Dealership VS Non-Delarship Price
I have NISSAN Murano 2010 AWD and I started noticing the Stiffness in power steering. I went to the NISSAN Dealer to Diagnose the problem and they found the Rack and Pinion was leaking. Obviously, the next question from me was “Does the warranty cover this part”. The answer was “NO”. The warranty is for 3 Years and 36 K Miles whichever comes first. Mine already passed 3 Year mark.The next question from me was “How much does it cost to fix it”?. They informed me the part is expensive as well as it needs intensive labor.
They quoted the Price for the Part about 1400 Dollars and for the Labor about 900 Dollars . I was looking around 2500 for getting this fixed.Instead of leaving the car at the Dealership and getting it fixed right away, I came back home and started doing little bit of research.
The rack doesn’t look like very complicated part and I was able to find the rack and pinion for about 400 dollars on Ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/300881931617?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
And then I went to PEPBOYS to get the quote for replacing the rack and pinion and the wheel alignment. They quoted me about 600 dollars for Labor and fluids. Since it was cheaper and they provided the warranty for Labor, I took my vehicle to PEPBOYS and got it fixed.
In the end, the GUNN Nissan Dealership in San Antonio would have cost me 2500 for getting rack and pinion replaced.
Just spending little bit of time and doing some home work, I got that done for about 1000 dollars. Probably , Dealership work might have been little bit superior and I didn’t care. Theres no alternative for doing little bit of research and being informed customer. In the past ,I would’ve said just fix it at the Dealership and wouldn’t have learned anything about Rack and pinion and where to shop, get quote,etc.
In the end, by this process, I am better informed and better consumer.