I went to a well known turbo people shop in my area and they told me they would charge me $2500-$3000 to install and tune the system. That seemed high to me but then I realized I haven't heard what other people are paying. Can other people who have gotten it installed let me know how much you paid for it? Or if anybody else has gotten any price quotes can you let us know? Thanks in advance. I have a G35 6mt. By the way, I read this board all the time but never post. I want to say you guys have a great board with a lot of people full of knowledge!!!

 

Here is a little bit of info. Guru, who installed Shun Walsh's Greddy TT said he had about 20 hours of labor into the install so do the math.

Another thing is most of the time people do a job, it takes longer the first time. Then, they get quicker as they learn the kit/car. I think in time, the installation cost may drop a little. I suggest that you dont look for lowest price as your #1 concern. Look for experience, reputation for service and good work IMHO.

Jeff - zland

 

Yeah I did see that he said it took 20 hours, but that was the install. How long did it take to tune it, dyno it, test it and what not. That all has to be added into the charge. Also, I disagree with you that the installation fee will go down because people will be able to do it faster. Yes, they will be able to do it faster, but why would they drop the price? Most people will charge that price no matter how long it takes them. What about when you bring your car in to get work done and the mechanics just give you an estimate by what the book says. They look to see how long the book says it should take and they charge by that. If it takes them a half hour to do something that the books says will take 1.5 hours, believe me they are going to charge you for 1.5 hours. I just realized that it might sound like I'm snapping back at you. That's not what I meant to do if you took it that way. Thanks for responding. Does anybody else have any feedback? Thanks guys.

 

kjbalto:

Dont worry, I dont take what you said negatively at all. I agree with the concept of flag hour that you are describing. I think it depends on how accurate the tech is estimating the first job. They might be estimating too low, in that case, they will eat the 1st install but charge more next time. The bottom line is they have to be competitive yet charge only as much as the market will bare.

Techs need to make money so if they are losing money doing these installs, they would just prefer to do 30K services.

 

too much

 

if you walk into any shop to install and tune a turbo, i would say that 2.5-3k is about right. i figure most 'good' shops bill out labor around 100-120 hr for the average joe that walks in off the street. then depending on the application, 3-5hours of dyno tuning at about 150 an hour. and you're right at $2.5k

 

Just a few comments to clarify a mispeak of Zland. I realize that it was innocent, but wanted to rectify it. GURU did NOT install Shun Walsh's Greddy TT. He is installing mine, GURU's (Dan) shop is in Novi, Michigan. www.godspeedinc.com

Dan is doing my install of the TT kit for free. The only reason for this great deal is that my Z will be the first Z they install the kit on and they wanted to use the opportunity to measure how long it would take and to figure out how much to charge subsequent purchasers that get the kit installed at their shop. Now, I did also buy a BOV, E-01 boost controller, Cusco sways, Eibech springs, and Greddy Gauges. I appreciate the deal I received on the kit and install, treatment thus far, and I am comfortable with the shop's knowledge/skills. Therefore, I will be a repeat customer that drops much $ on goodies at their shop as opposed to getting the parts and labor done elsewhere. Good customer relations is always beneficial for future sales.

kjbalto, $2,500 to 3,000 is way too much for the install of the Greddy Kit. For god sake, they're not building you a rocket are they? If you purchase the kit from that shop, I would assume that a fair price would be about 20% to 25% of the purchase price (ie. $6,500 X .20 = $1,300 OR $6,500 X .25 = $1,625). Your quote is at at 39% to 46% of the cost of the kit using a $6,500 sale price. Those rates are patently ridiculous. If the shop takes 20 hours to install the kit and charges you a per hour rate, you must be billed for only those hours spent doing the install. To be charged with additional time (without agreeing to it first) would undoubtedly violate most consumers protection acts and likely amount to fraud.

 

What do you think is a reasonable price then? I see that Shaun Walsh said he paid $2500 for the install. I'm just trying to get an idea of a price so I can negotiate when I talk to the shop. I don't want to agree to everything and have him think I'm a sucker. Thanks for all your help so far.

 

Actually, I would beg to differ. Dan and I talk nearly everyday, as we have been friends for awhile now, and if you only knew the actual man hours to isntall the kit, you would all be floored. In short, there is no way this is a 20 hour job unless you have a staff of 4 people on the car.......I mean, if he paid $2500, that right there tells you he was billed for way more than 20 man hours.

Truth be told, the install takes about 40 hours from start to finish with 2 techs working on it.....it is one of those "we would rather not" type jobs IMHO. At $70.00 an hour (your local rates might vary), $2500 is not a bad price in the least. Labor goes by the hour, not as a percentage of the purchase price...if it did, I would be long since rich and retired off the install of wheels alone On a job like this, we try to not agree to a fixed install price......there are times where a job is just a royal PIA (snapped bolts for example, or a part that we need to mod to make fit). I could not justify cahrging a customer by the hour for something like that, so we come to a compromise. Difficulty in labor tends to rule at our shop. Something might physically take us 30 hours, but if its an "easy" 30 hours, the customer gets a break on the cost, and we generally chargee about 20-22 hours. If that 30 hours, for lack of a better phrase, kicked our asses, then we charge the full time it took. There is no "by the book" on a kit like this..

Being that this is going on a G coupe and not a Z, there very well might be changes needed, all of which may or may not be extra labor, depending on whats involved.

Adam

 

I totally agree with Z1. I timed the entire process on our side and took around 35 hours plus with two people working on it. On reality, I stopped timing the job after 35 hours since I decided to give my first TT kit customer a break. That's not include the afterhours I stayed till 3 in the morning to complete the job since I promised it will leave in three four days.
This is one of those jobs that I would rather not do unless the money is there. It's a real pita. I have basically locked the install price at $2500-$3000 per kit alone not include any accessories ( BOV, gauges, ect....) depending if the kit was purchased from us or not.

 

Greddy will tell you this kit take about 20 hours to install. That's maybe for them after doing this so many times. But there's no way, a shop can do it in 20 hours. Not the first time a person do it. Maybe you are quoting 2 people's with 20 hours. We are talking about removing/installing manifolds. Cutting of the bumper, installation of the intercoolers, wiring of the E-manage unit, installing of the injectors (which require taking off the intake manifold).

If you are telling me this kit can be done in 20 hours. Then you tell me this kit should be done in 2 days. 10 Hours per day is not too much to ask from a good shop. Have anyone seen anybody finished this kit in 2 days on this forum?

We are done with our TT kit for the Z. And there's only a few Z that I know are rather in the middle of install or almost done. I think one or two that are done. And they will tell you, it was not two days.

 

I agree. NO way in 20 hours. Maybe after doing a dozen you can do it pretty fast but there's just too many parts and NO room in there. I actually had to buy some odd tools to finish the job and all my mechanics as well as myself have bled on this kit. I'd say probably around 30 hours is what I would charge at $65 an hour. That's about $2000. I would probably offer some incentives but don't expect to have this kit installed properly for $1000 that's for sure.

 

hehehe...Greddy tol a buddy of mine, who ha had his kit since December on his car 10 hours After 10 hours, the car was apart, ready for the kit to first go in!

 

We were first told 12 hours

 

We're also charging $2500 for the install. My car first for practice, then a Forum member who is all set to go after. Lucky me......

 

ok so i dont even have a z yet but i plan ongetting one in the next month or two. if i get it i want to put the greddy kit on. i was wondering if any of you guys could give me a final figure. like after kit, labor, gauges and whatever else. is it gonna be more than 10? and i was wondering if anyone had any preliminary numbers as far as the track. i saw an s2k that ran a 12.6 with just a turbo so i'm thinkin that a twin turbo could probably do some damage. sorry in advance if i sound like a tool, i currently own a bmw and i am looking into the import market. thanks alot

-andy

 

Ahh I see the members chimming in that have done the install, Steve, Dan
Was a ***** huh ?
Unreal how all those parts go in, and you have to get to bolts and nuts, that you can't even see.
Man that was one tough install. Espically with the curve ***** GReddy gave me. (don't even want to go there, right Steve :0 )

Got to say, I am very impressed with the GReddy R&D of this kit. And anyone that installs it I am sure with agree. How tight they have the tolerences, blows the mind. Each piece is mm away from the next. Alot of thought and measurnig when into this Kit.
Install is not easy.

 

Well we also made revisions to the instructions here and there to make things easier but either way, yes you do have to work blind a lot of the time. Even finding where there was clearance for the EGT bung was a pain.

 

Perhaps I was thinking too much like a lawyer and not like a businessman. To tell the truth, I had no idea how difficult it is to install the kit, but after reading these posts I can see that it is a more difficult job than originally anticipated. No disrespect to anyone installing these kits, I just didn't want kjbalto to get "taken" for the install cost. If the consenses is that install cost = $2,000 to $3,000, then that's what it is. In my own opinion though, once that number starts creaping closer to $3,000 it acts as a deterrent for future sales and to future purchasers of a TT kit.

By the way, if Greddy has said that the kit should take 20 hours to install, isn't any time above that actually your learning time that shouldn't be charged to the consumer? or if it is it should be at a discounted rate? Just my thoughts.

 

No, frankly its a lie on Greddy's part, which is quite typical with manufacturers...the kit costs $8k....you think someone that calls GReddy asking about the kit wants to hear that its also 40 hours to install it? how many kits do you think they would sell then? As I said, Greddy told us, and just about everyone else, that install was 10-12 hours.......there is simply no way it can be done that quickly, even after you have done many of them.

I think the deterrent to the kit is frankly that its got an $8000 list price, excluding install...so you are talking 1/3 the price of the car once installation is factored in (excluding gauges, fuel system upgrades, etc etc.)....not a very wise financial move for a car such as this, though often times the people who buy these kits are not thinking longterm.....they simply want to be that guy on the boads with the Greddy TT kit"...internet racing is highly addictive you know! I am in the business of selling parts for cars, so I know what its like to want the newest and baddest out there. But at some point, economics has to play into the equation (tends to hapen more with our customers in their late twenties, though we have some younger who, while they could easily afford the kit, choose not to go into debt over it, or choose to put it off until they know if they are even planning to keep the car).

I would buy into your "learning time" theory if this was apart that weas destined to be installed over and over and over again (such as turbo upgrades on a WRX)...this is not one those parts, I I predict you will not see ANY twin turbo kit widely used on this car, simply due to the sheer cost involved.