I suspect I am paying a gringo tax but am not sure as the mechanic was recommended by someone I trust. The truck needs a new kit de embrague and cremallara. I bought the Toyota Hilux 4X4, 2018 with only 35000 kilometres at a discount at the Macal truck auction and discovered even though it had low mileage, the whole underbody was damaged by corrosion and desert sand because it had been used in the mines up north. The mechanic tells me he can find both parts used but in excellent condition. The kit de embrague would be 450,000 and installation 400,000??? and the cremallara would be 200,000 and installation 200,000??? Do they just charge the same price of the part for their labor? Am I paying a gringo tax?
I asked my SIL who told me that Mechanics charge parts and labour separately these days. He also thought you were getting overcharged. And a second-hand clutch kit sounds a bit suspicious to me. MercadoLibre can maybe give an idea how much they cost.
My SIL had also bought one of those mining trucks, which quickly started falling to bits. It was a Chevy Luv though, so you may have better luck with the Toyota
They are thrashed in the field, and rather than trying to maintain them, the mines sell them off after 2-3 years.
thanks feargle. I did search and could not find one for a Hylix 4X4, diesel 2018 for less. Also this was the second mecanico who told me the kit de embrague needed replacement and mentioned a similar price for the part. Just wondering why the install is almost the same price as the part.
Kind of late to this thread, but did you every think about trying to import the parts in yourself via a FF?
I remember a few years back (early 2017) when one of the front wheel hub assemblies on my Suburban went bad and I had a friend of mine send it to me. I got a Timken brand and the price was $120.00 from the US. While the price here was like triple! Timken is a company that makes bearings and such things in the US.
Hey with free shipping by amazon someone might have been selling a clutch for your vehicle that had free shipping. Probably not. But you never know.
For future reference:
I’ve had electric vehicles for 1.5 years now and paid a total of 5000 in maintenance and servicing. It was for a punctured tyre.
The service charge from Hyundai (Gildemeister) I’ll have to pay soon is half that of an equivalent petrol car.
The evidence from studies is now conclusive that electric vehicles have less maintenance and service cost (seems to be about half as much).
The logic is pretty simple. There are less parts in EVs. For example, no clutch.
It is also now conclusive that you no more half to worry about replacing the battery than you do about replacing the entire engine of a petrol car, so this does not affect the calculations.
What some people also miss here is that you not only save 50% of the cost with EVs, you also save 50% of the hassle, stress and value of your time trying to find a mechanic, negotiating, getting a second quote, being without the car for a while etc.
thank you bytesurfer, will definitely think of that next time. Thanks