Loose Battery Cable costs 429!?!?!?!

[cawllins]

Hey Everyone listen to this and tell me if it sounds right.

I drove my eldorado to the bank yesterday and hit a pretty bad bump right before I parked it. I went into the bank and when I came out my car wouldn't start. The lights came on and everything seemed to work but nothing when I turned the key. Had it towed to the nearest dealership and they called me this morning and told me what the problem was. They said that it was a loose battery cable. I said oh thats great. She then said that will be 429 dollars. I thought she was joking. She said that a lot of labor is envolved. I have never heard of anything as crazy as that in my life. I just wondered if this has happened to anyone else. I told them not to fix it and I took it to my local mechanic. He said he's seen this on 3 other caddys but the warrenty covered them. If anyone has ever heard of this please let me know.

[STS]

+ cable is a common problem, labor rae on it is 3.5 hours. the part is a little over 100 i think. so i guess with tax that's about right.

[growe3]

Originally Posted by cawllins

Hey Everyone listen to this and tell me if it sounds right.

I drove my eldorado to the bank yesterday and hit a pretty bad bump right before I parked it. I went into the bank and when I came out my car wouldn't start. The lights came on and everything seemed to work but nothing when I turned the key. Had it towed to the nearest dealership and they called me this morning and told me what the problem was. They said that it was a loose battery cable. I said oh thats great. She then said that will be 429 dollars. I thought she was joking. She said that a lot of labor is envolved. I have never heard of anything as crazy as that in my life. I just wondered if this has happened to anyone else. I told them not to fix it and I took it to my local mechanic. He said he's seen this on 3 other caddys but the warrenty covered them. If anyone has ever heard of this please let me know.

You don't mention what kind of car, engine or year, so it is hard to provide a good answer.

In any case it sounds like a ridiculous price for a loose cable repair.

-George

[STS 310]

Had a guy tell me the same thing. Seems cable is expensive and labor was too. I fixed mine, made a new connector to the batery out of copper pipe, a drill, and new post. My cable wasnt bad cept for the connector. It was all corroded from a leaky AC Delco battery. Which by the way suck.

[cawllins]

It's on a 98 eldorado etc. I guess they have to replace the entire wire. It just seems ridiculous to me. They told me that the wire cost 116 dollars. They also said that there was "a lot" of labor involved. Let me know if you've ever heard of such a thing.

[growe3]

List for the positive cable is $116, http://www.partszoneonline.com/index.php has it for $80.

You would need to raise the intake manifold, to get at the end that attaches to the starter motor. My guess would be one hour labor to R&R the cable.

-George

[BoostMasterK]

I had the same problem with my 93 STS. Same ridiculous price. Had to pay it though, because I was in a tight spot.

Mike

[lac on 100 spokes]

you should just go to an electrical supply store get some good 2 guage or 1/0 g cable, some terminals and run your own. the wire that they have in there is probably no bigger than 6 guage if your lucky. it would cost you probably no more than $40 for all the stuff you need to rewire all your power connections. the wire is like $1.25 a foot for 1/0. hope this help you, good luck.

[cawllins]

Hey Thanks alot guys. I went to my local mechanic and he said that it didn't need a new wire. He cleaned it up and put a new terminal on it for 37 dollars. I'm very happy. thanks for your input.

[airbalancer]

You should go back to the dealer and talk owner about his service department.

[STS 310]

Glad it worked out for you. Service Departments really piss me off sometimes.