Hours listed on TSB vs. Hours Quoted at Dealership

[IG-88A]

I had an odd occurrence this morning. Scheduled an appointment for a job to be done by my local Volvo dealer's service dept, because I trusted them to do the job right. This was the updated knock sensor kit for the 850. They agreed to use my pre-purchased Volvo parts. This is a job I had planned to do, but very recently re-injured my wrist on my right hand, and just don't have the grip I need yet without a fairly good deal of pain. At any rate, I had already printed off the 1996 Volvo TSB for this job, as an instruction manual for myself. The TSB quoted the total hours involved at 2.3 hours. After sitting in the waiting room for about twenty minutes, the service manager informed me that the best way to handle this would to be install the parts I'd brought with me, but that it would be over eight ours of labor, and over $1000. I was this deep into the car two years ago replacing the PCV system. And know that removing and reinstalling the intake manifold is no 8+ hour job. When I mentioned that I could do it myself in less time than that, they asked why I didn't just do it myself then. I explained the wrist, and they hemmed and hawed, saying it seemed to be running fine, and why would I even bother with it. I explained that I wanted it fixed because I wanted the car to run as it should, and because I was sick of getting random DTCs. When I questioned the labor time, they said because it was an older car, and that the manifold would need to be removed, blah, blah, blah. Something I'd imagine they should be used to after repairing/replacing PCV systems over and over and over. Then some other service guy chimed in and told me that the hours listed on TSBs are usually warranty hours instead of actual labor hours. That those hours are estimated with the engine out of the car, thus making the job quicker, Has anyone else heard of this? Am I misinterpreting the hours listed on the TSB? Or were these guys taking me for a ride? Either way, I doubt I'll be back. Scratch that. I know I won't be back. There's just no excuse for paying that much for a fairly routine repair. Routine in the Volvo world anyway.

[93Regina]

1996 Volvo - Like that's a twenty year old vehicle, and many shops would not have one mechanic who had worked on them. Shops can charge by flat-rate or time required-actual labor hours. When a recall happens, OEMs pay shops what it takes for an experienced mechanic.

2.3 hours for installing a knock sensor kit suggests an experienced mechanic will be quite busy, when the vehicle was new. As vehicles' age, mechanics may have to deal with unrelated problems, rusted bolts, broken vacuum lines, etc., etc.

I recently replaced my HVAC fan motor in my 1993 245. The previous mechanic who did it, burggered up a few things, got screws mixed up, etc. Point here, for a shop to do this without someone experienced in doing this, I can see how actual time spent could be twice as much as flat-rate.

So, either they were winging shop hours, or they didn't want to deal with a twenty year old vehicle, since maybe their mechanics would have to read the fine manual, if they have one, before working on it.

[oragex]

8 hours is a bit exaggerated but I don't think this would be a 2.5h job at a dealer. They never put the exact time it takes to do the job because they might work more relaxed than in aDIY video on Youtube. I would see this more like a 5h job at the dealer. One thing is for sure, some dealers do act like extortionists and some mechanical advisers are expert liars.

Being this is quite a job for a small sensor, I would try disconnecting the actual sensor(s), then install new sensors with glue or on some free screw hole in front of the block. If the engine is pinging I would also look at the intake air thermostat

[jjc1]

I've done this job myself on two old 850's.... a 1994 850 turbo and a 1997 850R Turbo wagon... not an 8 hour job for a hack mechanic and definitely not for an experienced/certified mechanic. Typically the dealership sells parts for list price so they'll make 20-30% or more on the parts plus charge you the book-time for labor hours.... plus misc. charges for shop supplies and other stuff... so they may have been a bit torqued about you bringing in your own parts.

[abscate]

1.8 hours listed to replace the knock sensors on my 99, which I think is harder.

8 hours is crazy long, my guess is they were worried about not having the expertise in house.

You can't bring your food into a restaurant to have them cook it, very few places will let you use your own parts.