[pont3]

Full disclosure, I am a diy non-certified parts changer myself. So I have some idea of the time involved in completing certain repairs. I am also aware that any shop lane or lift time is time that another customer's vehicle could have spent there.

Thing is, I had my 2004 GMC Envoy in the shop for a state/emissions inspection. It failed the safety because a tie rod was loose. The truck has 123k miles on it and runs and drives better than most new cars I've driven. But, okay, the tie rod needs replacement, so he quotes me a price of four hundred dollars to replace ONE tie rod and do the necessary alignment.

I am not in dire straits so the 400 dollars is not the big deal as this truck has seen less than 1k miles since its last inspection two years ago. It is hardly used, but it is in pristine condition with the 5.3 engine and the dealer only offerred me 2500 dollars on trade in, so I just kept it.

So my question is, how far out of line is this 400 dollar quote? Mind you, I have already ordered both tie rods for less than eighty bucks, and I will install them myself, and it will take me less than an hour to do them both.