Turns out the "high" end of the car's alt. died. Ford replaced and so forth. Now I'm not sure on what the stock's A output is, but the new alt was $480!!!!!!! But me, being curious, I looked online and found a Ford Motorcrafy OR Bosch 130A alternator for my car to be retail at no more than $315, and to be on sale for $150.
How can Ford get away charging more than the retail for a product? This makes me so irratated...That was $480 without labor and towing too. After that was added in it pushed $650-$700! GRRRR!
the "high end" of the alt?...so did they just rebuilt the alt(i guess)? That should have cost your like $75 at the VERY most if they just rebuilt the alt...
man, did a road-side mechanic "fix" your car?
sounds kinda like the old "your water-pump was nearly down a quart, but we caught it in time so the repair is only gonna cost ya $400" scam.
My 200 amp alternator only cost me $275 after shipping.. And it was a bolt-on replacement.. (Just gotta undo the belt, then 3 bolts, then sit new alt where old one went, bolt'm on, re-attach belt and you're done). So $275 and 15 minutes of work.. Cant believe you were charged $400 for that.. Kragen normally only charges like $80 and your old alternator for a rebuilt replacement.. heh..
Go back to your Ford and ask for a refund. If they won't, call a news reporter/station and explain how you got ripped of. It may not be much, but some of them are hungry for any kind of news to print. No stock alternator can cost more than $150 unless you own $100K+ sports car. Even if you include the labour charges and all, it can't cost you no more than $200. There is such a thing as "standard" labour charge rate. It's a book that contains how long it's suppose to take and the rate. Before you go storming in, call another dealer and ask for a standard alternator install, probably around $85.
Unless they're saying they hand-rebuilt your alternator, and charging by the hour, and had someone stupidly slow do it? Was the bill itemized? If so, let us know how they broke it down. Did they replace the belt, too? Were there any other charges on the bill?
