Overall Philosophy

Parts, Not Labor

Auto repairs – YIKES! 

Our Florida SUV has been in the shop three times over the last couple weeks for repairs.  We got the oil & filter changed, the air conditioner charged, new tires, and this Wednesday it will be back in the shop for a new headlight.

Our car still looks nice, but the repairs have been pretty costly.  All together we will have spent about $2,500 this Winter. 

We’re not getting ripped off by the local repair shop, either.  Almost all of the cost is in the parts!

Check this out below.  The ‘headlight assembly’ we need for our 2017 BMW X5 costs a shocking $3,767 from the factory! 

As you can see, I punched my VIN number into a “shop” on eBay and found a knock-off, Chinese-made headlight assembly for just $247.  Still, with shipping ($106), the parts will be the majority of the cost.

Our new tires were similarly expensive – again, for ‘parts’ not labor.  The chunky Pirelli Scorpion tires were $346 each.  The cost to have them put on (which took over 90 minutes) was only $91.  That means 94% of the cost was the parts.  

The problem with having an older vehicle (8 years old / 104K miles) is that these repairs are popping up constantly.  When we get back to Minnesota in the spring, I know my 2 vehicles there also need new tires. 

I’m 10 years retired from work, but now have a part-time job running to the auto repair shop!

What ugly car repairs have you had lately? Is the cost of the parts driving the overall cost?

Images: (c) MrFireStation.com

30 thoughts on “Parts, Not Labor”

    1. Yeah… I thought of that as I was adding everything up. Of course, I also will have spent three half days at the shop. That’s the pricey part!!

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  2. Wow, $3,767 for an OEM Headlight Assembly. I checked one of my go to aftermarket brands on RockAuto and it was still $1,076.

    I recently changed the Motor Oil and Filters on my family fleet’s four vehicles with six five-quart bottles of Mobile 1 Full Synthetic at $164.45 and four Motorcraft Filters were $32.11. The transmission fluid was changed with Motorcraft Mercon V for one vehicle at $120. Changed one air and fuel filter for $22.25. Replaced a starter using an AC Delco part for $114.79. Had an instrument cluster resoldered for $200 and had to replace a $18.99 headlight knob I broke getting the cluster out. Replaced a broken window regulator for $142.86. Replaced passenger side mirror that was broke after a Tesla Cyber Truck hit it for $88.43. Replaced s door latch with cables $53.54. Replaced front struts and rear shocks on one vehicle for $240.74 with a $90 alignment afterwards.

    Total for the past six months was $998.16 for parts and $290 for the outside labor of resoldering the instrument cluster and alignment. I drive cars with low-cost name brand replacement parts, and I do most of the labor myself. Some might argue that I am spending too much time working on cars. My counter argument is that I enjoy wrenching in my shop while listening to my stereo and quite often I can perform the work myself in less time than it takes to get the car to repair shop and back.

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    1. I enjoy some projects around the house & cars, but nothing that involved. I just don’t have the background (or tools) to even know what I am doing. It’s a certainly a great hobby to have because it can save you a lot of money, produces immediate results, and earns the respect of every other car guy you know!

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      1. I only took a one year auto shop class in high school and did participate in the Plymouth Trouble Shooting Contest. Only enough to get me started on working on cars.

        The internet has dramatically made access to auto repair information more available. I often view YouTube videos where a professional shows you how to fix different aspects of a car. Videos are much better than repair manuals because the illustrations never were very helpful. The pictures never looked like what I was looking for under the hood.

        Auto technology has changed a lot since high school in 1977. OBDII changed working on cars for home mechanics because Congress mandated that all vehicles sold in the USA must have an OBDII port and be readable via a standard electronic interface. I bought software for my laptop for $50 with lifetime updates and an OBDII interface for another $50. Here is a tip, today’s cars want to tell you what is wrong with them via error codes. I often research error codes in online forums. My vehicles have very active forums that are participated in by fleet maintenance mechanics and other DIYers. Another valuable resource are online repair manuals that I subscribe to on AutoZone’s website. The manuals give me access to manufacturer Technical Service Bulletins. TSB’s are memos about very widespread problems where the manufacturer provides very specific details about how to identify and fix a problem.

        One of the biggest benefits of doing the work myself is that I am careful to do everything correctly. Here’s an example. I recently bought a clean low mileage car that had the magic words, “It was my late mother’s car.” I met with a son and daughter who inherited the car and they mentioned that their mother did all the maintenance at what they thought was a good shop and they were considering using the same shop themselves. When I got home with the vehicle, I did an oil change and found that some gorilla had way overtightened the oil filter and oil pan drain bolt. I also found that the rear brake pads were ready for replacement. I called the women I bought the car from to let her know that I found problems with the workmanship of her late mother’s garage and recommend staying away from them.

        Here is a takeaway for all your readers even if you have no desire to work on cars yourself. Get yourself an OBDII code reader which you plug in beneath your dash and turn the ignition key to accessory or the key fob equivalent. Get the codes and Google them. It might be something simple like you forgot to tighten your gas cap that you can fix yourself, including clearing the code. At a minimum when you go to the repair center you will have an idea what the problem is. Check and see if the problem is covered under a recall campaign, which means the dealer will repair the problem for free.

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      2. I’d like to try one of those code readers! I think I’ll get one when we get back to MN next month.

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    2. My wife when I started dating her in the early 90s had a BMW. I called it the ultimate maintenance machine. Parts were not as a expensive back then. I was driving a Nissan Maxima at the time and the Japanese at the time seemed to have a tighter hold on replacement parts.

      I have a friend who had a later model BMW Sports Station wagon. He mentioned paying around $1,200 to replace an driveshaft speed sensor. I remember paying around $1,200 to have someone else rebuilt a transmission on a Mercury Grand Marquis and the rebuild lasted the rest of the vehicles life which was cut short at 299,700 miles when my son totaled it.

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  4. We are low mileage drivers. This is on purpose as we bought our condo two blocks from light rail.

    My wife bought her Honda CRZ sporty car new in 2013 which now only has 34,000 miles. Yes, I think we should sell it as we really don’t need it and she herself only drives perhaps 100 miles annually. We spent $4,000 in January 2025 with major items such as timing belt and other “time” oriented maintenance including struts which are expensive.

    I have a 2018 Prius with 51,000 miles which has a basic oil change annually. I drive perhaps 6,000 miles annually on this vehicle. We did spend $500 on two front tires and an alignment in early January. The problem was where the asphalt onramp joined the concrete roadway on the freeway has issues when it rains for large potholes to emerge. Yes, a blowout. The tire shop said that I likely had another 40,000 miles left on the tread. If you drive on freeways and are smart with starting from a stop or slowing down ahead of where you need to stop, tires will last a long time

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    1. So that looks like you are at only 6.1K miles/year! That is incredibly low. We probably put on 40K+ miles by comparison. Most of that is just me touring around in my Jeep or sports car.

      I have never blown a tire out, but I came close to it last week on my SUV. I must have it something because the tread bulged out. I didn’t dare drive it until I got the new tires.

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    2. My wife and I used to rack up between us easily 30K miles per year back in the day when we were both working and driving our children to school, sports and other school events.

      Since retiring, we probably clock 7,000 miles total per year. No more commuting to work, not driving kids around and we are getting a lot of deliveries. One would think our car insurance premium would be dramatically reduced since we are only driving 1/4 of the miles and can avoid rush hour traffic.

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      1. Have you spoken with your insurance company about a “low mileage” policy? I’m not sure if that’s a thing, but it might be worth asking.

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    1. I have zero interest in keeping a car into “very high mileage”. I’m trying to splurge, not save at this point. The more FUN & impractical the car the better right now! 🙂

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      1. It was a concern back in the day when we were driving a lot and racked up high miles quickly. Not so much anymore. However, cars with good bones cause less maintenance issues. Comfort and safety are big concerns. Both my sons are around 6′ 5″ and don’t like sitting in tight cars. My wife is the opposite of a status seeker and doesn’t like to stick out small-town Midwest style.

        I report my mileage to State Farm. What really screwed me was when they cancelled my Fire Insurance which caused me to lose my multi-line discount. They tried my difference-in-conditions policy that insures everything except fire and my umbrella. I shopped both of these around and found much better deals. I have tried shopping auto insurance a couple times and couldn’t find anything that is competitive.

        I am about done with housing renovations and will be back to the Corvette. I have read that Classic Car insurance is much cheaper than regular, even for exotics like Ferrari’s.

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      2. You were going to take an “engine rebuild” class at your community college at one point for your car restoration, weren’t you? (It’s been. along time). Did you ever do that?

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  6. I checked OBD2 scan tools and it looks like you have a lot of options starting at $79. You probably don’t need the advanced one, unless you want to play and learn. These tools can easily pay themselves off the first time you use it, even if you don’t do your own work.

    They have a lot more capabilities than I got when I first started using OBD2 tools.

    https://www.innova.com/pages/best-obd2-bmw?m=A338X9NNA1JLZE&maas=maas_adg_8223701587C9601E1AAD662312ED86AE_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tw_source=bing&tw_campaign=486403531&tw_adid=77172175260033&msclkid=ef37d82cc99f1a7278e6b19677082a5c

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    1. I ordered it just now. Comes this Saturday. $89. Should be fun to play with and see what it does. Looks like it will work for all of my vehicles … BMW, Audi, Jeep.

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      1. I also recommend finding vehicle specific forums frequented by people who work on the same cars you drive. This will enable you to search any codes that come up and get an idea of what the problem and resolution is. You will be better equipped to when you go to get something repaired. You also might find there are simple problems you can fix yourself.

        The systems look full featured and might have their own community as well.

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  7. Got too busy working on my house. 1) Installed a backup generator and Starlink backup internet. 2) Completely finished the garage including installing a mini-split, super insulation, clean up electrical from the generator install, drywall, painting, floor sealing and burnishing and new insulated garage doors. 3) Installed new Velux skylights in our breakfast room (includes cutting and placing roof tiles). 3) Water-proofed and created a drainage system for a flower box that is attached to the front of the house. 4) Built a combination dedicated laundry and storage room under the breakfast room that has an outdoor shower for the spa. The laundry water is routed into a grey water system for reuse in small, raised beds I have planned. The masons had to remove rock, which they reused to make some steps up a slope that looks like Arte de Mexico. This project also dramatically fire hardens one side of my house. 5) Redid a 35-year-old second story walk out deck with Class A Fire rated Batu Mahogany as well as redoing the substrate. Once again, this improves the fire hardening and looks good. 6) Just completed switching my septic from anaerobic (septic) to aerobic using equipment I bought from small Wisconsin manufacturer. This system has breathed new life into a 36-year-old marginal septic system.

    Just have some painting left to do on the deck railings and fire-proof painting on the deck substrate and the front of the house.

    Then I can get back to the car at the community college. It will be much more than a rebuild. The interesting part is that the instructors are also the referees for CA smog checks, so it will help me gauge what I can get approved. I am thinking more than a rebuild. More of resto-mod with stroker kit, high flow aluminum heads and hydraulic roller cam.

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    1. You are one handy guy, Klaus! By comparison, in the last year we renovated our kitchen in MN and added a small bar in FL. And when I say “we”, I mean the people we hired to do all of those projects. My own contribution was very small. Cabinet handles and a light switch or two.

      I might have told you this, but a guy that shows an old Jeepster at local car shows did his entire restoration at the local community college over the course of a couple years.

      MN has a program where senior citizens can take classes for free. He said he did everything at the community college. Even painted it in their paint room. It turned out great. I assume that’s what you are doing?

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      1. My community college offers everything except painting. The car will go to a shop that does quite a few low riders. I am not making a low rider, but they do good work at a fair price.

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  8. I looked into auto insurance priced by miles driven. NOT AVAILABLE IN CALIFORNIA!!! Despite both Lemonade and Metro Mile starting here thanks to tech industry. The California Dept of Insurance believes in socialism in that old people who don’t have accidents but buy high limits and drive few miles still pay high premiums to subsidize high risk drivers.

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    1. That’s crazy. The government shouldn’t tell insurance companies what offerings they should have. We have some weird laws like that here in Florida too.

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    2. Insured California drivers are also subsidizing uninsured drivers. Our state tried to pass a No-Fault Insurance Propositions around 1993. The thinking was that if an insured motorist causes an accident, their insurance pays. If an uninsured motorist causes an accident, then the insured motorist’s insurance still pays. Uninsured motorist are benefitting from insurance without paying anything into the pooled fund.

      I remember being downtown in a courthouse about that time, and I overheard two family law attorneys walk by complaining about the Proposition. They were fearful that personal injury attorneys would not have enough work and have to change to family law. Any law that lawyers don’t like because it creates less work for them is a good law!

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    1. Yeah – that’s a nice house on a street where some friends live. We came out of their house and I thought that’s a picture perfect car shot!

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      1. Amazing photo that looks like a photoshopped real estate brochure. The only difference is yours is real!

        I remember reading about Celebration when it was being planned. They wanted to create the opposite of modern suburban neighborhoods with what they called ‘snorkel houses’ where people drive into their garage after a long commute without interacting with their neighbors. The sidewalks are there to make it easy for people to walk around. The front porches are there to encourage interaction with people walking by.

        The planned community that recreated small town America.

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