“A lot of little old ladies end up saying yes.”
A Chevrolet Silverado owner got a quote from a shop to replace his inner and outer tie rods, thought the asking price was too steep, and took the paperwork to another mechanic. That mechanic put the quote on camera next to his own parts and labor costs, and said he could not get near that figure if he tried.
Talking Shop (@talkingshop716) runs an independent repair business. He discussed the quote in a two-minute, three-second video that has drawn more than 12,800 views, posting it with the caption “Get a 2nd Opinion!”
“This is why I consistently, in all my videos, I tell people to always get a second opinion,” he says. “This right here is why, and I’m going to show you.”
He breaks the quote down, saying, “They’re quoting them $200 apiece for inner and outer,” he says. “So $684 for inners, $532 for outers installed.” That comes to $1,216 for the tie rods alone, before the alignment line he tells viewers to set aside.
Then he shows his supplier pricing. “This is what it costs for each inner and each outer,” he says. “This is suggested customer pricing.” Working from published book time of 1.6 hours on the inners and marking the parts up hard, he lands at roughly half the quoted number. “That’s me being a jerk. Like that is me almost doubling the parts cost at full boat labor time.”
His verdict on the difference: “I don’t know how they’re getting $1,200 for inner and outer tie rods, but that is more than double of what I would charge.” On the parts alone, he reckons, “that’s [a] 400% markup.”
The Line Item Two Mechanics Say Should Not Be There
Others who said that they are in the trade had concerns about how the labor was counted.
“At my shop, if we’re replacing inner and outer tie rods, we don’t charge labor on the outers, because you have to remove them to replace the inners anyway,” wrote userdyfom25911. Pdub3178 made the same point at greater length, saying the shop was “charging labor on outer and inner labor hours instead of just inner replacement, because they forgot that you need to remove the outer in order to remove and replace the inner.”
Their descriptions of the job match Moog’s own installation instructions for inner tie rod ends, which tell techs to disconnect “the outer tie rod from the spindles using a suitable tool such as a taper breaker,” then loosen the jam nut and remove the outer tie rod, all before the inner comes off the rack. The outer has to come apart to access the inner, so an estimate that bills a full separate labor operation for each is charging twice for the same teardown.
Shops Respond
Not everyone agreed with the second opinion. Tyleranderson6975 pointed to the higher overheads for a larger operation: “The health insurance bill for my employees is 13K a month. Mortgage for the location is 11K.” Payroll taxes, insurance, repair information subscriptions, programmers and specialized equipment all add up. “It takes a lot of money just to be in business to provide high quality service to our community.”
Brantmanfarms also raised the cost of scan tools, lab scopes, training hours and workers’ compensation, concluding, “I don’t think we’re in the same ball park as you.”
Adammckinney80 wanted to know more about the parts comparison: “I suppose that is assuming you are comparing the same exact part from the same exact manufacturer. There can be a huge difference in price from like AutoZone to RockAuto for the same part.”
Several commenters put his labor rate at $120 an hour and thought it low. “At 120 an hour, you’re vastly undercharging for your level of expertise,” tyleranderson6975 wrote. AAA, citing a 2025 industry survey of repair shops, reports that “almost half of all auto repair shops price their labor between $120 and $159 per hour,” which puts that figure at the bottom of the common band rather than outside it.
‘Go Get A Second Opinion’
Others took the customer’s side. “Those big box stores, Firestone and Goodyear, swing for a home run on every ticket,” wrote drivethestripe. “The problem is a lot of little old ladies end up saying yes.”
Federal consumer guidance on this topic, however, makes the same basic recommendation as the video. “If you need expensive or complicated repairs, or if you have questions about recommended work, consider getting a second opinion,” the Federal Trade Commission tells drivers, adding that a written estimate “should identify the condition to be repaired, the parts needed, and the anticipated labor charge,” and that customers should get a signed copy.
Talking Shop says that his advice applies to him too. “I don’t even care if I’m the one writing the quote,” he says. “If you don’t like my price, please take it and go get a second opinion, because these prices are getting out of control from these commercial establishments.”
Motor1 reached out to Talking Shop via email for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds.
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