Just had a tuneup done on my 02 LS Blazer. Usually do my own tuneups, but as ya'll know, access to the plugs on these trucks is a job and a half. Anyway....cost me almost $500. (I requested that Delco parts to be used, which no doubt jacked the price up a bit. Plug wires alone were $125.) Tuneups aren't cheap anymore.

 

i had a conversation with someone on my dads fire department about this. working on modern cars is getting pretty ridiculous. all the sensors and wierd tools that you have to buy...........ya some older cars are kinda wired to work on but at least then you didn't have to spend 2 days doing simple things.

 

Shoulda bought your own parts, and taken em in. And the only tricky plug is #3. And there are plenty of ways to easily access it given on these forums. $500...wow..

 

I did a full tune for like 60 bucks.... took an hour. How could they charge $500?

 

called napa and advance auto parts...they wanted 7 a piece for the plugs, 145 for the wires. The shop I go to gave them to mefor 6 a piece and 125 for the wires. Cap, Rotor and fuel filter prices were the same at my shop as the retail stores. All AC Delco parts. It actually ended up around $475. Expensive, I know. The defininition of "easy" is different foreverybody when it comes to doing a tuneup on these trucks!

 

Yeah I got plugs for 5 a piece (AC Delco Platinums, the stock stuff), some good champion wires for like $25, fuel filter for $6, and about 10 hours of my labor. Maybe this summer I will do the distributor cap and rotor to see if it fixes anything up or just to see if they need replacing.

 

If want to save a few bucks and decide to take a box full of parts to a automotive shop and then tell them to install them, the shop will probably tell you to take your carsomewhere else.

You will not find a shop that will install a customer's parts butif you do, the guarantee will be void and that lets the shop off the hook for doing shabbywork.An automotive repair shopmakesfrom 40% to 50% profitoffthe parts they install and 25% profit on their mechanics labor cost. To add to their customers pain, most shops add 20% to thelist priceof parts they install or20% more than a customer willpayforpartsat anylocalretail auto parts store.The 1995-upvehicles with OBD-2systems, platinum plugs, the latestlong duration8 micron oil filters, synthetic oil which never wears out and 84 month batteries,it can beas much as 60,000 miles between tune ups and 8,000 miles between oil changes! You can see why a garage must gouge as much profit out of every job that comes in their shop. Contrary to what many people think, the 1996-upvehicles are slowly putting the independent auto shops out of business or is making crooks out of them.

Don't think a GM dealership is any better or more honest. The GM car dealerships only want to do warranty work on the new cars and that keeps their mechanicsbusy. Therefore the service department at a GM dealership will make it so expensive for a car owner to bring his or her car that is out of warranty to their dealership that they will never go to a dealership. Dealerships charge from $95 to $100 per hour shop time, even if you buy and furnishgenuine AC Delco and GM parts at their parts department!

 

Man 500 is terrible what was the labor rate on that. Rockauto has the delco plug wires for 55. Lenny were the wires you got fitted or one size fits all kind, and where did you get them that cheap?

 

I have to disagree with Duntoy on some of the stuff he worte.

We will gladly install your parts, however the labor rate will be 1 1/2 times the normal rate...
and yes the work will still be covered, the parts wont.

Shops don't jack up the price 20% over what you pay, shops get a bulk discount, tpyically 20% or more and will charge you retail price. So yes you end up paying roughly the same price. However most reputable shops will only use quality parts, after all, there reputation is on the line. The shop I worked at sold parts direct ot eh customer right off the shelf. Those are the same part we installed when we did the work, and the smae price was used in either case. you paid the smae price for het parts if you took them home, or if we did the install.

As for the original poster, tune-ups are more costly on themodern engines. The modern engines are high perofrmance engines. GM ahs tune the crap out of these engines to meetEPA standards and still be albe to mass produce them cost effectively. Gm no longer uses the old engines, they couldn't get anything esle out of them. Hence the 5 banger in hte TrailBlazer, the Eco-Tech, and LS based engines. They are a new breed of engines to meet the stricker EPA regulations and get better fuel economy.

 

Come on Tim, it's only a 5 banger in the Canyon and Colorado. The Trailblazer is the I6! LOL