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I found an independent shop whose labor rates are really reasonable. My 99 Camry had a bad oil leak. I suspected the valve cover gasket and once the valve cover was off, noticed that the cam bore plug (it’s sort of a freeze plug where the distributor goes on the older models) had obviously been leaking, so I put RTV on that and replaced the valve cover gasket. I felt proud of myself afterward, until I pulled out and noticed to my chagrin that there was a fresh oil stain beneath the car. I looked underneath while it was running and there was a big leak that seemed to be coming off the oil pump. I suspected the shaft seal or kidney shaped o-ring where the pump attaches to the oil pump assembly. I looked up what was required to fix this and discovered that the timing belt had to come off. I decided that I was beaten, for now. I don’t even own a torque wrench yet, and certainly no air tools. 🙁
So my family decided to take it to this independent shop we had used before. He also traced the leak to the oil pump, and was actually pleased to find the Aisin timing belt kit I had left in the car, in an attempt to make the most of his repair time. The kit had the water pump, tensioner and idler bearings and belt all by the OEM manufacturers, just without Toyota branding. I called to ask him to replace the cam and crank seals, and he had already intended to do that. 🙂
So he explained the repair when I picked up the car. It was the oil pump shaft seal (he also removed the groove worn into the shaft by the seal), and he also replaced the pump o-ring. He replaced all the stuff I had in the kit, along with the cam/crank seals. But when I looked at the invoice I was shocked to see that he hadn’t just replaced the oil pump seals, but he had actually removed the entire oil pump assembly, which requires dropping the pan and partially disconnecting the exhaust. It seems like he did this just to replace the pump assembly seal and to reseal the oil pan I guess? He has a reputation for being a perfectionist! And he did all this for $565 in labor! :ohmy: I had expected it to be more, especially considering he removed the entire oil pump assembly. And in spite of this very fair rate he also was happy to install the timing belt kit I provided. I made sure I had the right parts and I made sure they were quality parts, too. Maybe he just has really quick hands and squeezes labor money out that way? I’m in NJ by the way, so the cost of living here isn’t exactly cheap.
Curiously, he also has a reputation for being expensive. I think maybe this is because he uses a lot of OEM parts, and not necessarily because he runs a big markup (he was happy to install my kit and even called it “great”); he’s a huge Toyota fan, and if the oil pump had needed replacing b/c of a worn out shaft, he had planned to buy one from the dealer for like $500 or something. I gave him the part number for the Aisin oil pump kit, which he might like. He’d said on other repairs he’d been stuck waiting for the part to show up from the dealer.
As for customers who balk at the labor rate, I think what’s really needed is a way to let them know that the labor charge covers overhead. Most people see “labor” and $300 and think “robbery”, but if they knew that the labor charge includes taxes, tools, etc they might be more copacetic. “Labor” on the invoice could really use another name.
I found an independent shop whose labor rates are really reasonable. My 99 Camry had a bad oil leak. I suspected the valve cover gasket and once the valve cover was off, noticed that the cam bore plug (it’s sort of a freeze plug where the distributor goes on the older models) had obviously been leaking, so I put RTV on that and replaced the valve cover gasket. I felt proud of myself afterward, until I pulled out and noticed to my chagrin that there was a fresh oil stain beneath the car. I looked underneath while it was running and there was a big leak that seemed to be coming off the oil pump. I suspected the shaft seal or kidney shaped o-ring where the pump attaches to the oil pump assembly. I looked up what was required to fix this and discovered that the timing belt had to come off. I decided that I was beaten, for now. I don’t even own a torque wrench yet, and certainly no air tools. 🙁
So my family decided to take it to this independent shop we had used before. He also traced the leak to the oil pump, and was actually pleased to find the Aisin timing belt kit I had left in the car, in an attempt to make the most of his repair time. The kit had the water pump, tensioner and idler bearings and belt all by the OEM manufacturers, just without Toyota branding. I called to ask him to replace the cam and crank seals, and he had already intended to do that. 🙂
So he explained the repair when I picked up the car. It was the oil pump shaft seal (he also removed the groove worn into the shaft by the seal), and he also replaced the pump o-ring. He replaced all the stuff I had in the kit, along with the cam/crank seals. But when I looked at the invoice I was shocked to see that he hadn’t just replaced the oil pump seals, but he had actually removed the entire oil pump assembly, which requires dropping the pan and partially disconnecting the exhaust. It seems like he did this just to replace the pump assembly seal and to reseal the oil pan I guess? He has a reputation for being a perfectionist! And he did all this for $565 in labor! :ohmy: I had expected it to be more, especially considering he removed the entire oil pump assembly. And in spite of this very fair rate he also was happy to install the timing belt kit I provided. I made sure I had the right parts and I made sure they were quality parts, too. Maybe he just has really quick hands and squeezes labor money out that way? I’m in NJ by the way, so the cost of living here isn’t exactly cheap.
Curiously, he also has a reputation for being expensive. I think maybe this is because he uses a lot of OEM parts, and not necessarily because he runs a big markup (he was happy to install my kit and even called it “great”); he’s a huge Toyota fan, and if the oil pump had needed replacing b/c of a worn out shaft, he had planned to buy one from the dealer for like $500 or something. I gave him the part number for the Aisin oil pump kit, which he might like. He’d said on other repairs he’d been stuck waiting for the part to show up from the dealer.
As for customers who balk at the labor rate, I think what’s really needed is a way to let them know that the labor charge covers overhead. Most people see “labor” and $300 and think “robbery”, but if they knew that the labor charge includes taxes, tools, etc they might be more copacetic. “Labor” on the invoice could really use another name.
