Shafted

[Simple6]

Hi Guys,

Just want to know from anyone on here who has their ball joints replaced in a Falcon from EA-onwards.

Basically I called around and got some quotes for getting the upper and lower ball joints replaced in my EL for both sides. Midas quoted $431, JAX quoted $440 & Pedders $690 - all included a wheel alignment.

Now I'd previously had not such a great experience at Midas before so I went with JAX because they said they use Pedders parts anyway. Now I've just picked up the car, driven home and jumped underneath the check it all out and have found only the LHS was done? I called JAX and told them they quoted me for both sides and the Assistant Manager said absolutely no way for that price to which I pointed out that I never even specified a side of the car to do? He said I did when I booked it in because he wrote it down. Right, OK.

I then contact 2 other JAX dealers (still local to me) and the first quoted $450-$500 & the second $350 + parts. So surely it's plausible that I truly was quoted for both sides originally as I'd asked?

So basically - are we in the right ball park for upper and lower ball joints in a EL Falcon?

The franchisee said customer experience is number 1 to him and he'll get back to me today or Monday. So I'm not trying to bash JAX because the franchisee may come back to me and solve it fine - I'll be sure to update.

(BTW this isn't the first issue with these guys - they also called me while doing the ball joints to say my brake pads were gone and offered me replacements for $140, I then asked what pads he was giving me and he said Bendix Ultimate. At time of payment it increased to $180 and the Assistant Manager argued that they were below cost at $140 and that the mechanic said I asked for Ultimates specifically. That has been sorted though, I just need to go in to get the $40 extra back - but far out, what a disastrous experience so far!)

[eyes87]

Sounds like a hell of a lot of money for one side to me.
I've never been quoted to do the job though. I did the ones in my BA at home. Took a couple of hours to do upper and lower on both sides and replace the hubs as well. Would hope that a professional would be able to knock it over quicker than that.
Not sure how they differ to a BA though.

[Simple6]

Ah I think the only difference with B series (and probably A series) is that I believe the ball joints are in the arms not the upright in the e-series. Still requires you to pull parts of the suspension out and press new ones in though.

One of those things I wish I could have done at home but didn't want to get stuck if they wouldn't come out with brute force because I don't have a press.

Thanks for the reply though.

[eyes87]

I bought one designed for ball joints off eBay. Cost about $40 I think.

[GREGL]

Barstards, getting very hard to get a simple thing done these days without some drama. Can you get a written qoute from either of the other 2 outlets? Sounds like a rip off to me, why would anyone bother only replacing one side unless it was damaged in a bingle and the other side was fine.
I have heard of this caper before ( over the phone qouted price but not stipulating that is only per side ) until you go to pay the bill. In the other case they did both and charged double what was expected. (not jax)
Agree that not all franchisees are the same but it in the end they all get tarred with the same brush because a minority have questionable sales tactics. Good luck sorting it.

[Bossxr8]

I had both sides done in my NL recently for less than $350. Admittedly I bought genuine ball joints at employee prices but even without that it would have been less than $450.

[XR Martin]

If you can pull the spindles yourself and take a set of new ball joints to a mechanic, it should only be about an hours labour at worst.