I feel violated(FZ6 service charge)

[nedburt]

I just got my bike back from the dealer today. Its an 04 FZ6, as many of you know there was a recall on the throttle position sensor(TPS). It has acted up on me a few time, so I took it to get it replaced. I decided to have my valves adjusted while it was in there; its getting close to 26,000 and I'm leaving on a month long trip next week. I aslo asked them to change the coolant(against my better judgement). The bill: $575.25!! The thing that really gets me is my valves were all in spec, no adjustment nessesary. They charged me 5 1/2 hours labor for checking the valves!!
Does this sound right to you guys? I usually do all my own maintenance, so I'm pretty shocked. Worst part is, this takes a couple weeks off my trip. I'm never taking a bike to a dealer again. Let me know if I'm over reacting here.

 

[Luiz]

In Florida any bill over $100 they have to notify you before they do anything. I don't know if it's the same law in Kentucky but you should check that out.

That seems ridiculous to me and you are not over reacting.

 

[sm00thpapa]

They charge by the book how many hours it takes to complete a job not the actually hours it takes them. So yeah they got you good.

 

[ant_mb]

I never send my bike in blindly. I always ask what they charge for the service I'm looking for. If I don't like it then I either do it myself or find someone else to do it.

I would be pissed with that bill as well.

 

[08fz6]

If you would post up what they did and hours etc. so we can see exactly what they charged you. 5 1/2 for just valves doesn't sound right regardless..... If it really bothers you turn them into the better business bureau!

 

[reiobard]

my old bike needed valves adjusted and the dealer told me that they charge $350 for the service.... so i traded the bike in instead...:rockon:

 

[Red Wazp]

Not that far out of line for dealer charges. The fact that the valves were is spec and did not need adjust isn't that unusal for a Yamaha. Most of the labor is getting to the point to check them not to adjust. Plus they did replace the coolant, how about the brake fluid? At 26 k you should replace the brake fluid.
Look at it this way, your headed out on a big trip, the bike has had a going over. No need to worry, becides if you have problems on the road it could easily cost a bundle to get it home.
If it makes you feel any better last big service on my FJR was valve adjust ,all fluids changed, steering head and swingarm lube. It was over 1,000 big ones. Had to be done.
Another good part is Yamaha is 26k between valve adjust, much longer than most bikes.
No you were not hosed all that bad. Ya gotta pay to play.

 

[wrightme43]

I just got my bike back from the dealer today. Its an 04 FZ6, as many of you know there was a recall on the throttle position sensor(TPS). It has acted up on me a few time, so I took it to get it replaced. I decided to have my valves adjusted while it was in there; its getting close to 26,000 and I'm leaving on a month long trip next week. I aslo asked them to change the coolant(against my better judgement). The bill: $575.25!! The thing that really gets me is my valves were all in spec, no adjustment nessesary. They charged me 5 1/2 hours labor for checking the valves!!
Does this sound right to you guys? I usually do all my own maintenance, so I'm pretty shocked. Worst part is, this takes a couple weeks off my trip. I'm never taking a bike to a dealer again. Let me know if I'm over reacting here.

Where in KY?

I work as a service advisor now, and our rule is no work will be done untill we have customers approval of charges and they understand all work to be performed. Saves this sort of problem.

 

[champion221elite]

500+ dollars for a valve adjustment/ coolant change sounds awfully steep to me. Especially considering your valves were within spec and they didn't have to actually adjust anything.

Always get a written estimate for any repairs before allowing any work to begin. A little common sense goes a long way towards protecting your pocketbook.

 

[nedburt]

Well, the service department was gone by the time I got there today, so I'm going back tuesday to try and understand what's going on. I'm pretty decent with a wrench and will do most things, but figured I'd have them do it while the recall was being fixed.
I helped my dad adjust the valves on his Concours(diff. adjustment system i know), but to just check the clearances would have taken 2 hours tops.
I guess I learned the hard way, but I hate the feeling of gettin screwed.

 

[CCHOUSEKY]

First things first...nedburt, I see this is your first post, so, :welcome:.

I've got the same question as wrightme...where are you in Kentucky (we're both in Kentucky too)? I want to make sure it's not Lexington Motorsports in Lexington so if I have to take mine in for anything I don't get hosed the way I feel you did!

 

[knightrider]

I asked about the coolant change at my Yamaha dealer, they said like $120, so I'm going to do it myself. If you got the valves checked (for around $350 like reiobard said) it should have been around $475 or so I would think?

 

[nedburt]

I'm about as far north in Ky as you can get. The dealership is actually in Ohio. I wasn't going to mention names(yet), but Beechmont Motorsports is who I took it to. The only other Yamaha dealer around closed about 2 months ago I'll never go back. The coolant I'd definitely do, I regretted having them do it before it was done. I could have checked the valves, but I've heard the adjustment can be tricky with the shims.

 

[Burnspot]

Hmm, this is exactly why I'm starting to really take the time and dig into my bike beyond the normal maintenance checks...it's just too expensive in these times. My bike's been in pieces for the past few days as I lubed the swingarm bearings, shock mounts/bearings, replace chain/sprockets, change oil/water, brake fluid....taking it slow and double checking my work. My new Haynes manual is all smudged up with grime after only a few days now, lol.

 

[08fz6]

thats why im asking what they charged for what. was the total bill 5 and a half hours?????? also what is their labor rate?????

 

[nedburt]

Labor rate is $79.00 per hour. I'll post the full billl tomorrow(left it in my friends car). I do remember they had 5 1/2 hours for the valve check though.

 

[mstewar1]

Ouch. I'm sure that's a lesson you won't need to learn twice.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not siding with the dealership, but I'm betting that they charged you "by the book." If the Yamaha service guide said n hours for the work, that's what you got you charged for. Like wrightme said, it'd have been nice if they would have reviewed the potential costs with you before commencing.

Regardless of whether or not the valves needed to be adjusted, they had to get on in there to check 'em. I can imagine that it probably took a bit of dismantling of the bike to get to the top of the engine. I can only hope, given the amount spent, that the tech who did the work knew what he was doing.

I'm really sorry that it's going to muck with your vacation, that's a real bummer. But now you've got 26k miles to get familiar with your bike and prep for the next valve adjust.

 

[FZ6biker]

If they actually did all that work then its justifiable but what is wrong is that they did it without giving you a prior quote or estimate, this is unless you authorized them to just get it done.

 

[CCHOUSEKY]

Labor rate is $79.00 per hour. I'll post the full billl tomorrow(left it in my friends car). I do remember they had 5 1/2 hours for the valve check though.

Not that it helps you, obviously, but just to give you some perspective on what different dealerships charge on their labor rates (even in the same general area). Lexington Motorsports charges $65/hour on their labor on a Yamaha product. How do I know? Funny story...

During the winter of '08, I decided to do the R6 fork mod on my '06 FZ6. I got all the pertinent parts together and, not being very mechanically inclined, decided to see what the dealership would charge to do the changeover. While I was at the service counter, one of the mechanics walked by and the service manager asked how much they would charge (in hours) to swap out the forks and calipers. The mechanic kinda smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and confidently said "Oh, I can do that lickity-split...definitely in less than an hour", and then walked off. So, the manager quoted me 1 hour of service or $65. I made SURE I got it in writing before I left that day.

Next day, I bring the bike, new forks, calipers, and shim kit in and head back to work. 4 1/2 hours later, they call and say the bike is ready. Hmm...wonder why they waited so long to call? I get there and there's another service manager behind the desk. He looks at the paperwork and says "That'll be $292.50". I nearly had a coronary!!! What? But the mechanic quoted me $65 yesterday! Just then, the other service manager that had been there when the mechanic gave the quote walked in. The one behind the desk asks him what I was quoted for the fork swap...$65 he says...1 hour. There was some grumbling from the guy behind the desk, but after that and after he'd seen the quote on paper (I guess he didn't believe it when I showed it to him), he said "That's what we quoted you so that's what we have to charge you". Then he mumbled how that the mechanic was going to have to make up the difference. OUCH!

Needless to say, I realize dealerships need to make money, but the labor costs seem too high. But I really don't know anything about it, so I could be completely wrong! :spank:

 

[SovietRobot]

5 1/2 hours seems excessive for a valve check.

The local dealer quoted me 3 hours of labor, or $240.

It takes anyone with a wrench an hour or less to get to the valves, an hour or less to check them, then another hour to put everything back together.
They'll charge you extra parts/labor if they need adjusting.

Did they provide you an estimate of time and cost in writing and did you sign that before they did any work?

Read up on the laws in your state regarding repair shops.