Outragious quotes for service

[Henstepper]

I have been quoted 2 outragious prices for spark plug change and oil change on an 09 Aurion. One bozo quoted me $2000 another clown quoted $1100. Surely wouldnt expect that much? $150 at most for the oil change and $500 at most for spark plugs. Am i wrong?

[Hiro]

Fair bit of labour on a FWD V6 to change the rear spark plugs, especially if done "by the book".  Also I'm assuming parts costs are in here too, as you're looking at $100-150 alone just for the plugs if you go with iridiums (which are usually recommended at least for the rear bank to extend the replacement interval to avoid having to disassemble half the car every 30,000k for copper plugs)

 

Still, $2k sounds like way too much ($1100 is closer but still a little high) Is there anything else being done in the service that you might have missed?  And is this at a dealership or a private mechanic?  Is it a logbook service (if so, which month/k service?) or have you asked specifically just for oil change and spark plugs?

[Tony Prodigy]

It is an involved process to do the plugs, more so the rear bank, but it should never cost what you specified. That's price gouging in its finest form. Tell them to go jump. I hope you laughed at them before hanging up in disgust. I assume you phoned them..

It shouldn't take more than around 2 hours to do if the person doing the job is proficient. For the home mechanic, having more time to do it, you can comfortably do it in a couple of hours give or take. 

The biggest expense, like Ian mentioned is the plugs. You want to use the Original Iridium plugs so they can go the distance so you don't have to undergo this process again.

I would also recommend replacing the intake manifold gaskets and throttle body gasket too. Once they've been disturbed, you leave yourself open to vacuum leaks, so for the extra money, do it once and do it right.

Here are a couple of videos that you may have seen, but for everyone else's benefit too, it illustrates how easy is it, despite the disassembly process.

The Car Care Nut's video, go from Step 2 onward, ignoring the Cowl removal. The Aurion doesn't require that part. It can be done with the cowl intact.

 

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Tony Prodigy

[KAA]

Yes The Car Care Nut does show it can be done fairly easy he explains it very well so that is the one go to video I would follow as he knows his stuff.

Thanks for posting it Tony

KAA