Dealer vs shade tree mech

[MarkB_MI]

A few years ago the HVAC acted up in our 2012 Acadia and started blowing cold air on my wife's feet. Given that we were only halfway to Florida on the coldest day of the year, she was not happy. When we got to FL I took it into a local dealer and they replaced one of the HVAC actuators. The bill came to over $500. The actuator was about $110 and the labor was around $400. According to the service manager, it was necessary to remove the top of the dashboard to get access to the actuator.

There are four identical actuators in the car: Mode, recirculation, driver temperature and passenger temperature. A few weeks ago the recirc actuator started making noise, and I realized the mode and driver temp actuators were acting up, too. I decided to replace all four, which would have ran around a thousand bucks at the dealer. I decided to do it myself. There are a few not-particularly-informative YouTube videos on this repair, so I was pretty sure I could figure it out, too.

The OEM ACDelco actuators are fifty bucks apiece on Rock Auto, less than half what the dealer charges. There are also aftermarket units for half that, but I figured if I was going to do it I wasn't going to try to save a hundred bucks on parts, so I went with the OEM actuators.

I replaced the four actuators over three days. I probably spent about five or six hours total, most of which was just figuring out how to get the screws out with limited access. I only removed the trim under the dash, the passenger side console trim and the glove box. All of which were easy. The HVAC has to be reset with the new actuators, which you do by pulling the HVAC fuse, replacing it and starting up the car. Simple. Total out-of-pocket expense was $200 for the actuators plus five bucks for a set of Harbor Freight 'palm ratchets'.

 

[Sprint 6]

Most of the car dealers in my area are hovering around $125/hr for labor. Look at the Taj Mahal showroom out front, that's what you're paying for. Service pays most of the expenses in the dealership model so sales appears more profitable.

I love their high rates, makes it super easy for me to sell a job on a second opinion consultation.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

The actuator went out on my work truck.
I bought a cheap one for Amazon. Don't remember, it might have been under $20.
It was easy to do. It was never the floor.
I paid myself $980 labor.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Dang phone, near the floor,

 

[MarkB_MI]

> I paid myself $980 labor.

Did you send yourself a 1099, George? Uncle Sugar wants to know.

 

[Stephen Newell]

You are lucky the mechanic got to the problem. If I took the car to any shop in my town they would be more likely to replace the brake pads or something else completely unrelated. I've given up on professional mechanics and do everything myself.

By the way the half priced aftermarket parts probably won't last half as long as the dealer parts. It's usually worth the expense to get the dealer parts.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I paid myself in 2 installments.
Both under $600.
One was for consulation fee and the other labor.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I dropped my car off at the GM dealer to get an oil change and they gave me a ride home to get some work done. On the way home the driver said he has to stop off at NAPA and pick up some parts.
Are NAPA parts better than Dealer parts?

 

[J Hamilton]

I see NAPA, O'Rielly's, and Federated delivering to local Ford and GM dealers all the time. I have never seen them at the Toyota dealer

 

[MarkB_MI]

> I paid myself in 2 installments. Both under $600.
> One was for consulation fee and the other labor.

Good thinking, George. And if you had to pay yourself more that $1200, you could write yourself a rent check, too.

 

[RedMF40]

Similar story: Took my Honda Fit in for factory recall, replace both half-shaft drive axles. Defect in the finish. They looked the car over, gave some recommendations:

4 spark plugs: $585
Air Filter: $95
Cabin Filter: $99

I'd already done the plugs myself, NGK from Rock Auto. Replaced all coil packs while I was at it to address a misfire. My experience has been when one goes, the others get the same idea. I forget the price of all the parts but it was well under $585 for coils AND plugs. Went with higher-end coils, not the very best, but not junk, either.

I took their recommendation and replaced the air and cabin filters. Took about 20 minutes for the two and the Wix filters from Napa were around $50 for both.

I came out ahead this time. It'll even out some other way I'm sure.

Gerrit

 

[MarkB_MI]

> I dropped my car off at the GM dealer to get an oil change and they gave me a ride home to get some work done. On the way home the driver said he has to stop off at NAPA and pick up some parts.
> Are NAPA parts better than Dealer parts?

It may be a matter of availability. Here in Motown, dealers can get just about any OEM part the same day. Elsewhere, maybe not. Still, if I take my car to the dealer I expect them to use OEM parts.

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Only if you have an account with a good discount rate. Minor repair cost as much as a new vehicle with their 'list' parts prices these days.

 

[UncleTom]

On my first edge the heater was acting up. Learned how to reset it fro. The screen. All is well. Local stealership wanted $500 to fix heater.

 

[cjunrau]

Not sure how you can make that statement dealer parts last longer. I have watched dealers go to the same auto store I do and install those parts and when customer asked for old parts back, they went and got dealer boxes to put them into.
As a delivery driver for Napa auto, we take 80% of our parts to dealers.

Having talked to people all over the country this is NOT a local thing

 

[Jeff NWOH]

Not too shabby at all. You basically made over $100/hr fixing it yourself..

I took 2 GM pickups in for the airbag recall a while back. The first one they sent me a walkaround video of everything the truck needed repaired. The total came to $3500 which is probably more than its worth. The one that really got me was replacing the license plate light bulbs to the tune of $75. I believe it took me less than 5 minutes. After I declined all the repairs on the first truck, they didn't bother working up a list on the second one.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Big difference if you are working for yourself vs working time and materials on someone else's stuff.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

While under warranty everything I but goes to dealer, including Kubota.

After that I fix it or a good trustworthy country boy 2 miles south of me gets the job.

Or I have a guy in town that is smarter than any dealer around. He will get the job.. His waiting time is 3 to 4 weeks.

I'm cheap, If I do the job I buy parts from Amazon.
Other mechanics usually get parts delivered from NAPA.
NAPA delivery gets more business than what walks in customers.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Are you a CPA? I need a CPA with creative ideas!
You are a shade tree mechanic and perhaps a Shady CPA!

 

[moresmoke]

Even if you buy parts from the dealer parts dept, they may not be the same part as used on the assembly line. Quite often, the parts division of a manufacturer is a separate business unit that can source from wherever they want. The parts should still be built to the same spec, but may come from a different supplier.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I'm just glad I don't have any of those new vehicles yet. 94 Dodge Dakota and yes it will have it's share of problems too.

 

[INCase]

working for an automotive part supplier for 16 years now i would say that's pretty much not true. Not impossible that they aren't the same supplier, but from a dealer, Very Very unlikely. it is Crazy expensive to tool up and certify parts (quality, function, color, fit and durability plus any government regulations that might be applicable) for an OEM to bother with another supplier for the same parts. And any warranty implications of those parts would be astronomical as well. just the paperwork to do that would be cost prohibitive.

if you can find out who made the OEM parts sometimes (not often) they market the same parts themselves. Like our 2002 Dodge Intrepid front end was made by TRW. I (and most others) had 0 luck with aftermarket even brand name aftermarket replacement parts for those cars. I could buy TRW for about 1/2 the price of MOPAR and they lasted well.

your mileage may vary

 

[geok]

I finally took my GM truck in for a air bag recall. After I got it back, engine check light kept coming on. Had to turn it off at least 4 times before it would stop coming back on.

 

[Duner Wi]

On my GM car the gear failed inside the actuator. I was able to find new and improved gear on Ebay.In my instance that gear fails on many modelsof GM cars. I don't know if that is your problem with Acadia.

 

[merlynr]

(quoted from post at 05:54:39 10/11/22) While under warranty everything I but goes to dealer, including Kubota.

After that I fix it or a good trustworthy country boy 2 miles south of me gets the job.

Or I have a guy in town that is smarter than any dealer around. He will get the job.. His waiting time is 3 to 4 weeks.

I'm cheap, If I do the job I buy parts from Amazon.
Other mechanics usually get parts delivered from NAPA.
NAPA delivery gets more business than what walks in customers.

I priced an air filterfor my Kubota L3800 at $107 locally and same filter at dealer was $27

 

[jddrawbar]

Problem in my area is there in not many good private mechanic shops. After seeing some of your work, I sure wished you lived close by.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

(quoted from post at 05:02:13 10/11/22) > I dropped my car off at the GM dealer to get an oil change and they gave me a ride home to get some work done. On the way home the driver said he has to stop off at NAPA and pick up some parts.
> Are NAPA parts better than Dealer parts?

It may be a matter of availability. Here in Motown, dealers can get just about any OEM part the same day. Elsewhere, maybe not. Still, if I take my car to the dealer I expect them to use OEM parts.

Most dealers will work on ANY brand of car. I regularly see Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan and other brands on the lifts at the GM dealer where I get my work done. Clearly a GM dealer is not going to stock parts for a Honda, for example. They have to get them from somewhere.

I don't know about other dealers but mine does give you the choice of using non-GM parts for a lower repair cost, as well.

 

[Vito]

Most are set up as two different entities for accounting reasons. The sales department is the service departments best customer. Its all about corporate layering.

Vito

 

[jimg.allentown]

My vehicles have been running on aftermarket parts for decades. They are every bit equivalent to OEM parts. MOST parts you get from suppliers like AutoZone and Advance are lifetime warranty. As such, they need to be quality parts or they would soon be bankrupt if they were selling junk parts.

Also, when I was trucking, I used to occasionally pick up and deliver parts from a manufacturer that was local to some of the local repair facilities. One day while I was picking up, there were several bins full of small electric motors. Some were wiper motors, some were window lift motors, and some were for other things. I asked the shipper what they were for. He told me that some went to the dealers and some went to local parts stores. All from the same bins. That told me that some parts were the same no matter where you bought them. I have told this story in the past and been flamed about it, but like it or not, I saw what I saw.

 

[jm.]

My daughter quite a good job at fed-Ex to take a job a a local Volvo dealership. Service writer,
when you came in and ask for say any repair, any thing else that she could talk you into she got
50% of the bill. I laughed when she took the job. First year she made $65,000. Those add ons add
up quick.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Good point.
If OEM parts didn't fail we wouldn't need new parts.
Are OEM parts that superior?

 

[INCase]

for the most part yes. OEM parts are better but depends on the part and depends on the model car.

For example. for most cars you cannot buy better brake rotors than the OEM. OEM brake rotors are machined to crazy tight tolerances that aftermarket does not.

key thing is most OEM parts are tested quite thoroughly for performance (cooling fans for example), durability, meeting government requirements (brakes), meeting function, fit and color (interior parts) ect. the aftermarket is usually quick and cheap. I've had the best luck with ACDelco or Napa but even some napa stuff is junk.

 

[Two Dogs]

Some years ago mine on my Impala went clickity click. Dealer wanted an astromonical price. I got one from ebay for ten dollars and replaced it myself. Whoever designed that system needs to be beaten with a shovel. The actuator motor does not stop when the door shuts. It sits there stalled out until the timer tells it to stop trying. About 30 seconds. That is what makes it rough on the plastic gears. TDF

 

[MarkB_MI]

> On my GM car the gear failed inside the actuator. I was able to find new and improved gear on Ebay.In my instance that gear fails on many modelsof GM cars. I don't know if that is your problem with Acadia.

Yes, I wondered if one of the aftermarket actuators would be better, but I had no way of knowing which aftermarket parts were better than original and which are worse. I hoped that maybe the OEM parts had been improved, which is of course a baseless assumption, too. At any rate, the first of the original actuators to fail made it to around 90K, and the car has 130K on it now. I don't expect to still own this car when it has 220 thousand miles on it.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> Are you a CPA? I need a CPA with creative ideas!
> You are a shade tree mechanic and perhaps a Shady CPA!

George, I'm not certified and I'm not public. I'm not even an accountant. But as for the shady part, you have me dead to rights.

 

[Stephen Newell]

Myself, I've had a great deal of trouble with NAPA parts. They just seem to fall into the negative thoughts of aftermarket parts. For GM I get AC Delco when ever possible.

 

[Duner Wi]

MarkB_MI, All I got was a gear made of improved material, might not even be available for your Acadia.

 

[MarkB_MI]

> MarkB_MI, All I got was a gear made of improved material, might not even be available for your Acadia.

These actuators do not appear to be repairable. I'm not sure what in them goes bad.