Hitch and suspect labor $$$$

[El Conquistador]

I need someone to impart their great wisdom. I have read a couple of threads concerning this subject matter but none with specific dollar values.

My local BMW dealership qouted the following:

1. BMW Factory Class III Hitch: $495.00
2. Labor to install: $1,100

The labor alone is both shocking and suspect. Does anyone have any recommendations. I'm not very mechanically inclined and desire to have it professionally installed with required programming.

Thanks in advance for your assitance on this matter.

W/R
Jonathan

[JCL]

Parts price is fine. Labour price is high, but it may require recoding. I would ask an independent shop for a price to install the hitch, and ask the dealer how much to recode the vehicle if it turns out to be required. Then you will have a baseline for comparison.

[El Conquistador]

Thanks JCL,

Appreciate the rapid fire feedback. I'm currently awaiting a response from Autoworks for my baseline comparison.

I'll check with BMW for recoding fee.

[ard]

"recoding fee"?!?!?!

It is 10 minutes with a GT1 computer. Figuyre the dealer will want 30 minutes time, maybe an hour.

This is a 2 hour total install for a BMW mechanic... so 250-300 total labor to install a hitch.

My opinion.

OP- are you asking the sales side or service? Salesman just Fing lie and make up whatever they think they can bend you over for.

If you act like a 'helpless retail customer' they will sense weakness. If you call up a service advisor, say "I can get a hitch for $X, and the book time is Y hours to install. If you guys can do it for that I'll make an appt. No "do you program or code it too"... OF COURSE they will, and if they don't you can make them do it! They are a BMW dealer, they are required to do the whole job. If they say "takes 3 hours" and you say "what about the coding?", they'll say "Oh, right, then the coding would make it 4 hours".

The point is to let them know your knowledge of what it should cost, and make it clear you have other options, BEFORE they give you a number. Now that they've said $1100, how can you get them down to 2 hours?

The best prices have been from folks that ordered it with their PCD delivery. Do a search, you will find many baselines.

A

[El Conquistador]

Ard,

Appreciate your open & frank dialouge with detailed input. The qoute is based on the below hyperlink. I have ordered the part only thus far and I'm still trying to exercise the power of negotiation.

BMW Accessories - 2006 X5 4.4i SAV:Trailer Hitch Kit

We're getting a discount now and the hitch will be $399 vice $495, I shall attack the installation fee again...after I receive a couple of more qoutes.

[ard]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

Ard,

Appreciate your open & frank dialouge with detailed input. The qoute is based on the below hyperlink. I have ordered the part only thus far and I'm still trying to exercise the power of negotiation.

BMW Accessories - 2006 X5 4.4i SAV:Trailer Hitch Kit

We're getting a discount now and the hitch will be $399 vice $495, I shall attack the installation fee again...after I receive a couple of more qoutes.

Frank? Me?

Years ago I found out that Acura set MSRP for accessories on the new (at that time) MDX... and the dealers went nuts. They pressed Acura to take down the "MSRPs"- within a few days Acura pulled the pricing from the website.... then a few dealers colluded to set the prices at 2x more. So it is a real dirty sales process, unrelated to the underlying time/labor.

Good luck- You've got a good sampling of the going prices...

Do you have a Service Adviser (SA) at your local dealer yet? I Over the years I've worked with 4-5 before settling in with one I can trust... I just changed dealerships to 'follow' one SA- it makes a HUGE difference. My cars only go in for free stuff, but still.

It might be worth starting the process and having a heart to heart with one who is locally recommended- THEY control HOW the dealership 'treats' you.

Interestingly, EVERY task you can think of on a BMW has a published 'book time'. It appears that the pricing for accessory install is immune to this reality.... (anyone know different?)

GL

A

[rufusdedog]

Bought and had it installed at the dealer for $850 parts & labor.

[MarkInOhio]

I just got quotes from two local dealers. One was $850, the other $1040. Both included all parts, labor, and "coding".

Since I'm ordering new, I'm going with PCD and probably getting the hitch done there. I don't have a firm price on that yet, but it looks to be no more than $650. If you already have the vehicle, that's obviously not possible...

[El Conquistador]

Thanks Mark,

$850 sounds great, enjoy your new vehicle! Next vehicle will definitely be via PCD.

[El Conquistador]

Thanks Rufus,

I have two labs, nice profile pic.