Monro Muffler Brake & Service #339 $450-$800 Catalytic Converter Wilmington, Ohio

to those who dont know the catalytic converters cost wholesale about 50 bucks or less depending on how many the company buys or how much of a jerk the guy is and distributers refuse to give him a good deal. any common misconception is that cats are worth alot of money in fact they are if the cat is used and the palladum has changed to platinum. so a new cat is cheap an old cat is worth more. i have in the past taken cats off my friends cars and took them to be recycled and paid for a new muffler and cat with the profit little welding little cutting and done for free or made money depending on the cat. so the guy who did the cat for this gentleman made 100 to remove and install and its a gm cat  and if he knew the right person he got 80 to 100 for it so really who won dont comment if you dont know......

I am truly sorry to here about your bad experiences with Monro.  I am the Store manager at Monro's Bath, NY store.  I am not your typical Monro manager.  I personally will quote only reasonably priced repairs.  Also before any and I mean any repairs are made I take the customer out to the shop and show them exactly what is wrong with their vehicle.  The managers in the past who have ran my store were guilty of over charging and doing poor work.  Since I have been in this store I have done nothing but try and make things right for my customers.  I came from a small independent garage in a small country town.  So I know what fair pricing and customer service is all about.  I don't like some of the pricing either so I will adjust it accordingly to make it reasonable for my customers to maintain their vehicles.  I may work for Monro... but I represent myself and not the name Monro.  I have a very good reputation  for taking care of customers and doing quality affordable work!  I plan on keeping it this way!  I feel that the managers who ripped off their customers should have been fired on the spot.  They are spineless worthless human beings.  All I ask is that please don't associate all the Monro's as rip off artists.  There are a few of us that are decent out here!  

Robert is correct. 100%. it cost alot to run a shop. and when you walk in and tell the manager he's ripping you off you insult his integrity so why is he gonna help you out and give you a better deal. monro will warranty that converter for 5 years or lifetime. that's the warranty most corporate shops offer. the other shop probably gave you a 90 day warranty if that. and yeah the other shop is gonna do it cheaper. they want you to bring them business back then they'll charge you more money when you return.

 also about the other rebuttals made. people don't pay attention to or understand what is being said to them. is the work required, suggested, or recommended. most people assume it all means "YOU NEED THIS WORK DONE NOW". it doesn't. and there are thing called "factory mantainance intervals". which are suggested "BY THE FACTORY". most serpentine belts are suggested to be replaced at 30,000 miles on most cars reguardless of condition to prevent other problems. waterpumps with the timing belts are suggested at 60,000 miles on most cars to prevent problems like destroying your engine reguardless of it's condition. businesses are there to make money plain and simple. not to do it for free. in the end you get what you pay for.

I went to monro to have my battery replaced under warrenty b/c it died. After they were done they said I need a new water pump and a serptine belt. tried to pressure me into getting it done. went and got a second oppinon at tires plus which looked at what was supposedly wrong and they said they didn't see anything wrong with those parts.

sometimes people do not know there cars are broke(depending on the nature of the problem)---you talked about front end work and your car drove fine--here is an example--there was a lady with a 99 nissan sentra--at slow speeds when i hit the brake i felt a jerk in the wheel--when i had the car in the air(it was just an oil change) i checked out the control arm bushing--it was broke--i checked the other for comparison and nothing like the broken one---in any case--i told her about it and i know she thought i was tryin to rip her off cause to her-there was nothing wrong with the car and it drove fine--she just didn't notice this issue or just didn't know that was not normal--so i showed her how to produce this problem and she still thought it was normal---the point---yes-the car drove fine--it didn't cause the brakes to not stop the car or anything crazy--but regardless--the issue was still there and it was broke so i "recommended" it--of course she didn't cause she still thought i was tryin to screw her--the moral of the story---if you have doubts about what they say--ask to see the issue---there may be some people that recommend parts that are NOT broke hence selling you things you don't truly need--but these people either just buy the part thinking the mechanic is the expert and i don't know--or if they don't they assume they are getting jipped--again--there is nothing wrong with asking to look at the part in question

they don't just mark up prices, but will attempt to fix things that are not broken. a fews years back i took a vehicle to a local monroe shop to have exhaust work done, and they attempted to rope me into front end work that did not need done, and never had to be done the rest of the time i owned the car, which was another two years.

car ran fine without the extra work they claimed i needed, and continued running fine for another couple of years to the person i sold it to. i too learned a lesson to stay away.

If the mechanic you went to is only charging you $20-$25 an hour labor and almost no markup on the parts, you seem to be asking for trouble.  Which at least should cause you to investigate this person a bit more.  Is he is fully insured, bonded(if required), a licenced and LEGAL shop?  As all of those "costs" add up and even at $25 an hour I doubt he would be able to cover those costs.  Especially if he is paying a mechanic anything more than minimum wage.

Now, if he is totally legal and fully covered only charging these rates, and able to stay in business.  Then OH must have a bigger difference in cost of living than I thought.  As around here even small independent shops are going to charge you around $70 an hour for labor.

So if all is good and you trust him then yes continue to go him and just hope that he does not go out of business.

The point is, I didn't go to a dealer knowing full well I would pay "high-end". I understand original manufacture parts are more expensive, and I understand there is a lot more overhead (bells and whistles with the facilities, etc), than an independent shop. That's why our great U.S. Senate has introduced the "Right to Repair" bill to give consumers more choice about where and when they have their vehicles serviced.

Sure the Autoparts store would sell you a converter for $225.  Are they going to install it for you?  What if it is bad are they going to pay the labor to have it removed and a new one put in?

Labor, and $80 an hour is on the lower side, covers the mechanic and costs involved with them only.  It does not cover the rest of the shop costs, that is where the markup on the parts come in.  Don't like the markup then find somewhere else, as you did.  But if you think they were bad perhaps you should look at what the actual dealer would charge you.

Now, you found another mechanic to do the job for you for $300 less, $300 less than what the $450 or the $800.  If it was from the $450 that means you payed about $150.  For a part that you say the cheapest you found was $115, they would have had to have gotten you that price and paid about $35 in labor.  If they did a good job on it..great for you.  But if there is a problem just hope that they have not closed up shop and moved on.  If it was from the $800 you paid about $500 which is still $50 more than the price they quoted you.

I won't say that what he did was right by chasing you down the parking lot.  But from what you wrote here it seems as if there might have been a bit of fault on both sides.