$1000 to replace struts?!

[swanny]

So I went to get my tired rotated the other day on my 1993 Subaru Legacy wagon (go ahead, make whatever jokes you want but this care get's me from point A to point B, and back again). The kid at Les Schwab gives me my keys when they are done and then says, oh by the way you should get your struts replace, here is a quote for $950. I looked at him and told him he was crazy, mainly because I was shocked by the price. Looking around at NAPA, struts for my car are $91 for the front and $90 for the rear. Are they really wanting to charge nearly $500 in labor?! I didn't look to closely at the quote because the kid just threw it in my face, didn't even want to talk about it or tell me what it includes. It's hard to want to spend or be okay with spending that kind of money on a car that isn't worth much more than that. Is Les Schwab trying to stick it to me or is this a real price for having this done?

[Skillet]

Shop it.  You'll find much better pricing.  Les Schwab charges too much $$$ for everything, IMHO.

[h20hunter]

I would think an hour per corner max on labor.

[Miles]

They're just trying to sell you stuff.  It's what they do, they're SALESMAN...   Some aren't very good at it, but they are supposed to sell you everything they can before you walk out the door.

[elkoholic1]

per alldata labor guide front struts replcement are 3.3hours and rears are 3.6 then u have an alignment along with that for usually 1.0       

[swanny]

They're just trying to sell you stuff.  It's what they do, they're SALESMAN...   Some aren't very good at it, but they are supposed to sell you everything they can before you walk out the door.

That's the problem, the kid was a horrible salesman. He just put it in front of me.

I'm going to shop around, I might even go check with the manager. He's a good guy and I've had them do plenty of other work before. Just pissed me off and needed to vent   

[JohnVH]

I would think an hour per corner max on labor.

4hrs x $100/hr = $400 in labor right there, then add a 4 wheel alignment on that..

Change the struts yourself, take it somewhere else to get aligned and your good to go for a 1/4 the price

[FC]

per alldata labor guide front struts replcement are 3.3hours and rears are 3.6 then u have an alignment along with that for usually 1.0       

That is about what I was thinking, $750ish in labor and $200 or so for parts.

Good luck on getting it done much cheaper than that! Make sure you are getting good struts instead of the cheapest one available too. If you get cheap struts your car will not ride like it should and the struts won't last.

[Heredoggydoggy]

per alldata labor guide front struts replcement are 3.3hours and rears are 3.6 then u have an alignment along with that for usually 1.0       

That is about what I was thinking, $750ish in labor and $200 or so for parts.

Good luck on getting it done much cheaper than that! Make sure you are getting good struts instead of the cheapest one available too. If you get cheap struts your car will not ride like it should and the struts won't last.

   Unless you have a spring compressor, and enjoy turning bolts that have been rusting for 15 years, you will soon think $950 is cheap!  I'd check around for a good price from a more professional shop.  The people that work for Les Schwab are in the same category a WalMart eye doctors. 

[Johnb317]

If you live in the Bellevue area check out Elliot tire on Rose hill (kirkland)
PM me and I'll give you the managers name.

Otherwise get or rent some Coil compressors and do it yourself..... about an hour a side, then take it to someone and have the car re-aligned.
I'm sure if you google Subaru, year and strut replacement there will be at least a couple how-to pages.

btw - Schwab is not as good as once was.... I had a flat so when fixing he noted my rear brakes were worn... quoted me an outrageous price  rebuilt calipers etc.
I replaced the pads for $60.00   (you rarely if ever need to replace the calipers). 



good luck

[Bean Counter]

   for All Wheel Drive Auto in Kirkland, if you go by that way.

[weasel]

Give a call to Pacific Import Auto (PIA) on Pacific Ave in the Parkland/Spanaway area. Might be a bit for you to go but that's where we take my wife's Forester.  They only work on Subaru vehicles and i've been satisfied with their work and price... Recently had the turbo replaced and they did a good job in workmanship and cost.  She won't let me work on it cause somehow i always have parts left over. calls me Mr. Good wrench...

[dscubame]

Have them check the piston return springs while they are at it.  They are notorious for going bad in them subarus.

[swanny]

Thanks for all the suggestions of shops. There is a place down the hill from me in Kent that I have had Subaru work done on. Gonna check them out again, the guy was honest the last time I took it in and even did cleaned my headlights since they were dirty.

[whacker1]

Thanks for all the suggestions of shops. There is a place down the hill from me in Kent that I have had Subaru work done on. Gonna check them out again, the guy was honest the last time I took it in and even did cleaned my headlights since they were dirty.

I would ask this second shop if they even need to be replaced.  I have had Less Schwab just make suggestions, because they have no record of doing the work and therefore assume that it needs to be done.  One of the many reasons I quit going to Les Schwab.  Or maybe you only need to replace the front or rear?

[CAMPMEAT]

Schwabs has pulled that crap on my wife. A car that is 10-15 years old doesn't need to put $ 1000 struts on it. We've also had a tire with the steel belt coming out of it and Schwab wouldn't warranty it. I avoid them unless I can't.

[Miles]

I had some *censored* at Les Schwab tell me that my truck needed to have the oil in  the rear diff drained and replaced.   I asked "why is that".  He then proceeded to tell me that it really looked awful and I must launch a boat a lot or drive down dusty roads and it ruined the oil.   I enlightened him to the fact that the truck only had 15,000 miles on it, had never towed a boat, and what vehicle doesn't drive down dusty roads in Spokane....   It's at 60,000  now and hasn't had the oil touched or been back to a LS.

[Holg3107]

most NAPA and CarQuest shops will rent you coil spring compressors. Its really not that hard to do and will save you a ton of cash. After all is said and done take it in somewhere to have it realigned.

[Heredoggydoggy]

I had some *censored* at Les Schwab tell me that my truck needed to have the oil in  the rear diff drained and replaced.   I asked "why is that".  He then proceeded to tell me that it really looked awful and I must launch a boat a lot or drive down dusty roads and it ruined the oil.   I enlightened him to the fact that the truck only had 15,000 miles on it, had never towed a boat, and what vehicle doesn't drive down dusty roads in Spokane....   It's at 60,000  now and hasn't had the oil touched or been back to a LS.

Years ago, my dad took his car into one of those quick-lube oil change outfits.  The snotnose kid working there pulled the dipstick out of the car's automatic transmission and told him he needed to replace the fluid.  My dad asked him why, and the kid said: "Because it's red."  My dad said "what color is it supposed to be?"  The kid shrugged and admitted he didn't know!  My dad told him to put the dipstick back and get the hell away from his car.

As long as your car handles and rides good, and tire wear is OK, I wouldn't worry about what the  tell you.

[cwuwildcat]

I took a BRAND NEW Jeep into a GoodYear center to have it's 2nd oil change.  They called me up to say the serpentine belt needed to be replaced because "it was cracked" and listed other things that "needed" to be done.  Told them to change the oil and stop trying to scam me.  The engine was still giving off that new car engine smell when it started up, and it had less than 6,000 miles.  If they were actual problems it would go back to the dealer.  I'll never will go back to a Goodyear store again because of that.

[fish vacuum]

I would ask this second shop if they even need to be replaced.  I have had Less Schwab just make suggestions, because they have no record of doing the work and therefore assume that it needs to be done.  One of the many reasons I quit going to Les Schwab.  Or maybe you only need to replace the front or rear?

 

[woodywsu]

My bet is your struts don't even need replaced. Les Schwabb pulls this crap constantly.

[jackelope]

My bet is your struts don't even need replaced. Les Schwabb pulls this crap constantly.

[smdave]

I had a 2003 full size Yukon XL, Les Schwab when having tires put on told me I needed rear shocks. I did nothing with it thinking I really don't need them.

Months later I purchased a 24ft travel trailer and thought I need rear shocks, made the appointment with them sat in the waiting room the guy comes out after looking at my shocks and says there is nothing wrong with them and the factory shocks I have a way stronger then anything he carries. He wanted to know why I thought they were bad, I handed the slip I got from them months earlier he said he would talk with that person.

The good about it was they did not take advantage of me in the end, but the one guy wanted to.

I have never been back to Les Schwab after using them my whole adult life I turn 50 this year.

Discount Tire gets my tire money now.

[h20hunter]

Raise your hand if you or anyone you know has had their brakes done at a Les Schwab and was told you "have" to als replace calipers or they wouldn't be covered under warranty. Sound familiar. Complete BS upselling.

[predatorpro]

So I went to get my tired rotated the other day on my 1993 Subaru Legacy wagon (go ahead, make whatever jokes you want but this care get's me from point A to point B, and back again). The kid at Les Schwab gives me my keys when they are done and then says, oh by the way you should get your struts replace, here is a quote for $950. I looked at him and told him he was crazy, mainly because I was shocked by the price. Looking around at NAPA, struts for my car are $91 for the front and $90 for the rear. Are they really wanting to charge nearly $500 in labor?! I didn't look to closely at the quote because the kid just threw it in my face, didn't even want to talk about it or tell me what it includes. It's hard to want to spend or be okay with spending that kind of money on a car that isn't worth much more than that. Is Les Schwab trying to stick it to me or is this a real price for having this done?

your problem is "the kid" lol have someone that knows what they are talking about look at them, did he tell you why he recommended struts?  i hate how people blame the business as a whole, i worked at les schwab in quincy for 4 years, as far as having a good honest crew when i worked there they were as good as it gets, alot of the "kids" they hire dont know the difference between an inner and outer tierod but yet they love to give qoutes to someone for the wrong thing because they think they know everything cuz they can change their oil in their riceburner honda, every business has stores that arent that great, there are les schwab stores that i wont take my truck too and there are some i trust hands down, you have no idea how many semis i had come in with wheels ready to fall off because some idiot at commercial tires or discount tires doesnt have a clue what they are doing...i never had a single loose wheel claim on a semi and trust me they will let you know about it! take it back in and have a veteran alignment guy take a look at it and have him explain to you why, it could be a serious problem or it could be just some idiot kid...

[predatorpro]

Raise your hand if you or anyone you know has had their brakes done at a Les Schwab and was told you "have" to als replace calipers or they wouldn't be covered under warranty. Sound familiar. Complete BS upselling.

perfect example of a bad store that needs to get rid of an employee, i have never heard of les schwab telling us to do that while i worked there, proper way is to mic the rotors, if they are under spec and cant be turned they have to replace them its a liability issue, if you dont want to buy them they probly wouldnt do brakes on your car, mainly because people turn around and sue them for millions of dollars after they get in a wreck because they bitched at les schwab that they dont need their rotors replaced and then get in a wreck cuz their rotors are too thin and over heat melting your pads but hey whatever..., if it was your business you wouldnt take that chance on a brake job....

[predatorpro]

last rant but i get tired of people always blaming les schwab for so many things, people try to rip les schwab off more then then les schwab tries to rip people off, i had people storm off cussing me out because i wouldnt rotate their tires with chords hanging out of them with horrible alignment issues...but yet i was the bad guy because i didnt feel like losing my job because i didnt follow TIA protocol...their is a reason behind these rules but people have their head too far up their ass to listen or understand them, another great example is battery warranties...its a simple warranty tax example...you have a 2 year 100% replacement if it goes bad after that its pro rated out for the rest of the months left on the warranty, yet people get irate that their im not replacing their 7 year old battery for free....

[Johnb317]

I understand rotors, the upsell which h20hunter brought up is their selling rebuilt calipers.  They tried that with me on a 8 year old car and less than 50k on it!   
Been working on cars all my life and only have had two calipers need rebuilding and I rebuilt them.  Used to like swab, won't touch them anymore. 

[kckrawler]

Put Les Schwab next to any other auto service chain store and they'll win hands down. Their customer service is top notch and all businesses try to upsell...unfortunately that's what they're hired to do. You want to talk about bad business, head down to the stealership that sold you that car...they'll squeeze every last penny out of you if you let them.

I've never had a problem with Schwab and will continue to use them

[jackelope]

Raise your hand if you or anyone you know has had their brakes done at a Les Schwab and was told you "have" to als replace calipers or they wouldn't be covered under warranty. Sound familiar. Complete BS upselling.

perfect example of a bad store that needs to get rid of an employee, i have never heard of les schwab telling us to do that while i worked there, proper way is to mic the rotors, if they are under spec and cant be turned they have to replace them its a liability issue, if you dont want to buy them they probly wouldnt do brakes on your car, mainly because people turn around and sue them for millions of dollars after they get in a wreck because they bitched at les schwab that they dont need their rotors replaced and then get in a wreck cuz their rotors are too thin and over heat melting your pads but hey whatever..., if it was your business you wouldnt take that chance on a brake job....

Pretty sure the caliper thing depends whether its a corporate store or a franchise store. I know for a 100%fact that the schwabs next to us will not do brakes without replacing caliprrs. It is a corporate owned store.

[Woodchuck]

 

[cannon-master]

hey jackalope i will give you ten thousand dollars if you can get them to change your brakes without replacing your calipers with with rebuilt ones. actually i will give you a hundred thousand dollars!!!!!!

[smdave]

Les Schwab in Arlington said they will NOT do brakes without changing the calipers. Was something to do with the warranty.

[predatorpro]

Raise your hand if you or anyone you know has had their brakes done at a Les Schwab and was told you "have" to als replace calipers or they wouldn't be covered under warranty. Sound familiar. Complete BS upselling.

perfect example of a bad store that needs to get rid of an employee, i have never heard of les schwab telling us to do that while i worked there, proper way is to mic the rotors, if they are under spec and cant be turned they have to replace them its a liability issue, if you dont want to buy them they probly wouldnt do brakes on your car, mainly because people turn around and sue them for millions of dollars after they get in a wreck because they bitched at les schwab that they dont need their rotors replaced and then get in a wreck cuz their rotors are too thin and over heat melting your pads but hey whatever..., if it was your business you wouldnt take that chance on a brake job....

Pretty sure the caliper thing depends whether its a corporate store or a franchise store. I know for a 100%fact that the schwabs next to us will not do brakes without replacing caliprrs. It is a corporate owned store.

yeh i think i know for sure too there...i only worked there for 4 years....but hey im sure you know more about how les schwab runs than i do, if they tell you that, you call prineville and let them know they are trying to rip you off, they turn you calipers before they sell you new ones

[FC]

Les Schwab in Arlington said they will NOT do brakes without changing the calipers. Was something to do with the warranty.

I've never heard of a Les Schwab that will do brakes without replacing calipers/wheel cylinders, I've repaired a lot of their work over the years too!

[swanny]

Raise your hand if you or anyone you know has had their brakes done at a Les Schwab and was told you "have" to als replace calipers or they wouldn't be covered under warranty. Sound familiar. Complete BS upselling.

I'm pretty sure they try to sell you the whole package due to their warranty. If they replace everything, then they can offer the warranty.

As far as my struts go, even the local independent Subaru shop said it would be at least $700 for the front struts. Reason being that they use the Subaru brand struts for warranty purposes also. I'm a little torn on what to do, replace it all, or finally bite the bullet and buy a newer vehicle. I know a newer vehicle isn't exactly "cheaper" by any means, it might just be time.

Anyone need/want a 1993 Legacy with a 150k miles? Great car for a kid if they don't mind working on it