think my auto elec bill a bit lge for work done . Opinions please pp

[alovaoz Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alovaoz]

just got a bill for a touch over a thousand for fit my uhf,my brake controler,v simple solenoid system for dual batt and anderson plug to rear with good cable and an extra merit plug in boot area near existing would love some feed back as im a bit green on prices and feel its too much for amount of work done considering almost all was mine bar dual solenoid set up cheers

[LiveFreeAndRoam Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LiveFreeAndRoam]

It would help if you can publish the breakdown in pricing. Though, personally, I fail to see the justification for the work you described. I know routing cables can be very time-consuming, depending on the route chosen. Maybe that contributed to the price blow-out?

Don't s'pose you received a few quotes ahead of time?

[edit: BTW, Apart from the brake-controller, I've wired up the list of things you describe. If someone wanted to pay me $1G for that work, then I'm for hire!]

LFaR.

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

If the sparky spent a day on my car I wouldn't expect to get change out of a gorilla. Approx 2 hours/job at $100/hr plus parts, it adds up. Sure the DIY could do it cheaper but they don't need to pay for a factory/staff/super/holidays/profit etc and warrant the work.

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

My personal opinion, all that is about a 3 to 4 hour job, @$100/hr = $300 to $400, plus the actual wires about $50 to $60, plus the solenoid system $250 maximum = total bill should have been in the $700 area. Did you get a quote from him in the first place.

[xlr8_87 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close xlr8_87]

Sounds like a Toyota Service!

They should have been able to do the UHF in half an hour (give them an hour max)
Brake controller - not sure on time, maybe 2 hours?
Dual battery 1 hour - all the work is in the engine bay, easy as pie
Anderson plug and merit plug no more than 2 hours

So at absolute most you'd be looking at 6 hours + parts

[Richoson Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Richoson]

I agree about the $700.00 mark but sometimes the brake controllers can be real pain and if not installed correctly won't work properly. ARB and TJM charge around $175.00 to fit a rear 12v outlet, it took me about 3 hours to fit my UHF and the rear outlet so probably at the top end but not way over the top
Richo


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[alternative Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alternative]

How long did they spend on your car ? With you supplying the brake controller and solenoid ?

It took me 4 days at about 6ish hours a day to wire the brake controller, dual battery + redarc, UHF, 2 sockets down at the rear, spotties and the onboard air. This included about 4-5 runs to supercheap for parts.

I dont reckon you are too far out on that price. I did mine myself because i hate paying anyone to do anything and i want to know exactly what way the systems are wired so i can quickly faultfind if a problem occurs. I spent a few hundred alone on cable, connectors and split sleeving.

[pete8205 Member Find all posts View Profile Close pete8205]

I agree sounds a bit rich my local auto electrician charged $250 to fit my brake controller, wire up my dual battery plus two 12volt sockets in rear, I supplied brake controller and battery solonoid.
I installed my own uhf took me 1 hr

i would ask him for a brake down of the bill as stated before the $700 mark probly fair not knowing the cost of materials used

[tassie tiger Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close tassie tiger]

Thats a fair bit of work and 'IF' they did it professionally and properly the cost may not be that bad.

When I run cable I pull out all the plastic mouldings and run it through the actual chassis rails. Connections are soldered and heat shrinked, double sheathed where needed etc etc.

The hours add up.

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

Maybe I work too quick, but it only took me about 15 mins to wire up my anderson plug, you only need to go from the battery, solder in a fuse holder, and run the wires under the vehicle along the chassis rails, and out the back or inside the back of the cargo area (might be an extra 10 mins), the UHF took me about 30 mins to do, and I would assume it would take about 1 hr to do the merit plug, the solenoid for the duel battery system would also take about 45 mins, all up thats only around 2.5 hrs. All connections are shrink wrapped and soldered too. Maybe I should hire myself out.

[alovaoz Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alovaoz]

cheers for the feed back .... mixed opinions i spose when i calculated being reasonably generous with hours spent + no battery setup in engine bay as i am providing batt pack with 120ah agm, they supplied the solenoid set only, so in my head i worked on solenoid = 250, cable = 100, 1 hr uhf = 100, brake controller - 1.5 hr = 150 and merit and anderson - 1hr =100 which total $700

so not being too tight id give em another hr on that is $800 but thats were id think it would have ended up , i understand about different quality in workmanship but not sure its $200 more imo and cause ive had other work done NO i didnt get a quote

[alternative Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alternative]

Maybe I work too quick, but it only took me about 15 mins to wire up my anderson plug, you only need to go from the battery, solder in a fuse holder, and run the wires under the vehicle along the chassis rails, and out the back or inside the back of the cargo area (might be an extra 10 mins), the UHF took me about 30 mins to do, and I would assume it would take about 1 hr to do the merit plug, the solenoid for the duel battery system would also take about 45 mins, all up thats only around 2.5 hrs. All connections are shrink wrapped and soldered too. Maybe I should hire myself out.

I wouldn't like to be a tradie round your house getting paid by the hour

It took me 2.5 hours to get the wires for the rear sockets and brake controller through the firewall and down the back of the car.

It really all boils down to the quality of the job.

[alovaoz Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alovaoz]

yeh well i understand this all adds up in the end i just thought the labour component was a bit much considering these guys are meant to be good auto elecs which i would think should be pretty time efficiant and there was only minimal parts actually supplied by them...

as they say labours the killer .... but in the end quality job i just get a bit heated about $$$$ spent

cheers

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

I wouldn't like to be a tradie round your house getting paid by the hour

It took me 2.5 hours to get the wires for the rear sockets and brake controller through the firewall and down the back of the car.

It really all boils down to the quality of the job.

Why so long to do the brake controller????
It doesnt really take any longer to do a quality job over a half assed one.

[alternative Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alternative]

The 2.5 hours was just the wires down the back !

Mount controller.
+/- from fuse board in the engine bay through firewall to the controller.
Find brake line at the brake pedal and tap into it, then route to controller.
Run a 4mm brake cable down the cable way at the door sill's.
REMOVE 3rd row seats and i was lucky enough to be able to push it over the wheel arch without taking the panel off.
Route from drivers side to passenger side where the towbar loom was, in the Jack compartment.

All cables covered in split sleeve the whole way, tied to existing looms, crimped/soldered and shrink, even shrink on the split sleeve.

As i said above, it took me a long time to wire this car but i did it 100%, im a sparky too (not auto)