VT block and spec stage 3 clutch? just need a guess of the maximum amount of labor hours they may try to charge me for. i know it can't be more than 8 ($600)

Bet ya it is.

Whatever they quote you, i'll do it for half. :D

my father is a claims adjuster for nationwide. he said he usually pays for covering about 6-8 hours labor on reinstalling a shortblock, and about 15 hours for a complete motor swap or shortblock rebuild. mine should be closer to the 8 hour time.

even if it takes them 4 hours, they'll probably charge you for 8(or whatever their book says it takes), becuase most mechanics just charge you for the estamated time for each job. the good mechanics that get things done fast and well, make the big bucks becuase they can do more cars with less time than the book says.

if you live near an airport ill do it for cheap. ill fly out there.

The shop can charge you whatever they want. they will quote you the book hour rate and tell you that is if everything goes as planned. The labor book states in the front that it does not take into account abnormal conditions such as broken bolts, siezes bolts, stripped bolts or breakage that might occure to parts. The book is only a guideline. The only reason the dealers do the work for a set price for the insurance is because they want the volumn and want to be on the "good" list the insurance has, they can also decline any work for a particular insurance. The shop i worked at refused State farm for many reasons. If you insist on a shop doing it go to a local shop and talk with them a bit or ship it to Dino.

Terry

Originally posted by grain
if you live near an airport ill do it for cheap. ill fly out there.

I would consider this offer.

well it's not really negotiable on my end, the only reason i had them do it is because they did all the work on my car back when i was 16 and 17 and didnt have the time or experience to work on the engine components myself, and back then they charged abnormally low labor costs for a dealership, mostly because all the mechanics were pretty cool and were always asking me questions about my car.
my parents knew the service manager personally because they bought 2 3G eclipses from the dealer.

the only other option was for me to fix it myself and have the insurance cut me a check, however i found this out after i had the dealer store the car on their lot for 3 months, so they pretty much assumed they were repairing it, which is the only fair thing for me to do anyway. i can't expect them to store the car for me for 3 months and then run off with it without paying them a dime.

the only reason i ask about the labor costs is they just changed service managers and in the 4-5 vists i've made to him, he has said maybe 4 words to me.

the thing about satan is the different people there will charge you different prices. I wouldn't go to them unless you personally knew someone that worked there. I went there and got three different quotes to paint and install my sideskirts, one for 500, 700, and 900 (wtf!). Around here they charge $40 an hour for labor too. I finally met a kid at some party that works there and now he gives me great deals. He's painting my front bumper, fender, sideskirts + caps, and installing them for 600