quick strut vs sensa-trac and shady mechanics

[Potatoswatter]

3 years ago I got my front struts replaced. They charged me [s]$160[/s] $320 parts for 2 Monroe Quick Struts. Just the other day I finally noticed that the logo says Sensa-Trac.

So… that's outright fraud.

I don't really feel like riding around on $50 bargain struts. (And I do occasionally abuse them. They're higher than OEM, which I like.) What should I do?

There's the business aspect: it's been 3 years. But they clearly billed me fraudulently and lied to my face. My roommate/landlord swears by this garage, but maybe feels they've been ripping him off lately. This is some egregious shit.

And there's the technical aspect: I didn't know squat about mechanics or cars 3 years ago, and don't know much about struts now. But they don't seem like the kind of people I want picking my parts. What is a good brand to get?

[JoshM]

3 years ago I got my front struts replaced. They charged me $160 parts for 2 Monroe Quick Struts. Just the other day I finally noticed that the logo says Sensa-Trac.

No use in fighting it. If it comes to a legal issue, they'll simply say that they put Monroe struts on your car 3 years ago and that you must have changed them sometime between then and now.

What is a good brand to get?

Koni.

[Potatoswatter]

Hmmm… maybe I spoke too soon. According to the Rock Auto catalog, a Quick Strut is just a kit containing a Sensa-Trac strut with a compressed spring in the box. I can't find anything else to back that up.

A little odd this garage would be using a Quick Strut since they are suspension specialists, and according to Monroe it's "perfect for DIY."

I guess it allows them to save on their labor costs, and double-charge for the saved labor as extra parts expense. Or else they bought the Sensa-Trac and did the labor to effectively make a Quick-Strut, and changed me for the more expensive DIY kit plus the labor they did do. Bah.

Anyway… avoid Beaumont Alignment Plus in Champaign, IL.

[YK86]

Quick struts are Sensa-tracs with springs, top hat, etc all included. Saves on the hassles of swapping over the old stuff. There is nothing wrong with Sensatracs. If the ride is fine, I'd just stick with it. If I recall, Sensa-tracs used to come with a lifetime warranty, so if anything is wrong, try looking into seeing if the warranty would cover it.

[deevergote]

Shops charge by the hour... but usually not by actual hours worked. The computer says a suspension job will take, say, 2 hours... so they charge for 2 hours. I could install quick struts in a car by myself, with a jack and hand tools, in about 45 minutes. Put that in a shop with a lift, air tools, and an experienced mechanic... and it'll take a half hour or less. 2 hours of labor billed, 30 minutes worked. Imagine if that mechanic did 4 cars in 2 hours... that's 8 hours of labor!


Anyway, Monroe is absolute garbage. Probably the worst thing on the market. They ARE budget struts. Basically, their "sens a trac" "technology" is an intentional internal fluid leak. They suck.


Get yourself some Konis. STR.T is their low end, and they're very affordable... about as affordable as anything else, but much better than any of the competition. Koni Yellows (Koni Sport) are fantastic, but pricey. Don't bother with the Reds.

[red07frontier]

9 times out of 10, the quick strut is the same cost as buying a strut and a bearing plate. For the shop not for you. Monroe also makes the quick strut and it uses a sensa track strut. Sounds like you paid for exactly what you got. Why are you unhappy? You paid for 2 quick struts right? So what did they do wrong.

[deevergote]

If you read beyond the first post, you'll see that he realized this later on.

Of course, if only the strut needed replacing, why did he have to pay for a new spring, new tophat, etc...? All that can be reused, and the sens-a-tracs sell for $50 or less each otherwise.

Looks to me like the shop charged him full labor hours, plus the cost of a much more expensive assembly so they could save time (thus not actually taking the entire time that they invoiced for.) I know it's common practice in shops... but I don't like it myself.

[red07frontier]

Well yes that is what they did. First no shop is going to install 1 strut, that's careless and dangerous. Second unless it is a performance shop or you specifically ask for a performance shock like koni or tokicos, then your going to get a "house" brand i.e. Monroe or Gabriel. Now I am just guessing here but maybe his bearing plates where worn out? If so then it is the same cost for the shop and you get new springs as well. As for labor that's just how it is. It really is how a tech makes a living. It's called flat rate and you have to be fast no matter what. Start to finish it takes me about 30 minutes to change out 2 struts. Doesn't mean your gonna pay that in labor though, you pay book time.
I just don't like the op bashing the shop for doing what they said they would do.

[wed3k]

a good stock replacement is kyb gr2/excel. use them on all my parent's lexi.

[Potatoswatter]

Red… a Quick Strut (currently) costs $100 or less online and significantly cuts the time needed to install.

They charged me $160 each and billed for over 2 hours of labor.

The final cost of the job was $540. That is not cool.

[JoshM]

The final cost of the job was $540. That is not cool.

Nope, not very cool. Because you could have been rolling around on Koni Yellows for that price.

[wed3k]

lol @ people bringing thier cars to a shop.

[Potatoswatter]

Well, what's a first-year owner with no gearheads in the family to do? They fleeced me because I was obviously ignorant.

Garage mechanics of a different variety got me started on understanding stuff. There are very good guys out there too.

[F22HB]

lol @ people bringing thier cars to a shop.

lul, the point of this site is so you don't go to shops. Shops are the enemy 999 times out of 1000

[deevergote]

This site has enough information on it that it's fairly easy to gauge whether or not a job is beyond your abilities just by reading through how-to threads.

Suspension is one of the easiest things to do. I've done my own twice, and about 4 of my friends' cars. I'm hardly an expert (most of what I know is from reading, rather than firsthand experience)


Honestly when going to a shop, you should ALWAYS specify what you want. If you don't know what you want, ask what you will get. "What are you selling me?" is a fair question.
It's also not unfair to ask for your old parts back, either. I know for a fact you could find a buyer for those old tophats REAL quick in the Classifieds.