Don't get me wrong, the sales associate at my dealership is great. He helps me out with just about any question I have and has treated me very well. The mechanics and service manager on the other hand, I have a complaint about. Now correct me if i'm wrong, but my 05 450R does not have valve lash adjustments, instead there are valve shims to make valve adjustments. When installing a cam in a 450R you have to install the cam and check valve clearance, then reshim if nessesary. All part of the proceedure on installing a cam right? So when I took my 450R into my dealership to have my HRC kit installed, why did I end up with an additional charge for $75.00 for a valve adjustment? When I asked the service manager about this, he told me the valves were too tight and had to be adjusted. So why weren't the valves checked and adjusted when the cam was bolted down, before the valve cover was put back on? And why am I being charged for the mechanic's screw up? I am going in to have some warranty work done on my girlfriend's Rancher ES and will be having it out with the service manager and the mechanic while i'm there. Any thoughts or comments from anyone?

 

im amazed that they just didnt add to the hours and float it off , guess they thought you didnt know your shiz

 

I agree! .....It gets done all the time!

 

First off my local guy stinks too [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] so dont feel special.

Honestly I think they make up for any discounts on new sales thru the service dept at many places so its not unusual.

Now as far as your situation I dont think its as simple as its sounding, and though the engine has the parts he is claiming to have worked on its also pretty damn obvious that if it was done at the same time they were changing the cam they were just soaking you with a padded bill. I will explain more below.

I am pretty sure that the 450r engine uses both shim and bucket, and rockers arms since it utilizes one cam to work both the in and ex valves (unicam right?) and installing a new cam would also require that both the shim clearence and valve lash be set properly upon the install.

This is where it gets interesting since if they were installing the cam they already had to remove everything that needed removing to access the cam and then change it (its all included in the price for changing the cam), and even if they were "shady" enough to charge you additionally for setting the clearences (both in and ex) which they have to do as part of the new cam install then also charging you even more for doing each job individually (book hours x hourly labor rate) while they already charged you for these things etc they are not only rippin you off, but also commiting fraud and padding the bill.

I would be contacting them explaining the situation , and how they already charged for this as part of the install, and that they obviously couldnt do the job right without setting the valves etc, and also let them know that you dont intend to pay them for work they charged you for already.

I dont think I would throw the bill padding or fraud out there initially , but would use them if they are not owning up to their actions, and making things right.

Honestly the only thing i can think of that would change any of this is if they had broke everything down in a quote and had a single price total for everything, and even then you wouldnt or shouldnt be paying as much for the adjustment since a good amount of the "book time" is for taking everything apart and putting it back together.

Do post how you make out with this etc.

 

wow im suprised to here that my local dealer is on the ball as soon as i walk in the door and they always what did u call it "float" the hours for general repairs as well.

 

Uprider that would seem to be the smart thing to do if they want to keep their customers.

I mean no one wants to ever feel like they were taken advantage of.


Plus when the job requires that some or many of the same steps or procedures are shared its just good practice to not double dip and charge the customer twice or three times etc for something that was only done once.

I would compare it to being charged extra for the shop having to remove the oil filler cap and fill your car with oil while having your oil changed at a fixed price quikie type oil change place. Sure they will hit you a waste oil or enviro fee but thats not the same.

 

I will keep you guys posted on what happens. I am taking my girlfriends Rancher es in on friday to have the speedo checked out. (all under warranty) The sales associate that has always been good to me, I think is one of the big bosses. So I will explain the situation to him and see what he has to say about it.

 

When ever I install an HRC kit, I check the valve clearance first before removing the cam. When the cam/cam holder ***'y is removed to change the cam, the shims are exposed and can be changed very easily. If measured correctly and basic math is within the techs capabilities, there should be no need to remove the cam a second time. So how much more time, w/ the cam already removed, should it take to measure 4 shims and select the proper replacements? About 15 minutes, at the very absolute most. So I could see getting away w/ charging the customer an extra $20 ($80/hour times 0.25 hours) to adjust the valves, but not $75.