Happy National Odometer Day to those who celebrate…
By taking a car to the dealer three times, I learned how white women with Long COVID feel. After every visit, the dealer said “Your AC is working perfectly.” On the fourth visit, the diagnosis was “There is no refrigerant in your system. It all leaked out from a failed receiver drier.” Because of Climate Change, I had no idea what a receiver drier was. From the Interweb:
1.They act as a temporary storage container for oil and refrigerant when neither are needed for system operation (such as during periods of low cooling demand). This is the “receiver” function of the receiver drier.
2.Most receiver driers contain a filter that can trap debris that may be inside the A/C system.
3.Receiver driers contain a material called desiccant. The desiccant is used to absorb moisture that may have gotten inside the A/C system during manufacture, assembly, or service. Moisture can get into the A/C components from humidity in the air. This is the “drier” function of the receiver drier.
It turns out that this is a $28.44 authentic General Motors part, including dealer markup. The total repair bill was nearly 46X this amount, however, at $1,297.34. I have to believe that this is some kind of record.
(Fortunately, the entire cost was covered by a $2,600 GM Protection Plan that I had purchased after hearing frightening tales of $25,000+ transmission replacements. The 2022 Chevrolet has only about 7,000 miles on it and will be covered by this extended warranty until it is 11 years old.)
It is a little tough to understand how the labor added up to $1,057.50. The shop’s nominal rate is $225/hr so that would be 4.7 hours of labor happening between the 7:45 am dropoff and 10:53 am “your car is washed and ready” pickup. Perhaps, though, this also includes some diagnosis time from Service Visit #4? Friends who’ve been getting Toyota and Audi repairs in Maskachusetts and Florida have reported some huge labor estimates/charges relative to the flat rate labor hours found with a Google search and/or the actual time the car spent in the shop. Dealers seem to be quoting and getting fixed prices that work out to $300-400/hr. for their labor. I wonder if car care has become like human care: you’ll pay a way higher price if you don’t have insurance and, therefore, it makes sense to buy “insurance” even when you don’t need the insurance part of the insurance (i.e., to shift the risk). Or just buy a high-quality Georgia-built Kia with its 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty and 10-year powertrain warranty (Kia achieves its superb quality without the benefit of union workers).
Separately, let’s raise a glass of DOT 3 brake fluid to our 2021 Honda Odyssey (built in Alabama by non-union workers who rejected a UAW organization effort). After 4.5 years and 50,000 miles it has suffered exactly 0 failures of any kind. (The only expenses have been for maintenance items, such as oil changes, wiper blades, battery, tires, and brakes.) Due to the miracle of Bidenflation, the minivan is currently selling, in nominal dollars, for almost exactly what we paid for it (survey of similar-mileage Odysseys offered by dealers).
It’s about $2k for labor to do anything to the lion car. Fortunately, there’s a lot more knowledge online to do most manetenance at home, for those of us whose time is worth less than money. Wonder what driving without AC is like in FL*rida.
Had to buy a convertible version. No AC – no problem.
It is a convertible! So it is fine without A/C at night or early in the morning. But by 9 am in the Florida summer… not so great.
> Because of Climate Change, I had no idea what a receiver drier was
I would have guessed you’d know more about your car, “Dr.” Phil. LOL!
A friend is a senior engineer at a Detroit 3 car company and a C8 Corvette owner. I told him the story of the receiver drier failure. After 25 years in the industry, he had never heard of the part. (His work has been primarily in powertrain and suspension, including my personal Holy Grail of active suspension… coming to your own car… never?)
There was some ‘refrigerant leakage’, IIRC, a year or so ago. I have a Subaru WRX. It cost me around 1000 USD, though. In general when they explain a problem, it sounds me like they are trying to give me something so that I differentiate between throwing the money in a well and paying them.
I was thinking about buying a new Traverse or a Telluride. You have sold me on the Telluride.
Since dealerships cheat by inflating repairs, and manufacturers (and insurers) don’t want to overpay, now for almost any service or part replacement there is pre-determined number of hours dealership can charge set by manufacturer. It doesn’t matter if it actually takes longer or shorter, price is the same. Sometimes these times are spot on or too low, and sometimes – like in your case, are overestimated.
Also for some repairs there is official way and shortcut way – like don’t remove the blocking part fully and bend it away and just wiggle the part being replaced in.
Two years ago, my AC failed in my 2001 Ford Taurus (160K miles; I’ve owned it since 2002). Shop diagnosed the problem as a failed AC condensor (compressor?) and quoted $1400. Second shop quoted $1200. I told him never mind, I’ll go w/o air. He called me back w/i an hour and said he found an aftermarket condensor and could do the job for $400, installed, and AC has been ice cold ever since.
here endeth the lesson.
@philg: you got charged asshole tax. It’s okay, you can afford it. Start tipping cash. Spread the love and quit being such a scotsman.
MeMeMe: I got charged a tax by having 100% of the cost of this repair paid for by GM? (It’s a zero-deductible extended warranty). Please sign me up for more taxes like this!
(And how do I persuade Palm Beach County to switch to this form of taxation for our house?)
@philg
so this is really like a medical bill — lies upon lies discounted and profligate at once?
I got confused because you seemed to be complaining about the cost so i assumed you suffered injury.
As to the property tax, try the same principal. In this case tipping is called bribery. Alternatively, you could figure out a better way to do and convince a majority of your neighbors to try it — that’s called democracy.
https://youtu.be/bwvlbJ0h35A?feature=shared
I’m pretty sure I have paid a car repair bill that was all labor, so the ratio can div/0. (Although I guess they usually do find some physical item to sell you)