Is it a common thing these days for dealers to refuse to give estimates/quotes?

[Durenol]

Trying to get some work done. Call the dealer for a quote but the lady on the line says flat out "we don't give estimates". Apparently I'm supposed to just drop the car off and they call after it's fixed or something? Is this normal behavior these days? The only thing I could get out of her was their labor rate.

[matthew1]

She probably meant they don’t give estimates out over the phone.

[93SCMax]

I've run into this lately with another luxury foreign car manufacturer. Since the pandemic and the shortage of new cars, the dealers are basically saying "if you're going to ask the cost, you can't afford us and we don't have time for you".

I think it's a pretty sh..ty way to do business, but then again I'm old school and am used to getting estimates and shopping around.

You are put in the position of learning how to do it yourself, find an Indie or pay what the dealer says is the current rate. A big reason so many DIY.

[MoVolvos]

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It's the law that a "written" estimate is provided to the customer before work begin. For unknown issues that means you need to take your car in. If you're in for set routine maintenance such as timing belt or oil change the price can be given and over the phone. If it's a problem then diagnostics time is charged. The diagnostic time can go up and the diagnostic time can also be applied to the repair. Regardless they must call you for approval for either.

The lady you spoke with is trained and paid less to keep the service writers busy with the paying customers present at the dealership.
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[chrism]

We just had our 2018 S60 at the Volvo dealer for an oil change and brake system flush, the cost of which were quoted to me beforehand. While they were flushing the brake lines they noticed the rear pads and rotors needed replacing. Once again I was quoted the price, including the 15% coupon I had, beforehand. I choked when he said it was nearly $600 but at least he was up front about it. I have found this dealer to be honest in the past - expensive but honest.

My favorite local Volvo Indy is going to do the rear brake job with OE Volvo parts for just under $500 which still sounds really high. But man, those OE parts are pricey! The labor portion of the bill will be ~ 150-175.

[Durenol]

She probably meant they don’t give estimates out over the phone.

I don't get that. So instead of saying "I need X job done what does that cost?" I need to drive the car over there just to ask the exact same question in person?

or pay what the dealer says is the current rate

The problem I'm having is that they won't tell me the rate. Or rather, she'll tell me the overall labor rate, but refuse to tell me how many hours the job takes to complete or what parts will be ordered.

set routine maintenance

Which is what I'm asking for in this case, and why I'm so confused that they're refusing to give me a quote.

[br0dy519]

Don’t quote me, I’ve never let a dealer touch my car aside from one warranty job. But I believe dealers typically charge a standard diagnostic fee. It seems reasonable that the person on the phone can’t trust every caller knows what they’re asking for. Not to mention many variables with vehicles at our age.

[MoVolvos]

She probably meant they don’t give estimates out over the phone.

I don't get that. So instead of saying "I need X job done what does that cost?" I need to drive the car over there just to ask the exact same question in person?

or pay what the dealer says is the current rate

The problem I'm having is that they won't tell me the rate. Or rather, she'll tell me the overall labor rate, but refuse to tell me how many hours the job takes to complete or what parts will be ordered.
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When you run a business... Well, they'll be out of business if they had to spend money paying for the time for someone qualified to tell you over the phone how many hours it takes for the job and the parts to order. They don't have the computer system nor will the system provide that info.

There is systematic approach to providing customer service in terms of overhead and that for the most part requires making sure the customer is truly interested having them do the work so getting the customer into the dealership is part of the program. There is also liabilities in just providing info over the phone regardless how simple you think the repair or how easy the info you need should come by. Not knowing what else they'll find during the repair or if you are even qualified to know what the repair is, it's like a doctor giving you a diagnoses over the phone which is a no no!

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set routine maintenance

Which is what I'm asking for in this case, and why I'm so confused that they're refusing to give me a quote.
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Can you tell us what you were trying to obtain an estimate for?

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[matthew1]

Trying to get some work done.

Looks like we need to go back to this to give any accurate thoughts.

What work?

[abscate]

I can give you shop time rates on P80 and P2 chassis from all data...