[whovous]

Prologue: I love my MINI dealer and so won't name it here.

MINI was due for the 30,000 mile inspection, so I asked the dealer if I could drop-ship tires from the Tire Rack for them to install. They said yes.

Service treated me well, found a few problems with the car I did not know about, and even gave me a Works MC40 as a loaner car. All very good things.

I picked up the car late on Friday and had no time then to question the bill for mounting and balancing four tires. Here it is:

Labor: $266
Environmental Disposal Fee: $12.40
Valve stems: $8.68
Tire Storage 10% Storage Fee: $35.40 (Note 1)
Tax: $2.82
SUBTOTAL: $325.30
Less Insurance: $86.00 (Note 2)
TOTAL: $239.30

Note 1: I paid the Tire Rack $354 for four Yokohama ES100s. The tires were stored by the dealer for about two days prior to installation. This fee appears to be 10% of the purchase price of the tires.

Note 2: I have no idea what this means. I do not have any insurance that pays for installing tires.

Question to all: How loudly would you complain about this bill? What is a proper charge?

Phil

[matt21]

id complain

that seems outragous

[TYPE36LOTUS]

The labor would appear VERY high at first glance. It can't take one person more than an hour to un-mount and mount 4 tires, then balance them. As you don't have a item for un-mounting/mounting/balancing it is must be included in the labor. I bet BMW's (I don't have my MINI yet so don't know what the rate is) shop rate for labor is at least $100/hr labor (my local Joe Jaguar one man shop charges $75/hr) and $25/per tire for un-mount, mount and balance the total would be $200. So if you deduct the mystery $86 dollars from the labor rate of $266 - $86 = $180. The storage fee seems very petty on the dealer’s part. All the other charges seem reasonable. I would at least ask them to itemize the labor. While somewhat shocking at first pass, it may actually be quite reasonable. I would also bet that it they damaged a rim they would replace it. The tire shops I have dealt with will not guarantee wheel damage if you did not buy the tires from them.

Mike

[fred3]

is quite high, but I didn't think it was that high. Wow!!! I have things like tires installed at a local garage I've been dealing with for over a quarter of a century. Guess I'll stick with that.

[kgouin]

I bought winter tires and rims from Tire Rack and I brought them to my local garage to switch over and it cost me $12. My tires were already mounted on the rims and balanced.

[Cooper76]

In the end, looks like they did some fishy calculations and ended up charging you for two hours of labor. Anyway, if you get anything like this done at the dealer, you'll probably get hosed. Find a local shop that is knowlegeable about European cars and have it done there. I had four new tires done (drop-shipped from Tire Rack as well) as a local place for $30 labor. Bam bam done.

[LagunaSol]

You got mugged! Your love for this particular dealership should be thoroughly examined.

[Rawhyde]

Quote: Originally Posted by LagunaSol

You got mugged! Your love for this particular dealership should be thoroughly examined.

More like RAPED! $25-30 is a pretty decent deal, $50 is pushing the high side. Always ask for an estimate before you have any service work done. If dealing with anything automotive in nature, insist on a WRITTEN estimate.

You should try to negotiate this down to a reasonable level. If they refuse, pay up (they have you over a legal if unethical barrel) and let them know that you'll remember this when you buy your next car.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Rawhyde

[Kodak]

What the.....!?!?


Unbelievable rate, and a lot of the add-ons sound crazy... Not sure if this is normal for the US, but it seems outrageous for the UK, and we are used to getting stiffed!


Find out EXACTLY how they arrived at $266 for labour... Are they saying that it took 2.5 hours to change the tyres. A one-armed mechanic using a manual tyre wrench could do it faster, and BMW have all the professional tools....

1 hour MAX.....


Moral: Always get a quote before you order. Or at least query before you pay...! Once you pay, they got you over a barrel.

[jetpackj9]

i got my guys to match the price of tirerack (no shipping charges - woohoo!) and they mounted, balanced, and aligned for $70. i paid less than $500 for everything.

[whovous]

Was this a MINI dealer that matched the Tire Rack prices?

[lespurgeon]

So the dealer mounted and balanced the tires. At the MAXIMUM that should have cost you about 1/2 of what they charged. Assuming an hour labor, new valves, disposal fees, and tax. The rest is a bit of "wonder if the punter will bend over and take the rod from us"

[Cape Cod MINI]

$15-40 each wheel depending on size, runflat, alloy vs steel wheel, etc.
Disposal of old tires usually $2.50 each which would be your "environmental fee".

IMO, you got f***ed by your dealer.

[dansmini]

I had 4 16" runflats taken off of one set of wheels, put on another and balanced and the total was under $70. This was, of course, at a local tire garage.

[mrdirosa]

I have gotten new tires installed (mounted, balanced, and bolted on) for $65 through my local tire place. I'd say you just grabbed your ankles for your dealer...