this is the estimate that was given to me this morning by a mechanic looking at my car Is the reasonable ?

Vehicle Time In: 5/14/2021
16 East Montgomery Ave Hatboro, PA 19040
05/14/2021 9:44:48 AM
Check and inspect suspension components: ball joints, tie rods, idler arms, springs, bushings, and check for accident damage.
Replace Both Front Lower Control Arms, Sway Bar Links and Bushings
Description
Control Arm With Ball Joint Control Arm With Ball Joint SWAY BAR LINKS
Front Sway Bar Bushing
Perform 4 Wheel Alignment
Quantity 1.00
1.00 2.00 2.00
Job Total: $61.79
Job Total: $1,153.46 Job Total: $119.95
Service Advisor: Dan, SW Technician(s): Hess, Jon
I consent to receiving text messages regarding your services, via automated technology, to the cell phone number you have on file. I acknowledge that I do not have to provide this consent to receive your services. Message and data rates may apply. Respond STOP to any message to cancel.
I hereby authorize the above repair work to be done along with the necessary material and hereby grant you and/or your employees permission to operate the car or truck herein described on street, highways or elsewhere for the purpose to testing and/or inspection. An express mechanic's lien is hereby acknowledged on above car or truck to secure the amount of repairs thereto. Warranty work has to be performed in our shop & cannot exceed the original cost of repair.
SIGNATURE......................................... .................................................. ..
www.dempstersqualitycarcare.com
Labor Total: Parts Total:
Shop Supplies: Hazardous Materials:
-------------------- Sub Total:
Tax Total: Grand Total:
Balance Due:
$676.02
$659.18
$29.73
$21.53
$1,386.46
$83.19
$1,469.65
$1,469.65

 

Is this a dealer and new parts? They should be using book time. In that case it is about right. You may want to verify the part prices.

 

no this is a local mechanic

 

Hourly rates vary a lot depending where you are, you are close enough to Philly to be on the upper end of the rate scale.

Each repair process has a time associated to it. It is nicknamed book time. There are several sources to get book time. There is factory time, Chilton time and the Mitchell Manuals. You could ask if that is book time. The labor cost should be “book time X shop rate”. Part cost will be their part cost + margin. You could ask what margin they charge on parts but most shops will not tell you as that is information that local competitors would like to know.

Your Best bet is to check the shops reviews on the net, you could also send the info about the job to other shops for quotes.

Depending on the size of the shop and how it setup they may not be able to cut you a break on the time. Most bigger shops that work flat rate pay techs by time charged. If the shop cuts hours to do a job and tries to short the tech, a good one will load up his box that night and move on to the next shop.

Of course a DIY guy could go the whole job for under $120 with used control arms and high performance bushing and spend another $60 for an alignment.