And did they hand you your old valves? I hope they did. If so, make sure they actually fit your engine. Why am I being so harsh? I dont know. I just see that $$$$ figure attached to an LS650 repair bill & figure its a rip.

This guy did not replace your valves, they are not on the parts list.

What he replaced are all the wear parts of the valve actuation train.

If he is honest, he will give you back the spauled cam and rocker tappets which are due to lack of ZDP in modern oils (or a case of low oil or low idle speed for a lot of miles).

He tore your engine down, replaced all worn parts and honed your cylinder and put you in a new set of rings.  Pretty much a complete motor rebuild.  He owes you the rest of the gasket set that he did not use (you want them, you paid for them).

He didn't do all that work "at risk" -- he talked to you at some point in time to get a "proceed with repair" authorization.  They do that you know, for lawsuit reasons.

There is no CAM CHAIN on the list you provided -- at the wear level indicated by the other repair parts that should have been on the list.

If he didn't contact you to get a proceed with repairs authorization, get a lawyer.  If he won't give your parts back, have the lawyer ask him.

I agree: IF he did all he claims, you got a "top end overhaul," not a "valve job." And if your engine gushed that much oil that quick, it likely did have a major gasket failure. And if the performance went down the tubes after the oil gush, the head gasket is the likely culprit.

Personally, I'm not sure you got reamed so bad... IF the work was done right, and the engine holds up for a couple of years or 10k miles.

However, the other folks here are correct about the business practices: He should have gotten a final "OK" before starting in on an overhaul. He should have returned all the old replaced parts.

And knowing the Savage as we do here, unless you've had the timing chain replaced in the last few thousand miles; he should have done it, or at least reported its condition, while he had the engine torn down.

But... he was probably already nervous about the size of bill that was racking up against you (your bike) already. He could have ended up owning a bike he didn't want if the bill was so high you couldn't or wouldn't pay it!

It would be a good thing, and much appreciated, if you told us here who the mechanic was, as long as you have told the story completely and fairly. (And it sounds like you are being fair and not vengeful.)

----------------------------------------------------

Need to amend this post: As someone else mentioned: The "shop rate" $$$/hour vary greatly. If you dropped you bike of at a Mr. Super Tuner race bike shop that charges $120 an hour, that is your mistake. There is likely a regular independent shop around that charges $65-$80 an hour and does decent work.

And also, unless it sounds like I'm altogether taking the side of all shops (which I wouldn't do, because there are plenty of bad rip-off artists out there). One major point is how high is their parts markup? Did they charge you $185 for a gasket set that cost them $95? Some shops do that. Like a 100% markup. IMO, they are due some markup for the trouble of ordering the parts etc... but the ones that double the money ARE rip-offs, and need to be put out of business by word of mouth.

So... Are you prepared to let us know what he charged you for parts item by item? That would go a long way towards knowing how bad. or IF, you were really hosed badly.

To be pedantic about markup, there is no such thing as "100% markup" unless the original cost was zero. Markup is defined as a certain percentage of the sell price, not the cost price. So, as an example, if the dealer paid $90 for your part, and sold it to you for $180, he sold it at a 50% markup. This is standard practice throughout the retail industry.

Charon wrote on 12/27/08 at 18:07:09:



Wrong! If the dealer paid $90 for the part and sold it for $180, there was a 100% markup.
A markup is what percentage of the cost price do you add on to get the selling price.
If he added  another $90 well that is 100%

With that being said, lets talk Profit Margins of the total 180 dollar sale, he made a 50% profit margin on the total sale, seeing he already spent $90 to stock the item.

Gross Profit
------divided by)----------
Total Revenue


So here we go........

$90 profit
----------(divided by)----------
$180 Total revenue
==============  
    0.5 or 50% profit margin
                       

Charon wrote on 12/27/08 at 18:07:09:



As a former warehouse manager, buyer I referred to a 100% markup as a 50% profit margin. Yes, you can markup 100%. If I buy for a dollar & sell for 2 the markup is 100 %, profit margin is 50%.

I stand corrected. However, I point out that there is more than one way to figure markup. That was the way I was taught.

I have learned from every post Charon has posted I think. That he wasnt dead on on one some meaningless detail is no big deal as far as Im concerned, BUT, I gotta admit, it was fun to finally have the inside track on that guy, even if it is so short lived.