Remart Auto Parts Blog

I read blog recently discussing why a consumer should buy their parts from the service center that is working on their car and that got me thinking.....

Recently my car was in need of front brakes. I took my car to a local Firestone to have the work done. After they took off the front wheels and sized up the project, I received the quote..... $550 !

The breakdown of the bill was approximately $125 for labor and $425 for parts (high quality pads and 2x OE replacement rotors). A long stretch from the $99 per axle as advertised on the marquee in front of the store. I am in the business of selling auto parts at discount prices over the Internet. It is very rare that I do my own work on my own car. I do know what a good quality set of pads and rotors cost and I am not opposed to a company making money, but taking advantage of customers is not good business. I asked the service manager what it would cost if I provided my own parts. He politely said that we would have to charge an additional $75 for labor as he would not be making any money on the parts. He also stated that he would not be able to warrant the parts but would warrant the labor. With a smile on my face and the knowledge that I was just about the get hosed, I signed the quote and said how long will it take?

The long and the short of it was that I had to take the car back on three different occasions to get rid of a new rotor/brake related noise that developed after the brake job. Blame was placed on defective parts and they replaced the pads and rotors each time. The third time back in the shop they discovered that the tech doing the work was installing the clips on the brake pads backwards and this is what caused the noise. Never once was I asked for additional fees or charges. In this situation the service center warranted the parts and labor 100% and incurred all additional costs. I was only inconvenienced by the time to take back to the service center each time. So in the end, who got hosed?

Schedulable car maintenance and repair could be done if the consumer could price shop and compare deals on the Internet and save the consumer a lot of money. I believe that if service centers allowed and handled this accordingly, it would be a win/win situation. In a break-fix situation this many not work as the car or truck is not operable and the owner of the car may not be able to wait a few days for a part to be shipped before getting it back on the road.

Concerning the brake job, I could have purchased the parts on the internet for about $100 – same manufacturer, brand and quality for about $100 and paid labor of $125 – a net savings to me of $325. In this situation the additional labor would have been the responsibility of the service center – no extra charge there. The risk I would have is if the parts where defective (or even diagnosed as being bad incorrectly) then I would have to pay the labor charge x3 to while also incurring additional shipping and time to work through the suppliers return process.

So – who is responsible here? While my experience with the brake job is the exception….. When you pay a premium for parts and labor the one service center that sells the service is on the hook. When you provide the parts then you are on the hook to work through the processes of a return or two if necessary. What are your thoughts on this situation?

~RAP in the house

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