Land Rover Repair: 99 disco 2 repair costs, land rover discovery 2, land rover discovery

Question
Recently paid $525 labor and $225 parts to replace serpentine belt, spark plugs and ignition wires on 99 Land Rover Discovery 2.  Check engine light was on and several codes were pulled that indicated needed repairs.  Work performed at local garage that I have used before and generally felt were honest and well priced, but this seems a little high, especially the labor.  Researched on your site that belt change takes 45 min. or so and the wire work about 3 hrs.  8hrs labor seems excessive.  Should I complain or is that about the ballpark cost?

Answer

Land Rovers at Robison I never get in the middle of disputes like this.  You say they spent 8 hours.  That seems like a lot to a belt, plug wires, and plugs, but were there complications?  Was there something you're not telling me?  Or did the shop spend a whole day learning how to do a job a LR expert could have done faster?

How can I know?

The one thing I know is this . . . you should find a shop that is truly qualified to do work like this.  And I don't mean Joes Garage who fixes the family Toyota.  I mean someone who really knows Rovers.  Then, you will not have these questions because issues of basic competence will not come up and they will be able to explain any other questions.