Jacob B.

The cost estimator seems too expensive. The estimates seemed really high when checking against things that I had repaired on my vehicle. So just to be sure I checked the estimate against something I was familiar with, spark plugs. You can purchase extremely nice spark plugs for $8 to $10 a piece and replacing them is super quick, and a much faster job for an experienced mechanic. The price quoted by repair pal for the 8 spark plugs was $96-$144, I don't know what kind of spark plugs they are using but auto shops usually replace with aftermarket parts and I highly doubt they get the spark plugs for more than $7 to $10 a pop. That is $56 to $80. Then cost for labor is stated at $182 - $233 an experienced mechanic will replace 4 spark plugs in 15 minutes so lets say 30 minutes for the job, that means the mechanic is making $364 to $566 per hour! According to national average labor rate for auto mechanics the hourly rate for an automechanic is $75 to $100 an hour. This puts labor at $50 for the spark plug replacement. In reality this job at a mechanic shop should be no more than $130 that is less than half of the minimum price quoted by repairpal! If I am wrong about this then I would appreciate someone justifying $278 to $377 for spark plug replacement! Don't trust this sites estimater, this site has a lot of potential to do good and help keep mechanic shops honest, but not when their estimator is less honest than the mechanics! AutoMD.com is a much better option then this site. For the same repair it quoted me $235 to have 8 spark plugs replaced at a dealership, and $152 to have them replaced in a shop, this is much more accurate