‘I found them for $12 on Rock Auto’: Mechanic has to install this Jeep Wrangler part on a customer’s car. He can’t believe its price
Royalty Auto Service (@royaltyautoservice) isn't known to gatekeep information when it comes to the automotive repair industry. Heck, they even called out Snap On tools after Harbor Freight's Icon wrench set outperformed them. This is despite the fact Icon's offerings cost a fraction of the price of Snap On's offerings.
Now, the auto repair shop is back to calling out exorbitant prices—this time for a Jeep plenum gasket set. It's a component that costs $34.99 at Advance Auto Parts. Which is why he was stunned after seeing an invoice from Jeep. It indicated what the company charged per gasket—the Royalty team was stunned.
$160...for that?!
"All right over here on a day off," the person behind the camera says to kickstart the video. Royalty's owner, Sherwood Cooke Jr. smiles coyly in the camera, "Shouldn't be a day off."
@royaltyautoservice This was a shocker… #jeep #jeepwrangler #mechanic #automotive #cartok #parts #diy #viral #jeeplife #engine #automotive #stitch #fyp #foryou ♬ Pop beat BGM / long version(1283324) - nightbird_bgm
The TikToker recording the video agrees before affirming that everyone in the business was safe from the hurricane. Then, he gets down to brass tacks: The price of a part that was just delivered to the dealership.
"I saw the invoice lying here on the table and went into a little bit of a shock," another store employee says. Throughout the clip, Cooke seems engrossed with the bill of sale as he keeps staring at it. "I don't even have words right now," he says, his hand resting on his chin.
He continues, "I've been doing this a long time and I've seen a lot of crazy stuff." Cooke then holds up what appears to be a small ring-shaped item. Other rings can be seen in small, see-through plastic bags, resting on the table before him.
"But, in this case what do we got here?" the camera operator says off-screen. Cooke lightly squeezes the plastic piece in front of the camera.
Stunned at the price
Afterward, the mechanic places the component in the palm of his hand as he explains what the part is.
"That's an intake plenum gasket for a Jeep," he says. "This prompts a response from the camera man who asks, "Comment how much that should cost."
Cooke, seemingly livid says, "How much do you think, hold on now, not four of them." He begins gathering the other identical components and slides them off the counter. "Let me take these other three away. How much do you think that costs us?"
The mechanic warns that folks watching the video will have a hard time nailing the exact price. "Go ahead, tell 'em," the TikToker urges and Cooke smiles in disbelief. "One of those costs us $40.38. They list, if you go into the dealership and you go to buy one of these. And obviously...we have a wholesale account: $52.70."
Cooke talks more about the part, which appears as if it could be misconstrued as a misshapen zip tie. "This is a 2022 Jeep Wrangler...2-liter." After confirming the specs of the car, Cooke begins to stammer, still shocked by the cost. Immediately, the cameraman interjects and has the four rings placed in his hand, which he says cost $160. Oh, and that's "not including shipping."
Cooke takes the parts again in his hand. "$160...hold on, let's lay $160 out right there." He begins re-arranging the four identical car parts on the counter.
Price gouging?
As Cooke does this, the cameraman pipes in to state that he found the same OEM parts for a fraction of the cost online. "I think I looked online and you can get some for like $38 online or something like that," he says.
Cooke's interest was piqued. "Aftermarket ones or something?" but the man assures him they were original original manufacturer's parts. "Yeah, that's pretty crazy," he adds.
Two minutes into the video Cooke is still looking down at the paper, almost in awe of the item cost. Cooke seems at a loss for words when another employee of the shop chimes in with a quip. "Special rubber," he says sarcastically.
Cooke twirls one of the part pieces between his fingers. "I want to know if anybody knows what these things are. I want to know what kind of rubber that is, because..."
Skyrocketing auto parts prices
A Redditor who posted to the site's r/Edmonton sub remarked that two separate mechanics in their area were grimy. Needing a secondary air pump in their Volkswagen, they consulted with 2 different auto techs. Both wrote on their projected invoices that just the part costs $1,000.
Consequently, they took to the internet in an attempt to save some money on their car repair. Their plan was to purchase the necessary part online and then have a mechanic install it. As a result of their search, they realized just how severely companies were screwing over their clients.
They wrote, "I decided to see if I could order the part online. And sure enough I was able to find the correct part with my VIN number priced at only 358 dollars with shipping. These companies are charging almost a 70 percent mark up on the part alone."
A PBS piece writes that the overall cost of automotive parts has swelled in recent years. In the article, they consult several automotive industry experts about the jump in parts expenditures. According to someone from Reagen's Service Inc., a Massachusetts-based auto chain, the numbers were staggering. "Batteries, car batteries skyrocketed. They have probably gone up 15, 20 percent for a car battery," they said.
Another rep from the company said that even car tires have shot up in price. They noted that the same model wheel from just a year prior cost $20 or $30 less. Shannon Martin from Bankrate in the same discussion remarked that automotive labor costs are turgid as well: "The cost of labor surrounding vehicle repairs is increasing and still about 20 percent higher now than it was before the pandemic."
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jeep and Royalty Auto Service via email for further comment.
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