Edge wants >$1000 for a suspension swap... NOT INCLUDING PARTS!!!

[donoman]

Thanks for the recommendation. I been to Vex once on a Dyno day... I will check them out

[The Racers Line]

I realize my shop in Santa Rosa is a bit far from San Jose, but I work on A LOT of FT86's and know them well. A suspension swap here is a 2.5 hours for coilovers including adjustment. If you have the entire assembly(strut/spring/hat) We can do it in an hour. $75 might be worth the 2 hour drive.

PM me if you are interested.

[donoman]

Neal. Thanks for the heads up!

[Sugi]

I would recommend getting an alignment performed after the install. Better to pay for the alignment and save your tires than to pay for new tires

[exE36M3]

I call those guys my friends and it's wrong of all you guys to down a shop for charging what they charge. Seriously. No one is holding a gun to your head to use them.


YOUR OPTIONS

1. You can do it yourself. And you'll learn a lot. BUT you're gonna spend an easy 5-6 hours cussing at yourself, borrowing tools from neighbors, and HOPEFULLY you won't end up posting on this forum saying "I got this bad rattle after my suspension install" or "I blew my strut/shock because..."

2. You can drive a little out of the Bay Area and get lower labor rate - some vendors here have already offered this. (But note they'll *still* charge you - money)

3. You can stay local, use a slightly higher end shop and get billed about $125-$175 hour. Drop the car off in the AM, pick it up in the PM and the car does what you want it to do.

MY OLD MAN POINT IS... Dude, you are a grown up. You can choose to spend money however you wish, but you can't blame or call RIP OFF on people or shops that charge money for a service, especially when you haven't used them or were NOT ripped off.

I used to own an M3 and went to the dealer for service. After a while, I got tired of paying $250/hour in labor so I started working on my M3's myself. But the trade-off was A LOT of weekends not being spent with my wife and kids.

I use EDGE about once or twice a year for when I don't have the tools, a lift, or time. Yes, I wince when the bill comes but when I roll in, I know they'll do the job right the first time.

[donoman]

Originally Posted by exE36M3

[B]I call those guys my friends and it's wrong of all you guys to down a shop for charging what they charge. Seriously. No one is holding a gun to your head to use them.

Your "friends" are charging you 5-6 hours for a job that takes 2-3 hours. There is nothing wrong with charging a lot. There IS something wrong with overcharging hours.

I have no issue with paying for a fair job. But unless they are installing the suspension in bikini's and high heels, I don't think it should take a professional 5-6 hours.

MY OLD MAN point is that I could have been some kid that knows nothing about cars, just heard Edge was a good place to go, and had my ass handed to me as they double-charge me for my job. Luckily, I work on my own cars (so I knew 5-6 hours is insane for a pro).

[cdo221]

I'm not really familiar with SJ but isn't @Speed Element down there? Maybe you can send them a PM to see if they can get the stuff done for you

They even have a shop FR-S:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27256

[MyRx]

You work on your cars and yet you question what is pass thru socket? Questioned about alignment after a strut swap? I'd love to see a 2.5hr BMW Z4 swap from start to finish with or without air tools and simple or complained tools! And yet be on the slower end without rush and doing it right. Oh, and forget alignment -- Porsche and BMWs don't need them.

[donoman]

Originally Posted by MyRx

You work on your cars and yet you question what is pass thru socket? Questioned about alignment after a strut swap? I'd love to see a 2.5hr BMW Z4 swap from start to finish with or without air tools and simple or complained tools! And yet be on the slower end without rush and doing it right. Oh, and forget alignment -- Porsche and BMWs don't need them.

1) Don't know about you, but when I'm replacing stock for stock and not loosening any camber bolts, I don't expect to throw my alignment off. Different cars are different, and that's why I asked.

2) Nope, didn't know what a pass-through socket was called. I'll be honest with you, I've never used one. Just used a socket held by a Vise-Grip with an allen bit going through the hole of the socket.

3) I've owned 5 Z4's and done the suspension on that car 5 or 6 times. It is very simple (probably as simple as this FR-S swap is going to be).

My credentials, my history, the title of my Ph.D. thesis, have NOTHING to do with how Edge tried to charge me 5-6 hours for this job. If you have an answer for that one, I will rest my case.

[MyRx]

Just bitch on... I've got funner battles to pick that are more intelligent than this one.

[clayrush]

Originally Posted by MyRx

Just bitch on... I've got funner battles to pick that are more intelligent than this one.

I aint going to argue even though I had the time to say somthing in the first place......LOL

it's like throwing a rock at someone then saying please don't throw a rock back at me.

[stugray]

Originally Posted by MyRx

You work on your cars and yet you question what is pass thru socket? Questioned about alignment after a strut swap? I'd love to see a 2.5hr BMW Z4 swap from start to finish with or without air tools and simple or complained tools! And yet be on the slower end without rush and doing it right. Oh, and forget alignment -- Porsche and BMWs don't need them.

I have 30 years wrenching experience & 5 cars that I work on by myself (rebuld trans, timing belts, etc.) and a vintage race car that I built 100% by myself.

I have never heard of a "pass thru socket".
So I guess I am just a dumb ass.

And my wife used to work as an accountant for a reputable auto shop.
Depending on the customer (knowledge/attitude) they could easily overcharge by 2X what it actually takes to do a job.

example: Toyota Camry water pump - 5-8 hours
Camry timing belt 5-8 hours so timing belt AND water pump 10-16 hours BY THE BOOK.
What they dont tell you is that those hours overlap almost 100% so they can charge 10-16 hours when the job actually took 6 hours.

[GotBRZ1691]

Originally Posted by stugray

I have 30 years wrenching experience & 5 cars that I work on by myself (rebuld trans, timing belts, etc.) and a vintage race car that I built 100% by myself.

I have never heard of a "pass thru socket".
So I guess I am just a dumb ass.

And my wife used to work as an accountant for a reputable auto shop.
Depending on the customer (knowledge/attitude) they could easily overcharge by 2X what it actually takes to do a job.

example: Toyota Camry water pump - 5-8 hours
Camry timing belt 5-8 hours so timing belt AND water pump 10-16 hours BY THE BOOK.
What they dont tell you is that those hours overlap almost 100% so they can charge 10-16 hours when the job actually took 6 hours.

This happened to me when I went to go get my water pump and timing belt on my old volvo 850 R. It was when I decided to start wrenching for myself. The shop said they would need my car almost all week to complete it, where doing to bill over 12 hrs. I did it in almost half that time, without a lift, all the professional tools, or expertise. Since then, unless it is warrantied I do it myself

[Sugi]

Coming from a business point of view, the shop is putting that many hours on the books in the event that an error or issue comes about. Yes, it's true that for our vehicles even an amateur can perform a suspension swap in that time. However, they are in business to make money and that's how they see fit to continue to run it. Not to be harsh, but plain and simple, go somewhere else if you don't agree with it.