Firstly, whoever you are. STOP DELETING MY POSTS. This is the THIRD time I have had to post this topic here as it has been removed twice. If you have the time to delete someones thread you also have the time to do the curtious thing and tell them why.

Anyway, enough of that.

Recently I was Driving my 2001 Magna sedan (Auto) when it seemingly shifted into neutral on its own accord. I attempted to put it back into drive only to find it was still in drive and was unresponsive to any gear I selected. At this point I was forced to pull over and attempt to change my gears, which sadly met with no success, the engine only rev'd rather than moved regardless of which gear I selected.
I called RACQ roadside and got a toe to the local RACQ repair agency. After a few hours I was informed my gearbox broken beyond repair and would require replacement. At the time I was given a rough verbal quote of $1000 ($600 for the both $300-400 labour). After a few delays with ordering the wrong parts the Magna was ready to pick up. Only I am given an invoice(today) for $1,650. Apparently the gear box cost $800 and the labour cost me $850. They say it took over 7 hours to fit (which seems unreasonable to me).

I am yet to pick up the car. Am I getting ripped here or is this just what you'd typically expect for a gearbox change?

Thanks

Ben

Posted in the wrong place I imagine.

Cost for the box fix sounds reasonable.
Labour cost - well, I've done a clutch change in a TS which requires the removal and replace of the gearbox, and trust me, its NOT a 7 hour job, maybe for 2 people it is - that works out to $60 per hour.

Firstly, whoever you are. STOP DELETING MY POSTS. This is the THIRD time I have had to post this topic here as it has been removed twice. If you have the time to delete someones thread you also have the time to do the curtious thing and tell them why.



Perhaps after the second time the thread was moved, not deleted you may have seen that it was in the wrong place, yes I have moved it but NO I do not have time to message every person who makes a thread in the sponsors section when the thread shoudl be in the tech section

About your question, yes you did pay way too much, if the idiot who states he is a mechanic took 7 hours to do a 4 hour job it is time for him to retire or actually learn how a magna works before starting work, I can do a complete manual conversion in about 7 hours ffs

As for what you got quoted, unless you gave authority to pay more, if you got a written quote then you dont have the pay the difference, if not you are stuck with it

Perhaps this was a first time for a Magna gearbox remove and refit for these mechanics? Not everyone is as experienced as you Mal.

This is why it's so important to find specialists. You could have towed the car to another mechanic who knew what he was doing and ended up paying less (depending on how far it is of course).

It's a lesson we all learn at some point.

I'm not sure "not being experienced" is a good enough excuse for a qualified mechanic. I think it's more of a diddums thing, it's their trade, there's no excuse for over charging for a job, if they can't do it as well as someone else they should damn well say so. How many thousands of people a year are massively ripped off because of what comes down to incompetence.

Perhaps this was a first time for a Magna gearbox remove and refit for these mechanics? Not everyone is as experienced as you Mal.

If a general mechanic can not do this in 4 hours then they are crap mechanics, has SFA to do with being a magna, an auto trans comes out the same in most front wheel drive cars, not that much different in rear wheel drive cars either when you think about, disconnect propulsion after you drain, disc elec, unbolt torque converter, drop exhaust if needed, disc shifter cable, drop trans.

That is the issue these days, people spend so many years in a class room, as soon as they are given a few spanners and a car, they freak out. Regardless if is the first time or not, there are generally acceptable times for jobs to be done in, this is way over and I would dispute this. Especially as there was an estimate given and then add to this either their labour rate is very high which hints of being an experienced workshop or they have way over charged

Last note, I charge $490 for a complete manual conversion, is that a guide, much more work involved than a simple trans swapski

I'm not sure "not being experienced" is a good enough excuse for a qualified mechanic.

I'm just pointing out that a first time job always takes longer, you DIY home mechanics might remember how long it took the first time you did a job, like change plugs or do an oil change, second and subsequent times are always faster, simply because you know the steps and tools required. Even a qualified mechanic has to do a job for the first time. lol

I completely agree with that, I did my first auto trans flush today and spend what felt like a lifetime trying to get that damn tube to the cooler off. But i'm not charging anyone, nor would I. the qualufied mechanic has the legal and moral obligation to tell the customer if he/she is unfamiliar in a particular area.

I'm sure it'd take me a week to do what they'd do in a few hours, but it's unacceptableand unethical to penalise the client for your incompetance/inexperience.

I booked my old skyline in for a clutch change. I was told it'd take an afternoon, and the highly experienced mechanic said he had worked on many skylines, and still did regularly. Is it okay that he didn't know that r34s, like all gtr's, had pull type clutches? He spend 5 days stuffing round and ended up cutting a hole in the bell hoising to undo the pressure plate. All because he didnt know he had to remove a rubber boot and undo a little pin. I showed him the pin and he came up with a miriad of excuses over a few days, many of which were contradicting. Non skilled people have to be able to trust people skilled in their area. It is not good enough to charge twice as much because its your first time, when you charge the next person less.

took over 7 hours, so lets say 7. thats 850/7 = 121$/hr for labour.
this means they are the best of the best mechanics and should have been able to do this with one hand, while doing a rubix cube in the other. $60 per hour is more reasonable if they are going to take that long. like mad magna said, the basic work is similar to that of a rwd car. maybey add 1 hour for fiddly bits and an extra driveshaft.

Last note, I charge $490 for a complete manual conversion, is that a guide, much more work involved than a simple trans swapski

Good lord, is that INCLUDING the gearbox?

I'm just pointing out that a first time job always takes longer, you DIY home mechanics might remember how long it took the first time you did a job, like change plugs or do an oil change, second and subsequent times are always faster, simply because you know the steps and tools required. Even a qualified mechanic has to do a job for the first time. lol

Max, NO! you dont pay someone to use your car to learn on, if the person has not done this before then is the issue of the workshop to sort out, not the customer to pay double what the going rate is or triple of what some of us charge.....

You can not compare how long it takes yourself to do this as these workshops do similar work to other FWD cars all the time, Magna Auto's are no different and are far easier than many cars out there


took over 7 hours, so lets say 7. thats 850/7 = 121$/hr for labour.
this means they are the best of the best mechanics and should have been able to do this with one hand, while doing a rubix cube in the other. $60 per hour is more reasonable if they are going to take that long. like mad magna said, the basic work is similar to that of a rwd car. maybey add 1 hour for fiddly bits and an extra driveshaft.

Agree 100%, a workshop charging $121 per hour would want to be pretty much the best out there lol

you don't pay someone to use your car to learn on/

OK, you are right, if this was an ideal world.

Just one last comment from me. What if they let the apprentice loose on the job, so he can learn how to do the job?

I get what you're saying MadMax, everyone needs to learn, and that's fair enough. But do you really want to be the one paying for it?

I get what you're saying MadMax, everyone needs to learn, and that's fair enough. But do you really want to be the one paying for it?


No, of course not. Maybe we should get fixed quotes in writing, and if it takes longer the shop just has to wear it? I'd like to see plumbers and dentists do that too, but they seem to assume we have bottomless wallets. lol

Lol good call, fixed quotes from the dentist would be nice rather than constantly getting the feeling their patients are funding their porsches

Lol good call, fixed quotes from the dentist would be nice rather than constantly getting the feeling their patients are funding their porsches

Unfortunately we ARE the ones who pay for their Porsches.. Oh to have a dentists wage!

It did seem very steep. And I was under the impression that charging as much per hour as they did they would want to be the most superest mechanics in the universe but by the sheer fact it took 7 hours to do the job that cant be true. I will comfont the mechanic tomorrow and let you know how I went.

Thanks for the information.

Ben.

Good luck with that mate, hope it goes well

No it didn't. He refuses to budge, even after bringing up all the points mentioned here. He says he had his best man on it(hate to see his worst).

I have a spare set of keys, I am half tempted to go grab it after hours and just transfer a thousands to the account on the invoice. Pretty sure that would put me in the wrong though. So basically there is nothing I can do other than pay the amount and be pissed off about it for the next few weeks.

Thanks anyway lads, your input was appreciated.

So basically there is nothing I can do other than pay the amount and be pissed off about it for the next few weeks.



That's why I'm so keen on DIY - at least for the remove/replace. And I would want the broken bits back from the gearbox from a trans specialist of my choice. (I'd be looking over his shoulder too, going "what does that bit do?", but for some reason they don't like that. lol)

Most of them will do a quote in 2 stages, a "dismantle and inspect" quote first, then give an accurate quote on repairs once they see the internals and will go ahead if you ok the repair. No nasty surprises that way.

Mechanics have online memberships that tell them how long every job in every car should take them.. most use this as a guide to dictate their price, no matter how bloody many hours their cluelessness wastes.

No it didn't. He refuses to budge, even after bringing up all the points mentioned here. He says he had his best man on it(hate to see his worst).

I have a spare set of keys, I am half tempted to go grab it after hours and just transfer a thousands to the account on the invoice. Pretty sure that would put me in the wrong though. So basically there is nothing I can do other than pay the amount and be pissed off about it for the next few weeks.

Thanks anyway lads, your input was appreciated.

That's *** up. You are, I believe, in your rights to "steel" the car back.

What you need to do is call the department of fair trade and that free legal aid hotline to discuss your options. You can opt to pay in protest, so you pay the amount they dictate then contest it for a refund. It need not go to court, in fact I'd wager a lot of settlements take place out of court, so it's not necessarily a horrific process.

Further, the department of fair trade is set up so you don't need a lawyer to dispute the mechanic's work, it is preferred and insisted (usually) that parties represent themselves to keep costs down.

At least spend a few minutes on the phone discussing your options, getting a few hundred back may be worth it if it's an easy process.

lol, it censored my semi censored comment

To the OP, I don't think you were "ripped off" - from what I've read on this forum since joining I'd expect to be paying at least $3000 for a reco box fitted. Admittedly you did not have a 'reco' box fitted and they apparently 'repaired' your old box, but then most 'reco' boxes are simply repaired, so maybe you got a very good deal. Maybe the labour figure includes pulling the old box apart to fix.

How do you get to the converter bolts on a Magna auto 2001 tj

How do you get to the converter bolts on a Magna auto 2001 tj

At the very bottom of the bellhousing there's a small access cover held on by 2 10mm bolts from memory. then it's a matter of rotating the crank to position the bolt in that window

In this image it's item 01507. this is not a magna breakdown but it's the same cover.

http://www.partsbase.org/media/images/mitsubishi/bf/bfd513d24da5e738728b877187d33e65.png

Can I ask, how do I get to the auto box converter bolts,2001 magna

How do you get to the converter bolts on a Magna auto 2001 tj

Thanks tw2005 I found them