My 2013 Ford Focus has been having some electrical problems. My regular mechanic said he couldn’t fix it and told me to take it to the dealership (ugh ). The dealership charged me $725 just to figure out what’s wrong, and that doesn’t count towards repair costs. Is this normal or is my dealership just really bad?
Here’s what they said I need to fix:
$765 for a new audio control unit (speakers keep cutting out)
$1,110 for a new dash cluster (the screen above the speedometer isn’t working)
$410 for an AC motor mount/actuator/door thing (the AC won’t work on the face setting)
$390 to replace the driver side stabilizer bar (it’s loose and making noise). They recommended replacing both.
I’ve been in the auto industry for 20 years, and every dealership I’ve worked with or done business with rolls the diagnostic fee into the repair cost if you go ahead with the fix. But apparently, I live in a rare area where one auto group doesn’t charge for diagnostics at all, there are no hidden fees, and dealerships even sell cars, including the Grand Highlander (when it was available), at MSRP or less.
Edit: This applies to both business and personal customers.
I’d check to make sure they’re actually charging you for diagnostic time.
Also, I’d recommend looking into aftermarket options for the head unit. You can find a radio that’s much cheaper and likely better.
You don’t need to replace both stabilizer bars, and the actuator shouldn’t be too expensive, but I’m sure you can get both done for less elsewhere.
They’re going to charge you for the diagnostic time, especially for a unique issue that takes time to figure out. It’s not something they can just roll into the repair costs.
Those are pretty expensive repairs for an older car, so they probably don’t expect many people to go through with the repairs. They likely had a technician working on it for most of the day. I wouldn’t expect a lower charge for that.
). The dealership charged me $725 just to figure out what’s wrong, and that doesn’t count towards repair costs. Is this normal or is my dealership just really bad?