Originally Posted by dubadaddy

My father-in-law is 92 years old and had been going to this guy for the last 25 years. This mechanic located in Temecula, CA was always working on his cars.

Question on a 1986 420SEL -

1) Was it unreasonable for him to charge my father-in-law $650 for an oil change, replacement of spark plugs, oil filter and fuel filter? Oh, and had to "idle adjust" which I am assuming is a fuel/ratio mixture adjustment to pass smog. The cost just seems really high. All including parts. Labor 5.4 hours. I was thinking about 3 hrs.

2) $950 for a transmission leak? Replacement of filter, gasket, front gasket and rear main seal. Labor 9 hrs.

I have researched the parts which seem to be high and because that part is high I am assuming overcharges on the labor but am unclear on the amount of labor that it took. When I called for my dad about the pricing the shop owner and mechanic told me "to bad, he already paid and we aren't giving any money back".

Of course we are not ever going back to this guy. Fast talker and my dad doesn't know anything about the cars.

Please post comments.