Pittsburgh people HELP!

[FrankA6]

What vw/audi independent shops do you guys go to around the Pittsburgh area, south hills audi just charged me like $2800 to do an alternator and 75K service for my 04 A6 , so if you could please recommend a shop that would be great, Thanks guys.

[blacka4]

holy shit....thats a lot of money but for the dealer I'm not surprised at all. There are a few, one in Moon twp on stoops ferry rd that some of the guys seem to like I can't remember the name of the place though

[lookaught]

wow thats a lot of money, how much did the actual alternator cost? I know some Bosch ones can be close to $1,000. I changed one in a passat v6 last weekend in about three hours, and that involved taking the entire front end of the car off to get at it... and Im just a hack mechanic!

The shops I use are in the north of pittsburgh, not much help to you unfortunately. Im sure you won't be taking it to the stealership again.

Rohrich VW tried to charge me an HOUR of labor to replace a broken side indicator (the blinker on the fender) on an 02 Passat. My jaw nearly hit the floor when the guy explained the logic, which was basically that there could be unforseen problems and this and that, so its just an estimate... yeah right. Im positive that the full hour of "work" would have been on the bill if I had let them do it. I went to the parts department when I picked it up, bought the part for $22.50 and installed it in the near total darkness in 10 degree weather in under 30 seconds... $80 saved. The sad thing is most people just agree to whatever the quote is, b/c the tech managers are full of shit and the average person doesnt know enough about cars to do anything. Its really disturbing to sit at any dealer and listen to them call clients to give quotes to fix things, its just sooooooo expensive!

That was the last time I ask a dealer to do an inspection. It was my own fault though, I have no idea why I didnt realize that I needed to replace that part.

[FrankA6]

Well we have other audis and porsche, so i know alot about cars, i do know that the garage is full of shit, and i could do the work my self, but im really going to be bussy all month, so i had no choice, but if i could find an indy shop in pittsburgh or anywhere, that would be good.

Oh and i know what you mean, i was siting there, and they told a guy with an A6 with 16" wheels, its going to cost him $440 a wheel to replace them, rofl, what a joke.