Don't give up on doing it your self.
 

Not my diesel but my Lexus. Hood struts had gotten weak and needed to be replaced. Pep Boys wanted $130 including the struts.

Ordered two struts from Amazon for $14 and it took nearly ten minutes to remove the old struts and install the old ones.

So sometimes I wonder if I should keep on doing these small repairs myself. Then I have an experience like this one with Pep Boys.

The "skills set" of motor mechanics is likely to change quite drastically (again) in the future - mechanics are likely to have less and less to do especially if electric vehicles take off (like I expect they will) - I guess for a while at least mechanics will have to compensate for the lack of work by charging more for the little they will end up doing...

What year /model? Did they give a parts / labor breakdown? If not, the parts should be on the web site. This doesn't remotely sound correct, perhaps they quoted suspension struts.

Nope; it a 2002 GS300 and they checked the price specifically for my model. I had no idea how outrageous that quote was until I installed myself. The struts were quoted at $25 which was reasonable but they went crazy with the labor.

Also installed brake pads in the Lexus and it was so much easier than in my 300SD. Literally took three minutes a side once the wheel was off. Did not even need a C clamp to push back the pistons.