I had a 2001 K1500 Chevy Suburban that need a rear differential rebuild. The unit had 156K, so the gear-set was worn-out. The spider gear had teeth broken off, so it had metal fragments in the case. Average book repair time on service is 4.5 hours. Parts after market would cost at most 1000.00.
When they called me when completed, they quoted 3250.00. After quizzing them on it, the representive said: "opps it looks like my computer is marking it up again. It is really is 2750.00." I asked for a detailed bill emailed to me. It took 45 minutes to receive a pdf of the bill. When I examined the bill, parts where three times what NAPA parts would cost. Labor hours was 7.5, almost twice what the industry standard is.
My father just retired as a mechanic for almost 30 years. He did hundred's of differential rebuilds. His average time to rebuild was less than 4.0 hours. I share this to hopefully help someone who is thinking about letting Jerry Seiner repair their vehicle. I have no problem paying a little more to have a dealer repair my cars/trucks. Dealers though charge 100 an hour and pay their mechanics 17.00-24.00 a flat-rate hour. The dealers make it so hard for their mechanics to make a living, mechanics will often over charge their time so as to make a decent income. Dealer parts costs are way over priced.
I will never take my out of warranty car/truck back to a dealer again.
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