Question for our Ford mechanics

smbroady82 · Aug 28, 2015

Alright, so my younger brother just bought his 1st vehicle on his own the other day. 2010 Ford Explorer 2wd. Anyways, so he drives home to visit last weekend and has an odd noise coming form the driveline.
So after a little research we pull the drain plug, diff is full of watered down diff fluid and tons of metal!! So I tell him to check his warranty and carry it back to the dealer he just bought it from. They give him a rental while they diagnose it. Then they call him yesterday and inform him that it is going to be $2400 to fix!!!! This blows my mind considering I have paid a shop to re-gear a 4x4 (front and rear) and it was only around $1500, and I have bought several sets of gears and install kits.

Am I crazy or is this highway robbery? That entire rear end is only worth a few hundred bucks.

Apparently they are bad about going out as I am reading, but $2400????

ranger11 · Aug 28, 2015

Re:

I'd just regear or find a take out replacement from car-part.com or lkq

sexxy · Aug 28, 2015

Stealership at its finest. If they only diagnosed the problem I would take it somewhere else to be repaired.

smbroady82 · Aug 28, 2015

Re:

ranger11 said:
I'd just regear or find a take out replacement from car-part.com or lkq

that was my recommendation , he is not at all mechanically inclined and I'm afraid he has told them to fix it not knowing any better ..

Rokcrler · Aug 28, 2015

Re:

Sounds like an AU student :flupiff1:

5BrothersFabrication · Aug 28, 2015

My wife has an '09 Flex, electric fans quit working. If you know anything about modern Fords, you know that the fans work like this:

Fans--fan control module--coolant temp sensor--canooter valve controller--brake light sensor--master armrest control ECU--power distribution box

I didn't want to throw money at the problem until it was fixed, so we took it to Ted Russell Ford. Their quote was $1900!!! I told the ol' lady they're just throwing money at it 'til it's fixed, so I ordered the fans with built in controllers from RockAuto for $249 and had the old one out and new one in in 20 minutes, fixed the problem.

So yes, stealership is a very accurate term.

al1tonyota · Aug 28, 2015

Where is he located my dad has built thousands of hose diffs dealer is high! For all the parts and labor shouldn't be over 1000!

smbroady82 · Aug 28, 2015

Re:

Rokcrler said:
Sounds like an AU student :flupiff1:

he is an AU grad my friend. I ain't mad at him, I'm very proud of him. Wish I had enough sense to knock college out right out of H.S.

al1tonyota said:
Where is he located my dad has built thousands of hose diffs dealer is high! For all the parts and labor shouldn't be over 1000!

He is located in Atlanta

al1tonyota · Aug 28, 2015

Ok talked to my dad he said the average ticket for a rebuilt rear is 1800ish and to replace the whole unit is 22-2400! Rebuilt has 2yr 24k new has 3yr 36k warranties the dealer can only use ford parts to have that warranty someone could build their own for around $6-700.

grcthird · Aug 28, 2015

Swap in a Jasper unit and have a 3 year 100k warranty, I meant to price one this afternoon but got too busy.

smbroady82 · Aug 28, 2015

update:

so after he told me what they wanted to charge him and I raised you know what, he called them and asked for a detailed breakdown of the parts/ labor.
the parts only totaled $700 and he asked to speak to a manager.... blah blah blah they knocked $800 off.... I still think it is too much but I am glad he said something to them

today little brother learned a valuable/costly lesson:

never ever take something to the dealer for work & always call big brother for an opinion 1st

Thanks for the input guys

al1tonyota · Aug 29, 2015

smbroady82 said:
update:

so after he told me what they wanted to charge him and I raised you know what, he called them and asked for a detailed breakdown of the parts/ labor.
the parts only totaled $700 and he asked to speak to a manager.... blah blah blah they knocked $800 off.... I still think it is too much but I am glad he said something to them

today little brother learned a valuable/costly lesson:

never ever take something to the dealer for work & always call big brother for an opinion 1st

Thanks for the input guys

Good deal glad they discounted it more than likely went to the employee labor rate! The dealer here is $98 an hr employee is $40 last time I asked!

It pays 8 hours to build the diff not sure on just an r& r?

grcthird · Sep 2, 2015

Finally priced out a jasper unit, 1745.00 plus 3.8 hours of labor plus fliud and tax, not much cheaper than the original quote.

tallnate · Sep 2, 2015

So he just bought the vehicle the other day and several days later you hear noises and find the rear diff is shot.. Sounds to me like they should cover this. Don't dealerships do a 48pt or whatever inspection before selling a trade in or used vehicle? And if so, does he have any paperwork stating all the checked points? Usually everything with fluids is checked before re-sale. Worth looking into possibly and if I saw anything on there about rear differential checked, I'd push back.