Anyone know of a good place in DC/VA/MD for Suspension Work?
10-16-2001, 08:24 AM
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all we are talking about is a set of macpherson struts and two shocks!
Nothing could be more simple with an airgun! lol I hate when shops over charge for things like this. Nobody realizes how simple this car is to work on yourself with some basic hand tools.
ops...sorry you tried curry's...seems odd thery are so high....
10-16-2001, 12:24 PM
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I was quoted...
7 hours of labor at their shop rate of $79 (I think) for a total somewhere around $560 (plus whatever might be necessary) for the installation of springs and shocks with alignment.
Does that sound more in line with estimates?
For coilovers, they estimated 12 hours labor with 1 alignment.
BTW, this was at their Chantilly location. I've had great experiences with them so far, though their shop rate is on the high-side!
Does that sound more in line with estimates?
For coilovers, they estimated 12 hours labor with 1 alignment.
BTW, this was at their Chantilly location. I've had great experiences with them so far, though their shop rate is on the high-side!
10-16-2001, 01:33 PM
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It is the SAME physical amount of labor to install shocks/springs as coilovers!
The alignment is also the same, unless you are looking to corner-weight the car. If you are then it will take longer to align the car. if not then set the ride height and align it.
These shops are trying to rip people off. The MOST it should take is 2 hours for shocks/springs and 2.5-3 for coil-overs. I am not talking about an alignment in my estimate.
These shops are trying to rip people off. The MOST it should take is 2 hours for shocks/springs and 2.5-3 for coil-overs. I am not talking about an alignment in my estimate.
10-17-2001, 07:00 AM
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The price for suspension install on a TTshould be..
$474.00. including alignment, if you qouted $800, that is way out of line and I will check into it.
Hey Ellen, thanks for comments and information. Michael hasn't said anything to me that you were upset w/ the pricing for the install of the suspension on the TT, so I wasn't aware that there was a problem. Let me first tell you that we are not the cheapest guys in town and never will be. We have never claimed to be and that is not our target market. In order to provide the highest quality service with the highest quality technicians and the most state of the art equipment available in the world, we have to charge more than other shops that have inferior equipment and less qualified technicians. We cannot provide champagne service and repairs and beer prices. I'm not saying that we are the best repair shop in the world or that we don't make mistakes, however, there is not one shop mentioned on that thread that has the same level of equipment (i.e. $70,000 laser alignment machine). I pay my technicians in the top 1% in the industry so that we can attract the best the best technicians. I could have chosen to pay less than half the amount of money I did for my shop equipment. My tire balancer, for example cost $12,000, this is the most sophisticated balancer available, allowing us to match the tire to the wheel to get lowest force variance to provide a better ride and tire wear. I could have bought a tire balancer for $3000. I could have bought an alignment machine for $25,000, instead, I chose, as is the case with all of our equipment, to buy the best available no matter the price. These are decisions I made so that we can provide the highest quality repairs at fair prices. Most dealerships don't even come close to the investment we have in equipment, and my techs are better than any dealership around. These other small shops, many I know of personally, have the cheapest, least sophisticated and antiquated equipment around. I have researched some of these comments on the forum, the guy we quoted $800 was for coilovers and included install, alignment and corner balancing the vehicle (corner balancing is 3-4 hours labor alone). The price w/ corner balance is correct and fair. We use Alldata or Mitchell repair guides for quoting labor times, as is consistent w/ industry standards. Sometimes we can beat the book times, sometimes it takes double book time, but we still charge what we quoted the customer. We don't tell the customer it took longer so we have to charge them more. I take exception w/ someone like LarryTT, who obviously has no idea what he is talking about. An alignment shouldn't cost $150--$200 (2-3 hours labor) that would be way to much, and the suspension install shouldn't cost $200--$300(2.5-3.5 hours labor), that would be way too little. If we did take his recommendations howeveer, @ $300 labor for the install and $200 for the alignment, that would $500 labor, we charged you $513.00. However, we charged $394.00 for the install and $119.00 for alignment, not vice versa. I don't know what LarryTT does for a living, but he obviously has no idea how the automotive industry works. We also gave you a deal on the parts making only $20 per shocks and strut. I understand we were matching a group purchase, or something like that. I don't know of any business in the world that can survive off of a 10%-12% GROSS profit margin on parts. I know for a fact we can't. We won't be here tomorrow of we do that today. Whoever in my store quoted the 12 hours to install the coilovers was wrong, that's way out of line and I will research that and talk to that individual, it sounds like there may be a misunderstanding there. The price for installation of springs, shocks, struts and a four wheel alignment, should be $474.00 for labor plus parts. We also mark up our parts, like every other business in the world. We have to. We cannot survive without maintaining a reasonable profit margin, just like any other business. We try to be reasonable with our pricing for parts and labor as compared to the investment we have in our shop equipment and people, and is consistent with industry standards. We strive to provide better customer service and better repair work than out competitors. We also understand that we would not be here if it wasn't for our customers, and I appreciate you telling me about your concerns. We are reasonable people, if anyone has pricing concerns please bring it to my attention or Chris Coulter, Chris is part owner and General Manager. We will address all concerns. We did overcharge you by a half an hour labor Ellen, I apologize and will credit that back to you. I understand we are giving you guys half price dynos sessions this weekend, it's funny how that information doesn't get around the same way. If you want I will give you your dyno session for free to make up for any overcharges on the suspension install. I sincerely thank you for allowing me to address your concerns and forwarding me the thread from AudiWorld and hope we can continue to earn your and Michaels business. Please feel free to call me @ 571-522-1007 if you have any other questions/concerns.
Regards,
Matt Curry
Hey Ellen, thanks for comments and information. Michael hasn't said anything to me that you were upset w/ the pricing for the install of the suspension on the TT, so I wasn't aware that there was a problem. Let me first tell you that we are not the cheapest guys in town and never will be. We have never claimed to be and that is not our target market. In order to provide the highest quality service with the highest quality technicians and the most state of the art equipment available in the world, we have to charge more than other shops that have inferior equipment and less qualified technicians. We cannot provide champagne service and repairs and beer prices. I'm not saying that we are the best repair shop in the world or that we don't make mistakes, however, there is not one shop mentioned on that thread that has the same level of equipment (i.e. $70,000 laser alignment machine). I pay my technicians in the top 1% in the industry so that we can attract the best the best technicians. I could have chosen to pay less than half the amount of money I did for my shop equipment. My tire balancer, for example cost $12,000, this is the most sophisticated balancer available, allowing us to match the tire to the wheel to get lowest force variance to provide a better ride and tire wear. I could have bought a tire balancer for $3000. I could have bought an alignment machine for $25,000, instead, I chose, as is the case with all of our equipment, to buy the best available no matter the price. These are decisions I made so that we can provide the highest quality repairs at fair prices. Most dealerships don't even come close to the investment we have in equipment, and my techs are better than any dealership around. These other small shops, many I know of personally, have the cheapest, least sophisticated and antiquated equipment around. I have researched some of these comments on the forum, the guy we quoted $800 was for coilovers and included install, alignment and corner balancing the vehicle (corner balancing is 3-4 hours labor alone). The price w/ corner balance is correct and fair. We use Alldata or Mitchell repair guides for quoting labor times, as is consistent w/ industry standards. Sometimes we can beat the book times, sometimes it takes double book time, but we still charge what we quoted the customer. We don't tell the customer it took longer so we have to charge them more. I take exception w/ someone like LarryTT, who obviously has no idea what he is talking about. An alignment shouldn't cost $150--$200 (2-3 hours labor) that would be way to much, and the suspension install shouldn't cost $200--$300(2.5-3.5 hours labor), that would be way too little. If we did take his recommendations howeveer, @ $300 labor for the install and $200 for the alignment, that would $500 labor, we charged you $513.00. However, we charged $394.00 for the install and $119.00 for alignment, not vice versa. I don't know what LarryTT does for a living, but he obviously has no idea how the automotive industry works. We also gave you a deal on the parts making only $20 per shocks and strut. I understand we were matching a group purchase, or something like that. I don't know of any business in the world that can survive off of a 10%-12% GROSS profit margin on parts. I know for a fact we can't. We won't be here tomorrow of we do that today. Whoever in my store quoted the 12 hours to install the coilovers was wrong, that's way out of line and I will research that and talk to that individual, it sounds like there may be a misunderstanding there. The price for installation of springs, shocks, struts and a four wheel alignment, should be $474.00 for labor plus parts. We also mark up our parts, like every other business in the world. We have to. We cannot survive without maintaining a reasonable profit margin, just like any other business. We try to be reasonable with our pricing for parts and labor as compared to the investment we have in our shop equipment and people, and is consistent with industry standards. We strive to provide better customer service and better repair work than out competitors. We also understand that we would not be here if it wasn't for our customers, and I appreciate you telling me about your concerns. We are reasonable people, if anyone has pricing concerns please bring it to my attention or Chris Coulter, Chris is part owner and General Manager. We will address all concerns. We did overcharge you by a half an hour labor Ellen, I apologize and will credit that back to you. I understand we are giving you guys half price dynos sessions this weekend, it's funny how that information doesn't get around the same way. If you want I will give you your dyno session for free to make up for any overcharges on the suspension install. I sincerely thank you for allowing me to address your concerns and forwarding me the thread from AudiWorld and hope we can continue to earn your and Michaels business. Please feel free to call me @ 571-522-1007 if you have any other questions/concerns.
Regards,
Matt Curry
10-17-2001, 07:22 AM
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Thanks for the response, Matt. I did feel that this was something that you would want to respond to
directly.
Personally, I have been staying out of the discussions on pricing although I did do an informal survey out of curiousity after having my Bilstein install done earlier this year. I have been pleased with the service at Curry's and, as you know, Michael and I continue to use and recommend your shop's services.
Also, I'd like to point out that there have been multiple posts about the upcoming 'Curry's Dyno Day' that Michael has been organizing, both here and on the Quattro Club's email list. We appreciate what is being offered and very much look forward to the testing this weekend. You can bet that there will be lots of postings regarding the results next week. Four wheel dynos (especially of the quality your shop has just purchased) are few and far between.
Bottom line: I think that it was important for you to have the opportunity to address folks' concerns here directly; thus my email to you advising that you check out this thread. Glad to see that you responded.
Personally, I have been staying out of the discussions on pricing although I did do an informal survey out of curiousity after having my Bilstein install done earlier this year. I have been pleased with the service at Curry's and, as you know, Michael and I continue to use and recommend your shop's services.
Also, I'd like to point out that there have been multiple posts about the upcoming 'Curry's Dyno Day' that Michael has been organizing, both here and on the Quattro Club's email list. We appreciate what is being offered and very much look forward to the testing this weekend. You can bet that there will be lots of postings regarding the results next week. Four wheel dynos (especially of the quality your shop has just purchased) are few and far between.
Bottom line: I think that it was important for you to have the opportunity to address folks' concerns here directly; thus my email to you advising that you check out this thread. Glad to see that you responded.