Is the Dealer Messing With Me?
 

My dealer quoted $1000.00 to install new Springs, Swaybars (both Eibach) and four wheel alignment.

This seems very high. Would appreciate your feedback on whether this is reasonable or not.

Not terribly far off given most dealer's labor rates. It's not generally a good deal to get work done at the dealer.

Springs and sways are a pretty easy install if you've got a toolkit. Any reason you can't tackle the project on a Saturday?

:iagree:


I did the same setup myself and was able to get it done with a 19MM, 17MM, 14MM socket, impact wrench and pry bar. The rear is a little tricky just cause you have to detach the muffler from the exhaust and loosen the exhaust hangers.

The front was STOOPID simple and had Pepboys mount the springs for $20 each.

Get a friend to help it will be done in like 3 hours.

also you should be changing your rear camber arms while you have the suspension out.

:iagree: The guys at the body shop here charge $90.00 per hour. They estimated my Springs and Coilover upgrades at 4 hours with a maximum of $75.00 additional for misc. parts/connectors or whatever may be necessary.

IMO (for what its worth) ask around town for the most reputable tuner/body shop nearby, and let them do the work. Dealerships normally pride themselves on selection and sales, not extra work.

Did the whole shebang (springs, sways, links and short shifter) with a friend in one day with breaks included. Come to think of it, we did the brakes too. Muffler hangers were a bit of a pain, true. If I had known to take my springs to be mounted at PepBoys, I would gladly have paid the fee and saved myself the two hours and 500 wrench turns on my flimsy spring compressors.

Springs, $75/corner, sway bars, $100, alignment $100-150 depending on the rape

hahaha after reading so many complaints about compressing the springs it was WELL worth the $40 and 30 mins of my time to have them do it.

Wha?

Thanks gents. I guess I was just expecting it to be much less.

I can handle the swaybars, but my main intention in contacting the dealer was for the springs install. I've heard these can be a real PITA.

Andrew, your figures are in line with what I thought it should be.

I'll shop around and see what I can come up with.

Again, thanks for your input.

That was my estimate on prices... Those aren't GOOD prices but kinda fair prices.
I bought my mechanics a $30 lunch to install my sways, and lifetime alignment through Firestone for $150-160.

I had Swift Springs with Camber Kit/Toe Bolt installed for 350 bucks. Sways hell do them yourself those are simple!

Call Firestone and ask them about the springs and alignment prices.

The rear springs are in a bucket all you need a is 17MM socket and a floor jack to remove them. Once you have the car jacked up its literally a 3 minute process.

I guess the benefit of going to a shop is they can align it right there vs. you having to limp it to a shop to have it aligned. the Firestone lifetime alignment is WELL worth the price especially if you get new rims/tires.

I will contact Firestone tomorrow morning and see what they can do.

As far as an alignment is concerned, their lifetime warranty is hard to beat. I took my wife's Odyssey there and we've had a new alignment with each new tire purchase. It's worked out well.

Thanks for the update regarding the Rear Springs. Didn't realize it was that easy. I take it the Fronts are a different story.

Fronts are easy as well, you just need to actually use a spring compressor.

You can get a nice wall-mount style one without dropping too much cash...and then you can always do springs yourself.

Fronts are easy to get out but require a spring compressor to separate the shock from the spring. If you don't know what you're doing here, you can really injur yourself. Do not go loosening the top center nut without the spring being compressed!

Even with spring compressors, there's a lot of hard side-to-side bolt turning until the spring is compressed. You can do it but it's very worth the money having someone do it for you with a shop spring compressor. Like I said, if I had only known PepBoys did that...

Lifetime Warrenty from Firestone..

Reminds me of this...

Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.

Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?

Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of ****. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time.

I did it myself with crappy hand tools, (1) 6 pack Bud Lite, and a fused back. I would have paid the grand had I known what I was getting myself into :owned:

As has been suggested, this is what I would do.

Take them off yourself, take the fronts to Pep Boys or another shop and pay them the 20-50 bucks to get the springs swapped on the fronts, then go home and put them back on.

I think there's a DIY on how to do the rears yourself, just take it slow and be careful if it's your first time. (I could probably do the entire job in under an hour now that i've done it a few times lmao)

Dealers tend to have a higher overhead cost which tend to result in higher labor fees. Unless you really need something done, the dealer isn't somewhere you should go. As for the parts you need installed, local auto part shops could easily do it for a reduced cost. But like others have said, some items could actually be done easily at home.

new spring install 2hrs x 100? = 200
sway install 1hr x 100? = 100
alignment $120?

200 + 100 + 120 = $1000

Tiger, is this Gerald Naperville? Seems high. Spring install is a lot easier than you think. I was just there today for an alignment. With a drop I would go to a specialty shop as they'll dial it in better. Gerald will just put it back into spec without much though, I had to ask the guy to make sure the L and R toe specs as even as possible. He didn't seem to like it too much and kept telling me it was in spec. In hindsight I shouldve taken it elsewhere but settled for the dealer for the convenience. Price wasn't bad either.

I'm planning on getting swifts later on and will not be taking it back to Gerald.

Yes it is Gerald Nissan.

Any suggestions in the area for a specialty shop?

After contacting Firestone in my area, they will only offer the install if I purchase the parts through them. I said no thank you and will move on.

:icon18:

Yeah. They won't even touch lowering springs in my area. Company policy, I guess. I would steer clear regardless. I had another shop say it would take 4 hours. I walked the guy through the process and every time he tried to tell me it would be two hours for the rears I pointed out the single bolt and and cradle and said, "Does that look like a 2-hour job to you?" and he would just repeat what he said about it taking two hours for the rear. I was like, I'm not paying you 2 hours in labor charges for a 10-minute job. So I moved on. He didn't understand that he lost all of my business by trying to overcharge me. And by business I mean I've spent thousands there in the past on other cars. Oops! :ugh2: Do it myself I guess. lol

All the good shops seem to be in the northern burbs. A lot of people like project x

I'd have been irritated they wanted an additional labor cost on the sways, since you have to unbolt the endlinks anyway to change the springs. I think I paid my dealer 300 or so to install my springs and align the car, but that was on top of installing a turbo kit so they were already getting paid handsomely.