Shop Maintanence mistake

[df2]

Hi, well my new 2000 sport went to the Guzzi dealership last week to get a couple of things done, (new tire, short in blinker). I also wanted, since I'm new to Guzzies to have the mechanic do a once over to let me know if he heard or saw anything wrong that I could address at some point in the future (or then if necessary). When I dropped the bike off he asked if I wanted them to change the oil and filter, I said yeah, go ahead..... big mistake.

 

Now what is the most you think you'd pay for an oil change.... $50 bucks or so.... I mean, I've never had a shop do it before,,,,,,No.... not 50, nor 100 but a whopping $175.00 ($125 labor) at $100 an hour. I flipped. I asked if he had a one armed mechanic... an hour and 15 minutes to do an oil change? Talk about not wanting to gain a new customer.

 

On my kawi I have to take 3 fairings off to get to the oil filter with allen bolts that have to go back exactly where they came from (mix them and you are screwed, literally) and it takes me only 25 minutes.

 

If he was trying to make up time on work he did for finding the short, he sure made a poor choice. The guy I bought the bike off of offered to pay to get the short fixed. Why couldn't that have eaten the time....

[Guest ratchethack]

Freakin' YIKES!! A $175 oil change?!?!

 

I bought a pristine second-hand moto for $175 when I was a lad. Not only was it running, but running WELL -- and it didn't need an oil change!!

 

FWIW, despite the apparent solicitation for your oil change business, I b'lieve this is your dealer's way of not-so-subtly letting you know that he doesn't want your oil change business (again), nor anyone else's business you're likely to talk with. Sad to say, but the mega-shops just don't seem to care if customers NEVER come back. And why should they, as long as they're always booked solid with first-and-last-timers streaming in thru the front door?!

 

I'd look at it this way. You asked him to let you know if he could ID anything wrong that you could address at some point in the future, and you got wot you paid for. Going to that dealer again would be something WRONG that you can address in the future by not repeating the experience. . .

 

FWIW, I've always done my own oil changes on the 2000 Guzzi Sport (as I have on each of 12 moto's, come to think of it). I use high quality synthetic and a high quality filter at $26 total, RETAIL, and it takes 15 minutes max, plus time to drain.

 

Oh yeah -- somethin' else that fits here. Unlike the experience I had with the dealer that did the last oil change on my Guzzi before I bought it, I have yet to strip out an oil drain plug and "glue" it back in place with sealant to cover my tracks, as the Neanderthal in the back of the dealership did before I took delivery.

 

 

My $175 Suz S80, circa 1967

[Baldini]

...it takes 15 minutes max...

 

15 Minutes!! Pah!! I'd have done the oil, torqued the heads, lapped in a coupla valves & be on me second pint in that time!!

 

well...truth be told, it'd take me 15 minutes to find an allen key & decide which screw to undo first...

 

KB

[roberto tenni]

On my kawi I have to take 3 fairings off to get to the oil filter with allen bolts that have to go back exactly where they came from (mix them and you are screwed, literally) and it takes me only 25 minutes.

 

 

Swings and roundabouts.

How long would it take to set your tappets on an in line four?

[Slavomir Musilek (R.I.P.)]

drive your bike to Czech, I will change the oil for you for half a price, two times faster :lol:

[Dan M]

Now what is the most you think you'd pay for an oil change.... $50 bucks or so.... I mean, I've never had a shop do it before,,,,,,No.... not 50, nor 100 but a whopping $175.00 ($125 labor) at $100 an hour. I flipped. I asked if he had a one armed mechanic... an hour and 15 minutes to do an oil change? Talk about not wanting to gain a new customer.

 

I'd ask them if they follow a labor guide when coming up with these prices or are they just shooting from the hip. Even if they dropped the pan to clean the screen (look for a new gasket) an hour and a quarter is still too much.

 

The price is off the charts high but when dealing with the unknown, it is kind of on you to ask "how much" when anything is offered.

[df2]

Yeah, I know. My fault for not thinking.

 

Valves on the Connie, for me, all day and maybe part of the next to do the job. I've only done it twice, otherwise I find a fellow COG member who enjoys the challenge and I suggest a wrench session (I then offer my bike up as the demo).

 

It's an involved job: (see pain in the arse)

 

Remove Lower plastic, Gas tank, Ignition coils, Air suction valve and air hoses, Head cover ( no easy feat here, many give up at this point), Pickup coil cover...

4 valves, 4 cylinders, remember firing order when putting all back is not 1,2,3,4. And all this trying not to rip gaskets on something you have about 2 inches of clearance to work in.

 

Me liking v-twin, no plastic, and a gas tank that doesn't weigh 100 lbs when full, cause for some reason on the connie I'm obviously going to decide to do it just after filling up all 7.5 gallons....and of course the petcock is going to fail. This is when I adhere to the old adage, noisy valves are happy valves...

[Splicer]

Resurrecting an old thread, but:

 

Granted, I live in San Francisco where everything is more expensive than everywhere else, but my oil changes on the Stone come to almost $185.

 

Itemized:

 

Silkolene PRO4 SVC GAL $44

Oil Filter $24

Washer $1.50 (OK, this is truly absurd but whatever)

Sump Gasket $14.64

 

Labor: 1 hour $98

 

Two things enter in to this: first is the syth oil rather than dino oil, which the owners manual recommends. Second is that the Stone needs the oil pan removed, which is not the same with your V11 Sport. An hour and a quarter spent changing the oil where you don't have to drop the sump out and replace the gasket is definitely outrageous. I don't recall and no longer have the records from my old Speed Triple but I think that the shop charges a half hour's labor for changing the oil. Which is still excessive, but there you go.

[Murray]

Resurrecting an old thread, but:

 

Granted, I live in San Francisco where everything is more expensive than everywhere else, but my oil changes on the Stone come to almost $185.

 

Itemized:

 

Silkolene PRO4 SVC GAL $44

Oil Filter $24

Washer $1.50 (OK, this is truly absurd but whatever)

Sump Gasket $14.64

 

Labor: 1 hour $98

 

Two things enter in to this: first is the syth oil rather than dino oil, which the owners manual recommends. Second is that the Stone needs the oil pan removed, which is not the same with your V11 Sport. An hour and a quarter spent changing the oil where you don't have to drop the sump out and replace the gasket is definitely outrageous. I don't recall and no longer have the records from my old Speed Triple but I think that the shop charges a half hour's labor for changing the oil. Which is still excessive, but there you go.

 

The shop in question may have had a minim charge of 1 hour.

[Splicer]

The shop in question may have had a minim charge of 1 hour.

 

If it was my shop that might make sense, but they don't. In the case of the OP's shop, that's not how a minimum charge works. I bill hourly and I have a minimum charge of 15 minutes. If a client calls me up on the phone and asks me a question and the whole conversation is 90 seconds, my client gets charged for 15 minutes. But if I do something that takes 19 minutes, I charge for 19 minutes. (Actually 20 minutes because I round to the nearest five minutes, but that's another topic).

 

If the OP's shop had a 1 hour minimum and the oil change took 15 minutes, he would have been charged for one hour, not for one hour fifteen minutes.

[RHIP]

I don't want to defend a greedy shop, but it would be good to know exactly what they did for you. What was the labor on the tire? Did they charge for checking the electrical issue, and was that reasonable? I may be lucky to have a local dealer owned and staffed by friends, but I can't total all of the free time they have spent looking at or working on my bikes. If you asked them to "look it over", what did they do, and how much time did it take?

 

Most dealerships are savvy enough to know that they don't want to alienate customers by charging them unfairly - no one is getting rich selling Moto Guzzis, and for a lot of them what pays the bills is the maintenance and repair work they get from repeat customers. You may very well have been the victim of somebody who gouged you because its winter and work is slow, because even a numbnuts like me can drop the pan and change the oil and filter in 1.25 hours. I'd have an honest talk with the owner of the shop, and if that doesn't satisfy you, be looking for another option.