Posted: 7/17/2012 7:09:49 PM EDT
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Had low power on my Cummins 5.9l dodge truck. My dad was a diesel mechanic and I specialized in IC engines in engineering school so I had some ideas of what might be going on. Dropped it off at Cummins service in Knoxville and told them about the problem. I indicated i thought I had a fuel delivery problem and the turbocharger might be dropping off at mid range.
Sure enough, they found my lift pump and overflow check valve needed replacement and my turbocharger wastegate actuator was weak and needed replacement. They charged me $374 to diagnose this. I have NEVER had to pay more than say...$100 for a diagnostic. The amazing thing is that I could have bought the parts and stabbed at the problem myself and paid less. It is not cost effective for me to pay this much when I can just buy parts and start pulling and replacing and pay less. They quoted $272 for the check valve. I am buying this same factory spec valve on ebay from a diesel performance shop for $20. Twenty dollars. I asked them how the hell they can justify marking up a part by over 1000% and expect to not piss people off. This same part just a couple years ago would cost $96 from Cummins. Total estimate: $1575 to fix everything. Estimated cost from cummins for the check valve and lift pump? $400 Cost of same parts from performance shop: $100. I can change out the check valve in 10 minutes. The lift pump comes out and goes back in with two fittings and two bolts. Estimated time: 2 hours if that. The wastegate can be wired shut since the boost won't be high (I don't have the truck chipped). I can fix that later. It cost $175 or so. So I'm going to save $1400 by investing a couple hours of my time. I have no trouble with a company paying their bills and making a profit but when you really stick it to me..... They gained $374 in diagnostic fees and lost a customer for life. |
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If you knew what was wrong, why didn't you fix it yourself?
You got away very cheap, the company I work for has a few Cummins/Dodges all are 2010-2012's had one needed a turbo, injector pump and injector, bill was 13K from Cummins. Wanta play with the big boys you pay big boy prices. |
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Welcome to the wonderful world of diesels.
You didn't pay them for what they did, you paid them for what they know. What amount did you authorize them to do when you dropped it off? Seems funny they charged more than 1hour without you authorizing it on the front end. |
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By "Cummins service," I assume you mean like a fleet service shop who deals primarily with folks who don't really give a shit about how much it costs, just what's wrong with it, and how soon can it be back on the road.
Besides, if you could have fixed it all yourself, why bring it to them? |
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I've always gotten a better deal and better service with the local fleet guys than Dodge. Dodge would go to Cummins, buy a part that costs $40 from them and come back and try to charge me $300 for it and $500 to put it in. Even the guys at Cummins told me what I needed to do. Took less than 30 minutes to put it in.
So in that example I paid $40 as opposed to $800 at Dodge. Is there any wonder I have always brought my truck in? Now I have an 'administrative' charge. What I am picking up is some wise assed accountant or manager is gouging anyone that walks through the door. I never authorized $374 worth of diagnostics. Damn. I've always leaned on these guys and been treated fairly. My impression is that management has new policies to screw their customers for everything they can. Basically the least you walk away from there is about what I paid. The guy in the parts department was embarassed to tell me the price. There's something wrong when a simple check valve costs $272 and the lift pump (a much more complicated piece of kit) costs only $90. |
| You have been lucky if a fleet service has treated you well in the past. There prices usually make the dealers look like a bargain. In the dealer I used to work at you would have been charged one hour diag. unless more had been authorized on your end. But yeah if you know how to fix it yourself I see no reason to ever pay someone else to fix it. The money I saw people spend on diesel repairs was insane but they pay to play. |