My oldest daughter ( 32 ) lives in the city and called today with car trouble as she always has.

She claimed to see steam while smelling antifreeze.

Told her likely a busted hose that she needs to have it towed to her auto repair shop.

She calls back, yep busted lower radiator hose $ 280 for repair and an additional $ 200 for a radiator flush. 😳

I keep my composure and call the shop and ask them how they go about doing a radiator flush ❓

They replied by removing the lower radiator hose and let the thermostat cycle.

I said thankyou that's how I do it as well so can you kindly remove that procedure off of my daughter's ticket because that part has already been completed by hose failure....... unbelievable how these places take advantage of young women.

$280 is insane for lower hose replacement to boot.

 

Not sure I see the dishonesty part here.  Did they lie about the services performed?  A quick persual at KBB it seems as though they are well under the national average.

 

Seems to me that you are upset over something you don't know what the prices should be....i have paid to have my brakes done before when time was in a crunch and it was easily triple what I could do them myself for but I also don't have to pay myself labor costs either....

 

^ Depends too on the make/model. If it's an import, look to the tariffs for the cost increase in parts/materials. 90% of the anti-freeze sold in the US is imported from places like Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Germany and Belgium.

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

Not sure I see the dishonesty part here.  Did they lie about the services performed?  A quick persual at KBB it seems as though they are well under the national average.

 

Seems to me that you are upset over something you don't know what the prices should be....i have paid to have my brakes done before when time was in a crunch and it was easily triple what I could do them myself for but I also don't have to pay myself labor costs either....

 

My wife said the same thing, that I'm living to far in past. 😳

My dishonesty claim was the unessarry radiator flush that was already completed by hose failure, block and radiator emptied itself.

My wife drives a Porsche Macan. She called me a couple of weeks ago saying her brakes were squealing. She was up at our daughter’s house about 3 hrs away. I grabbed some tools, went by ORieley’s and bought some brake pads. What was showing would fit in fact didn’t fit. Anyway, that’s another story. The pads at ORieley’s were $68. Pads at Porsche parts were $488. I don’t consider that dishonest in any way. That’s a huge gap, but not dishonesty. IMO

1 minute ago, Bird said:

My dishonesty claim was the unessarry radiator flush that was already completed by hose failure, block and radiator emptied itself.

Dishonest? I don’t think so in my opinion. However; taken advantage of because she was a female and likely wouldn’t question it because “she’s just a dumb girl. She doesn’t know anything”? Absolutely. 100% I believe that. 

Quite often in this day and age, younger females get taken advantage of when it comes to auto repair. I’ve seen it first hand with my own wife.

 

A second estimate would also be beneficial in many cases, as cost can vary from one shop to the next.

46 minutes ago, Bird said:

My wife said the same thing, that I'm living to far in past. 😳

My dishonesty claim was the unessarry radiator flush that was already completed by hose failure, block and radiator emptied itself.

emptying isn't quite the same as a flush but I get what you ae saying.

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

emptying isn't quite the same as a flush but I get what you ae saying.

That's what I'm thinking,  a flush is different than the fluid just emptying out.  

It's obvious that we have no mechanics attending 😁.

Yes a flush would include water while the engine is running to keep the thermostat open.

A sudden release of fluid at its lowest point would not warrant an additional flush for $200. Imo 

what kind of car is it?  that is an expensive radiator hose swap.

 

when mine goes, I change them all!!   take advantage of the drain.  

A flush is a flush..

All coolant is completely replaced from the radiator, block and heater core. 
Replacing a lower hose just drains what will spill out of the lower radiator and engine block usually just below the water pump. 
That is not a flush, it a hose replacement with a top off. 
 

 

Edit

Depending on mileage and condition of the coolant just replacing it isn’t good enough either as plain water will not dislodge any build up scale and/or sludge 

 

 

 

Mike

@Mike L

She had a flush done 6 months ago, it wasn't necessary.

Plus today's antifreeze much like motor oil is significantly better than yesteryear.

My owners manual on my truck claims a flush at 100k.

Yep see your point 

I was just saying what a flush really means. 
 

Edit Again😃

 

On my show car which sits more than its on the road I change the oil every year and just drain and flush without removing the block plugs every 2 

 

 

Mike