the Cost of General Auto Repair

The O2 sensor in my realatively new 2008 Saturn vue went out. Likely due to a fuse malfunction or humidity and condensation. Anyway, apparently it was not covered under the warranty. So the sensor itself ran about $72.00, which I bought myself from an after market parts store in order to cut out the middle man. The labor was around $170.00.

The service at the store was amazing. They walked me through the process and also helped me to better understand why the part was faulty and how to check for the same in the future. The actual repair service itself was average. But it did give me some insight and words of wisdom to pass along to others facing the same situation. The dealer was very engaging about the job itself. Explaining to me what would have happened had I kept driving around with a broken sensor. But they did not complete the job in the time frame provided. And they unprofessionally told me that it was because one of the guys took an extra long lunch break. The job when completed was fantastic, and seems to be working just fine, but I wish they had handled the situation with a touch more professionalism.

First off, it is always cheaper to purchase the part needed before having the actual service done. The only snag that you may run into in doing this is that the garage that you choose for the service may not agree to install the part if it did not come from them or their sources. To ensure that you will not be turned away, call ahead and find a garage that is willing to perform the job with your own part, and make sure that they are willing to also knock some off of the price for already providing the part needed.