Is my repair estimate a rip-off?
Technicians often give massive estimates, like 18 hours of labor for a gasket or $1,000 to replace a corroded cover plate, because dealing with severe corrosion carries a high risk of the repair failing. This worst-case pricing leaves owners of perfectly functioning equipment unable to determine if the expensive work is actually necessary or just an inflated quote.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
Is my repair estimate a rip-off?
- 1Searching online for standard labor times for the specific repairDid this help you?
- 2Getting a second opinion from another shopDid this help you?
- 3Double-checking the exact part being diagnosedDid this help you?
- 4Asking for a second opinion on forums before committing to a costly repair.Did this help you?
- 5Waiting to replace the whole unit instead of paying for a patchwork fix.Did this help you?
- 6Cleaning the mating surface with a grinder and wire wheel and installing a new thick gasket.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Whenever I’ve dealt with repairs that were that corroded, they usually didn’t end successfully so I always like to set the expectation that it may not work out.”source ↗
“I have a Peerless oil burner Model EC-03-100S with some corrosion around a cover plate on the front of the unit.”source ↗
“I pointed out this issue to the maintenance guy last time he was here 6 months ago and he said it wasn't a big deal but that if I wanted it fixed/replaced it would cost somewhere between $800 and $1000.”source ↗
“The boiler is running fine and there are no immediate issues but I'm assuming that that corrosion can't be OK and probably should be taken care of.”source ↗