Truck repair -- parts markup seems high...

cannesdo wrote:
The water pump in my F250 died. The garage I took it to (came recommended by a local and good reviews) wanted to charge me $235 for water pump I was able to buy at the auto supply place (with lifetime warranty) for $129.

Warranted by who? The manufacturer? Are they going to remove and replace that part when it fails?

They also wanted to charge me $68 for a serpentine belt which was $32 at the parts store. I am a single unmarried woman and it felt like they just assumed I wouldn't know or check the price of the parts.

And you being a single unmarried woman means what? How is that relevant or are you just playing the sympathy card?

Happy to pay for the labor but he first tried to talk me into letting him find a different source and parts (what quality I wonder) for close to the same price.

You have to wonder about the quality of the water pump you bought. I would much rather put on a cheap belt than a cheap water pump...much easier to replace.

When I asked about warranties on the parts he said it would depend on the parts and I told him that if we're going to do this I'd like a lifetime warranty since I was standing at that moment in front of one that did have a lifetime warranty that was over $100 less. He finally (after a lot of silence on my end) agreed to that, but then called me back in 20 min and said he couldn't get them for that price so could I just bring the parts over.

Why would anyone buy parts from a garage for that kind of mark-up when they could get them retail for so much less?

Because when there lifetime warranted part fails they will remove and replace for free. The parts you bring...NO!


I'm new to the area and need to find a place that I trust. I'm going to ask other garages for quotes to compare so I can get a sense of things. But doesn't that seem high and would any of you pay it when you could just take five min. to buy the parts yourself and hand them to the mechanic?