I own a 1999 Ford Ranger pick-up, and it has a bad head gasket. It doesn't seem to burn any oil, but I do lose coolant, and my spark plugs foul. Looking back at receipts, I see that I change my spark plugs about every three months. I should get the vehicle fixed properly, but spark plugs are relatively inexpensive, and I seem to have no other problems with it.

 

Sometimes I change my own spark plugs. When I change them it is generally on a Saturday morning, after the first cup of coffee, and I am seldom in a hurry. I average one hour, which works out to 10 minutes per spark plug. I have done it faster: this last change, I had errands that needed to be run, so I managed the whole job in 40 minutes, or almost 7 minutes per spark plug.

 

If the vehicle is in the shop for some other service, I just get the shop to change the plugs. As you can see from the receipt below, Madison Auto Center charged $25 labor to change six spark plugs in May of 2009. This works out to between 4 and 5 minutes per plug.

 

                                                               

 

Three and one-half months later, the pick-up was in TK's Tire and Auto Service for battery cable ends, or clamps. I asked them to change the plugs while the vehicle was in the shop. I didn't ask them what they would charge. That was a very foolish mistake. Here is the invoice:

 

 

 

                                               

 

Yes, you see that correctly. The labor charge to spin out six spark plugs and spin in six new ones was $97.50. I was charged 1 1/2 hours of shop time, or 15 minutes per spark plug, for this simple task.

 

A little more than three months later, I had the engine tuned up. The receipt, from yet a third garage, is here:

 

 

 

                                              

 

I have no way of knowing for sure which part of the $105 labor covered the changing of the spark plugs. I do know that this is only $7.50 more than TK's charged me just to change plugs, and for this I received a tune-up, including new plug wires and filters. It seems safe to assume that the labor for just changing out spark plugs is probably no more than $35, given the total labor bill. (If you are inclined to disagree, note that the charge for the oil and filter change from this third garage is within $5 of the charge for the same procedure from the first garage. The two must be comparable in pricing.)

 

The outlying data point here is TK's charge. It is approximately 4 times the charge from the first garage, and at least 3 times the charge of the third garage. Naturally, I questioned this. Unfortunately, the fellow who waited on me was the mechanic who did the work, not the owner. I asked him if he was serious in that it took him 50 to 100% longer to change the plugs than it takes me, an untrained and not very competent mechanic. He just smiled and said, "That's what the book says."

 

Ah, the book. They have a pricing guide, and for some reason this pricing guide tells them that it should take a highly trained, competent mechanic 15 minutes to change out one spark plug in a 1999 Ford Ranger. They go by the book. Actual time on task does not count. Fortunately, I do not follow the book when I do the same job in 7 to 10 minutes.

 

Well, live and learn. This by itself would not earn TK's Tire and Auto Service a spot in this hall of shame. It would just earn them a spot in the garage rip-off hall of fame. No, what earned them this spot on the website was their response to my letter.

 

I wrote a letter to the garage, expressing my surprise at such a labor charge, and asking that they consider what this charge implied about the competence of their mechanic. Of course, I had already paid for the repair, so they had their money and I seriously doubted that they would give any back. But I did expect some sort of reply, perhaps explaining why they use such an expensive pricing guide, perhaps commiserating with me about the high price of everything. (I did include in my letter a copy of the first receipt given above, so that they wouldn't respond by telling me that every garage charges that ridiculous amount.)

 

I never heard back from them.

 

That's the kind of customer service that earns a spot on this page.