[CiViC2000]

my girlfriend just sold her 96 accord and now drives (not lately) a 88 civic hatch. it was having some cooling problems and whatnot, so i traced the problem to the radiator, so i threw in a new radiator, thermostat, still overheating, so i suggested a water pump, but she took it to a "real" mechanic, who then, along with her dad, decided to just throw in a new engine. ahhh, just what i was wanting to hear; time for the 'ol b16 - but no, she just wants another boring old d15b7. "no need to go any faster" she says, but what does she know anyway? ok whatever. so the place tells me 600 for the engine. ok, sure sounds good, i was going to put it in, cause it would be easy and give me something to do. well, her dad decides he wants this place to put it in so that the work will be guaranteed or whatever. no problem. swap should be no problem either, right? since its just a straight over swap, it shouldnt be more than a day's worth of work, maybe two, especially when you have access to a full shop, tools, etc. ANYWAYS, to get to the point - they charged $1300 for labor - the total came to $1900. lucky for her, she just has to pay for the motor, her dad said he would pay for the labor, well, he is in canada right now, and hasnt seen the bill for 1300 dollars in labor. i think he will shit a brick, cause i almost did. im pretty sure that is a ridiculous amount to pay to do a straight over swap like that. well, sorry for the longass story, but thats the only way i can tell it. let me know what you guys think about that amount for the labor. im sure the shop will have their way of justifying it, but we havent been able to get a hold of them for the past few days. thanks for any opinions/replies.

 

[G2Tegra]

Well , I never go to the shop. I wouldnt let anyone touch my car So I wouldnt know the price of things and stuff. But I think that was really overcharging.1300 With a lil help of my friends I can do it for FREE and with quality workmanship...but wasent your fault anyways.

 

[rize boy]

thats way too much dude

 

[XxACCORD94JxX]

Well my uncle owns a shop....so I know the prices on labor. it shoulda been anywhere between $400-500 depending if it was a 5-speed or not.

So yeah your bill of $1,300.00 was waaaaaaaay to much. take them to court if they don't bring it to the correct price. In otherwords go to a few shops and get a price check on a engine swap ( also mention "Factory"). And take the slips to the shop you had the work done. And if they don't make a close match, def. take them to court.

 

[Primax]

Well my uncle owns a shop....so I know the prices on labor. it shoulda been anywhere between $400-500 depending if it was a 5-speed or not.

So yeah your bill of $1,300.00 was waaaaaaaay to much. take them to court if they don't bring it to the correct price. In otherwords go to a few shops and get a price check on a engine swap ( also mention "Factory"). And take the slips to the shop you had the work done. And if they don't make a close match, def. take them to court.

I dunno if that will work. He shoulda asked for an estimate before they did the work. I know a guy that had a shed put up in his yard(yea, not an engine but still) and he just figured it would cost about 1100 for everything but when he got the bill, he got charged 4300 and he about had a heart attack. The worst part was there was nothin he could do since it was done.

 

[klungemonger]

Even a performance shop would only charge about $900-$1000 for labor on a total VTEC B-series changeover into a non-vtec civic! $1300 is a massive scam, don't let them get away with it!

Word of advice though, NEVER let a shop start working on your car without a written estimate!!! And another word of advice, next time don't get owned by your girl since you could've scooped up a d16z6 for 600 and plopped it in there instead of the turd she just bought. The screwing started right when she bought that motor, it just got worse when the labor came in.

 

[XxACCORD94JxX]

I dunno if that will work. He shoulda asked for an estimate before they did the work. I know a guy that had a shed put up in his yard(yea, not an engine but still) and he just figured it would cost about 1100 for everything but when he got the bill, he got charged 4300 and he about had a heart attack. The worst part was there was nothin he could do since it was done.

Well it's called a SCAM......

 

[taz77]

well.. one possible problem that i can see is that you might have took it to a shop that probably doesn't do too many swaps, if any at all, in the shop. and since the price for labor is based on a per hour basis, it might have taken him a long time trying to figure out stuff cause he wasn't experienced enough to breeze through the swap.

and another thing too is... if he didn't give u a written estimate, OR if you didn't sign the written estimate, u don't have to pay for shit! if u already paid, that's a different story. i'm not sure about elsewhere, but that's how it's supposed to be in cali.

 

[dug]

i was quoted 2600 to swap a new engine into my car, this was at a Honda/Acura specialist shop, that do these everyday...
engine swaps aren't cheap, not around here anyways, so i say they (your girlfriend and her dad) screwed themselves... anyone with general automotive knowledge and a nice manual can swap an engine... needless to say i bought an engine and in about a days work i had it in there and running and i'm no expert...

 

[jai si]

Should've actually taken it into the dealership. You probably won't be able to do anything about it since that's what they charged for the work that was done. For a couple more hundred you could've got a b18b. Ripped off yes, anything you can do no, unless you rheem that guy for it, it sure wasn't a lot of work and the customer shouldn't have to pay for that kinda shit.

 

[Fulgore243]

I dunno if that will work. He shoulda asked for an estimate before they did the work.

I concur with Primax. I *always* negotiate the price BEFORE the work is done, and get a written estimate.