Stopped at Subway for a tuna wrap. Truck has been running fine, 96K miles, auto - 4wd, 22 mpg. Sunny day, mild temp, ..Not even a/c running.

I come out 10 mins later and the starter just clicked once. Turned on headlights, very dim and when I hit the starter, out.

Tried to jump with my Explorer. Nothing. Went back with a jump box. Nada. Called the dealer. They said they had no idea, but if I bring it there, they could test it. Called wrecker and had it towed to the dealer - driver says $60, and will bill dealer.

Dealer calls:
1. Both batteries dead, they have no idea why it never showed any symptoms before the incident.
2. Batteries are $70 each, plus $60 installation.
3. Tow bill - $70.

I had originally called Advance Auto and the batteries are $76 each, free installation and testing, but if there was nothing wrong with the batteries, they couldn't help.

When I asked the dealer about the bill, I inquired as to why installation was so expensive, they responded that it was 1/2 hour labor. I then asked why is the tow bill $70 when the tow driver told me $60. They said 'handling fee'.

Is it any surprise that customers hate STEALERS?

What's a fella to do?

 

Might be a good idea to check your alternator for charging correctly. Dealer should do that as a matter of course when changing batteries, but you might want to nudge them about it.

 

From what you said , they are charging $120 an hour , but its been a while since I've check shop rates .
Don't want to **** you off but , it doesn't sound like you've ever been in buisness before , most any buis. will add to what ever outside labor is used that they pay , so next time you pay the driver , and maybe you could even get a better deal if you ask , but from my experance , the tow is half of what they charge hear .
When some one comes to me with a problum , the 1st thing I do is diagnose what the problum is , thats diag. time , that cost , then some time to put in batteries , some time , cost .
A 1/2 hr. shop time is fair , the hourly rate is what it is , everything is costing too much.
I don't want to chase you off by not appearing to be on your side , but here I go again , if you notice , at the bottom of most other posts , there is a discription of the owners truck and any mods.
If you go to the user control pannel and fill in the info on your truck , then we can give you help spacific to your truck, they keep changing these trucks all the time , mines about as new as I wanted , except for it would have been nice to find it with less that a 100 miles on the clock.

 

Pay the bill and quit crying. No doubt the 60.00 included diagnosing the problem and running charging system tests. You should of paid the tow right there when he dropped you off. Any time sublet bills get sent to a buisness it is subject to markup.

 

I agree with the bills in principle as we do the same. The rate seems high however. Pay what you can up front however.
As far as the batteries mine did the same thing. Worked fine one minute then stone cold dead both batteries the next.
Being a tight wad I walked instead of towing 5 miles. I got 2 of the biggest batteries that Zone sells. An $8 lunch got me a round trip ticket back to the truck. I plan on replacing them at 3 years regardles of warantee. If you live in the north and drive in the winter and you learn some hard lessons not to be forgotten. Never push your luck in the north. haha
John knows.

 

Could have paid for a years worth of AAA with the 1 tow.

 

Let me see...

No one is chasing me anywhere. I'm not ****** off at what you said. I have been and continue to be in business. However, I always attempted to be competitively priced in whatever I do. My point was that the dealer made no effort to be competitive in the work performed. The competition up the street gives the same service with less cost. Both make profit on the product sale, but the dealer overhead and service writer commission structure make it difficult to maintain long term relationships with customers.

re: the tow charge. I told the dealer that I never agreed to an uplift of the tow price, otherwise I would have paid the tow driver directly. I agreed to pay the tow I was quoted. The dealer removed the tow and I paid the tow yard directly.

As far as the batteries, the comparison of charges speak for themselves for essentially the same work performed:

Advance Auto - $76x2=152 plus tax. Free install and free diagnostics.
================
169.68

Dealer
Batteries - $75x2=150
Labor - $59.80 (includes diagnostics)
Materials - $5.00
================
234.13

I chaulk this one up as my fault for not checking better re: work performed for the price. After all, checking and replacing batteries ain't rocket science. Maybe that's why no one else buys their batteries at the dealer.

Thanks for the repiles.