[The "Hose 10" Mod - BE/BH]

Thanks for your help. Project for tomorrow if its dry

[The "Hose 10" Mod - BE/BH]

Well turns out maybe I can't

I noticed on everyone else's pics that (aside from your engine bays all looking much cleaner than mine! ) the hose from the BOV goes directly onto the intake - mine connects to a pipe:

So to do this mod, I take the hose off that the arrow is pointing to below, bung the hose and the T inlet that it was connected to, and I'll have more vroom?

[Poll : Tyres 2015 What are you running?]

Hankook Ventus ... something something ... asymmetric.

[The "Hose 10" Mod - BE/BH]

Nice, that looks like a mod that even I can do!

Will report back on the results this weekend.

[Need help with insurance for GTB 18 yo Male]

I'm with State. They were the only ones who would insure me in my first car (Lancer GSR) when I was 15, and have been there since. I'm 24 now, and the annual premium on my 01 B4 RSK is around the 600 mark. Never had to make a major claim though, which is obviously where the value of an insurance company is tested... worth a phone call though.

[Help - Steep Mechanic's Bill]

Yeah from what they said yesterday, they took it out.

[Help - Steep Mechanic's Bill]

Yeah it was the rocker cover gasket that drove the bill up... turns out he discovered it was badly leaking and he replaced it ($258.18) and spent just over 4 hours on it ($363.40). He's "pretty sure" he would have called, but it "needed to be done anyway." I made it clear I wasn't happy about finding out about a $600 piece of work on my invoice, and they agreed to deduct 2 hours labour... Lesson learned - ask for a quote, always tell them to call if something unexpected needs to be done that is more than $100, and don't go back to that garage!

Parts were apparently all OEM from what they said, but they don't have the packaging anymore since it was done a few weeks ago and they only just billed me now.

My main confusion was about the need to replace the rocker covers... he said that they begin to leak onto the exhaust and burn off, hence no sign of oil on the driveway after parking. He did say it would (obviously) cause smoke though, which I have never seen or smelled from my engine... odd.

In the end, I think its a fair result... I wasn't going to refuse to pay the full amount, as it is nice to have it replaced preventatively (even if the severity of the leak was embellished) while the engine out, but also nice of them to acknowledge their stuff-up.

Still not going to take my car back there. I'm not going to publish their name on here either... PM me if you're local to the Hutt and you desperately want to know.

Thanks again guys. You know your stuff!

[Help - Steep Mechanic's Bill]

Marky, I'm aware I should have gotten a quote beforehand, and like I said, I have learned my lesson for next time. Not looking for a reason to rip him off either, just checking with the experts here that it is a fair price since it just struck me as quite high.

Thanks for the feedback all. I'm going to query the rocker cover gaskets and head plugs since they weren't requested / authorized. Will share the result.

[Help - Steep Mechanic's Bill]

 Scoobydoo said:

Ask for all the boxes / wrappings that the parts come in. At least then you can be sure that OEM parts were used. I'd also question the rocker covers, as that is a job on it's own. And since you didn't ask for that to be done.. why would they do it?

Also, was it a Subaru-specific mechanic or a run of the mill one? If it was someone like Armstrong or a Subaru dealership, then I could believe those prices..

Good idea - I will ask about packaging.

It was just a run of the mill, non-franchise mechanic.

[Help - Steep Mechanic's Bill]

 evowrx said:

Parts are higher than rrp imo. Hours are acceptable and good rate. No idea why rocker cover gaskets were done without telling you they were leaking. Would tell them to get fkd on that. Caps hideously over priced. Check what plugs were used as above. That oil price is what you pay at a workshop always do your own oil change.

Thanks, will ask about the rocker cover gaskets. Lesson has definitely been learned...

[Help - Steep Mechanic's Bill]

 slystiguy said:

Item Qty Unit Subtotal GST Total

Warrant of Fitness 1 $65.00 (most places are around $35-45)

Proflex GT1 5W-30 5 $114.43 (I don't know the quality/brand of that oil but for comparison my last oil cost $49 on special normally $69, and that was for good quality oil)

Oil Filter 1 $20.13 (as aboe my last one was $12 retail)

Oil System Flush 1 $14.85 $14.85 $2.23 $17.08 (fair)

Window Washer / Grease / Brake Fluid 1 $3.49 $3.49 $0.52 $4.01 (fair)

Spark Plugs 4 $18.85 - $86.71 ( I would enquire as to which were used, coppers bkr6e are like $7 each retail, but the platinum are something like $40 now)

Cambelt Kit 1 $635.00 $635.00 $95.25 $730.25 (seems very dear, but retail may come to that, again need to know what parts used? Genuine is probably about that )

Cam Seal 4 $19.50 - $89.70 (fair)

Oil Pump O Ring 1 $10.01 (fair)

Water Pump Kit Incl Thermostat 1 $229.43(seems very dear, but retail may come to that, again need to know what parts used? Genuine is probably about that)

Rocker Cover Gasket Kit 1 $258.18 (Fair if genuine and is complete but need to know which items were replaced as there is a few extras in that area)

Antifreeze 2.5 - $38.38 (very dear, see prices online for this are less than $20, depends on quality too)

Radiator Cap 1 $30.59 (fair)

Freight 2 $12.00 $24.00 $3.60 $27.60 (fair)

Sundries 1 $25.00 $25.00 $3.75 $28.75 (fair, almost too cheap lol, would expect some things to need replacing in the hoses department)

Labour 11 $79.00 $869.00 $130.35 $999.35 (fair)

The labour seems reasonable for a good quality service/going over and checking everything, but full retail+ pricing on parts is quite harsh. Then again I'm cheap and do everything myself so I don't know what shops charge these days. I would enquire at another subaru shop for the same service. I think full 100k cambelt service including cam seals/waterpump was $1300 mark on my ver2 but this was about 5 years ago now. That was through armstrong subaru which is full genuine parts used and basically the best place to take your car. If those parts aren't genuine I would think that was way way overpriced.

Thanks! Yeah it must be OEM parts... Either way, I'm heading over to the DIY section now!

[Help - Steep Mechanic's Bill]

Thanks guys - looks like I might have to suck the kumara on this one and get a quote next time!

[Help - Steep Mechanic's Bill]

I'm going to hold short of going on a rant here until I get some opinions, but the story is that I took my 2001 Legacy B4 to a mechanic (name withheld for now) to to get the cambelt, water pump, tensioners and sparks replaced, along with a service and WOF. That's all I asked for. Nothing more. No recommendations were made to me to do further work.

I was prepared for a decent bill (high $1000 to $2000 I thought was reasonable), given that boxers are notorious for getting to the belts on, and there would be labour costs associated with it.

What I wasn't prepared for was a bill of $2,855!

I've itemised what was on the invoice... can someone with a bit more nous about cars than I have tell me if this seems reasonable for what I requested (there seems to be a few things I didn't ask for, but may have been required - I don't know. I was never asked.)

Also 11 hours labour for this seems ridiculous. I mean, I know its not an easy engine to work on, but I thought 7-8ish would be more likely.

[table]

[tr][td]Item[/td][td]Qty[/td][td]Unit[/td][td]Subtotal[/td][td]GST[/td][td]Total[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Warrant of Fitness[/td][td]1[/td][td]$56.52[/td][td]$56.52[/td][td]$8.48[/td][td]$65.00[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Proflex GT1 5W-30[/td][td]5[/td][td]$19.90[/td][td]$99.50[/td][td]$14.93[/td][td]$114.43[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Oil Filter[/td][td]1[/td][td]$17.50[/td][td]$17.50[/td][td]$2.63[/td][td]$20.13[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Oil System Flush[/td][td]1[/td][td]$14.85[/td][td]$14.85[/td][td]$2.23[/td][td]$17.08[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Window Washer / Grease / Brake Fluid[/td][td]1[/td][td]$3.49[/td][td]$3.49[/td][td]$0.52[/td][td]$4.01[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Spark Plugs[/td][td]4[/td][td]$18.85[/td][td]$75.40[/td][td]$11.31[/td][td]$86.71[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Drive Belt[/td][td]1[/td][td]$36.30[/td][td]$36.30[/td][td]$5.45[/td][td]$41.75[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Cambelt Kit[/td][td]1[/td][td]$635.00[/td][td]$635.00[/td][td]$95.25[/td][td]$730.25[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Cam Seal[/td][td]4[/td][td]$19.50[/td][td]$78.00[/td][td]$11.70[/td][td]$89.70[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Oil Pump O Ring[/td][td]1[/td][td]$8.70[/td][td]$8.70[/td][td]$1.31[/td][td]$10.01[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Water Pump Kit Incl Thermostat[/td][td]1[/td][td]$199.50[/td][td]$199.50[/td][td]$29.93[/td][td]$229.43[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Rocker Cover Gasket Kit[/td][td]1[/td][td]$224.50[/td][td]$224.50[/td][td]$33.68[/td][td]$258.18[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Cylinder Head Plug[/td][td]4[/td][td]$14.00[/td][td]$56.00[/td][td]$8.40[/td][td]$64.40[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Antifreeze[/td][td]2.5[/td][td]$13.35[/td][td]$33.38[/td][td]$5.01[/td][td]$38.38[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Radiator Cap[/td][td]1[/td][td]$26.60[/td][td]$26.60[/td][td]$3.99[/td][td]$30.59[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Freight[/td][td]2[/td][td]$12.00[/td][td]$24.00[/td][td]$3.60[/td][td]$27.60[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Sundries[/td][td]1[/td][td]$25.00[/td][td]$25.00[/td][td]$3.75[/td][td]$28.75[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Labour[/td][td]11[/td][td]$79.00[/td][td]$869.00[/td][td]$130.35[/td][td]$999.35[/td][/tr]

[tr][td][/td][/tr]

[tr][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]$2,483.24[/td][td]$372.49[/td][td]$2,855.72[/td][/tr]

[/table]

Am I being unreasonable, or is this steep?

Either way, I think its time to learn how to do this myself!

Appreciate any feedback.