar studies and I’ve taken the time to actually ask what I’d receive for my money. One garage changed the transmission fluid, another changed spark plugs. One dealer said the axle fluid is “permanent” while the dealer across town dealer changed it. The result – no two 60,000 mile services are the same.

That discovery renders the different price quotes totally meaningless. So what’s a motorist to do? I looked in the owner’s manual for the answers. To my surprise, not one of the quotes I received exactly matched the manufacturer’s checklist, though several were close.

So who do you believe? Conventional wisdom says the manufacturer knows best, but I don’t know if that’s really true. After all, if your car lasts forever, where will that leave them? That’s why I take ideas like “permanent transmission fluid” with a grain of salt. Long experience as a service manager tells me you change the fluid, or you change the transmission. Sure, the transmission may last through several fluid changed, but what would you rather do? I’ll take three $200 services over one $3,000 transmission any day. Wouldn't you?

Of course you would - if you knew. That's where a relationship with a trustworthy advisor comes in. How to find such a person?

I’d keep that goal in mind when I listen to service providers explain what they’d do to a car at 60,000 miles. Can they explain things clearly and sensibly? You can learn a lot about someone's understanding of a topic by asking them to explain it to you. And competence is vital in this industry, and many others. I can’t tell you have many times I’ve heard comments like, "That dealer really ripped me off!” I hear those words, but I know many of the people involved, and they are not dishonest. They are, however, often inept.

Incompetence is the biggest problem facing the auto repair industry today. There is no licensing board like there is in medicine, plumbing, or the electrical trades. Anyone can buy a toolbox and call themselves a technician. You bring your car into their shop and they say, “You don’t need that, but you do need this.” How do you decide?

I suggest you ask the technician or service advisor to explain his reasons for doing something. Do they make sense? Does the service person give you a good feeling? If not, keep shopping. A good rapport with an auto service professional is more important than ever in today’s uncertain economic climate.

I’ll be back soon with more advice and thoughts.

Detail: Shopping for service when money is tight