How We Saved Over 50% On Auto Repairs

Saturday we got into a car accident with another pickup truck. We’re ok but the driver side mirror needs replacing. Today we began calling around for estimates at several auto body repair shops and received estimates up to $314. For a frikkin side mirror? Come again? On our way back from NY 3 weeks ago we we hit a bump in the road and that ripped open the gas tank and THAT was $414 and with significantly more labor. Y’all I’ve had a lot going on, LOL! These fools had the nerve to tell us that the specific PART would cost us $206 which we knew off the bat was BS. It takes less than an hour to install and complete the replacement so we jumped online. After all, we’re not in a rush to get it done and since we are leaving this week for Florida, we can wait for an online store to ship it to us.

The quotes ranged from $89-$129 for the part which would then take a few days to arrive. Again, we’re in no rush since we’re leaving town this week. We go into Auto Zone and they quoted us $89 for the mirror and it will be here tomorrow morning. I then got a recommendation for a local body shop and after consulting with the owner, he’ll do the replacement for $45.

The total cost to us? $134 not including taxes.

We saved $180 on the total cost to replace the mirror and $117 on the part had we not done our own research and ordered the mirror ourselves.

The Lesson?

Shop Around.

Do Your Research.

Autobody shops will charge you as much as they can get away with, especially when they think you don’t know much about the process. Educate yourselves, get online and make sure you know your stuff before walking into a dealership or auto body shop.

Cheers!

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Dana | Jun 24, 2008 | Reply

I wasn’t aware that Auto Zone could order car parts from auto makers. Was this the actual mirror for your model of car, or is this some generic after market thing? I am just wondering.

Also, did the body shop give you crap about bringing in your own part? I know some shops will hunt down parts at the junk yard or pull-apart places, but didn’t know they were cool with losing the money they would make on the part sale.

Thanks for the info.
Ginger | Jun 24, 2008 | Reply

YEp this is the actual mirror for the car and the body shops were fine with us bringing it in. We checked with a few local shops and Carmax.

I don’t care if they are OK with it, I just need it fixed while not paying an arm and a leg just to give them a profit for a mirror.
Jeanne (1 comments.) | Jun 27, 2008 | Reply

Here is another idea that can save money on expensive body shop repairs. It’s called Paintless Dent Repair. If you have dings and dents without paint damage, you may be able to have them repaired by this method. Most areas of the country have services that can provide a mobile service to your location and the majority of qualifying repairs can be performed in a matter of hours at a savings of at least 50% to 70% of what a body shop would charge.
There are also some good mobile service companies for repairing and repainting scratched bumpers. Be sure to check for reviews and references for any company you choose for any auto repairs.
MBL (1 comments.) | Jun 27, 2008 | Reply

That is exactly what people should be doing if they can spare the time to get the repairs done. Parts are always available for less than the mechanic’s price if you look around for it. The repair shops have to make money somehow and marking up the cost of the parts is one way they do this. You did what every consumer should be doing.

Great job.
Frugal Canadian Living (1 comments.) | Jul 4, 2008 | Reply

I hate to say this but a lot of mechanics quote a higher price if the customer is a woman. They believe that women know less about cars than men.

You can protect yourself by doing some research before you take your car in for repairs. This way you know what’s wrong and how much it should cost.
MoneyBlogga (1 comments.) | Jul 6, 2008 | Reply

I had the same thing happen with a headlight unit. The entire thing was defective and the dealership wanted to charge me over $300 JUST for the part. No labor. Went online and found a headlight unit for $100. All we had to do was pull the defective headlight out, disconnect a couple of wires and put in the new one. Saved a bundle.

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How We Saved Over 50% On Auto Repairs

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