re: "the secondary market" (mild rant, again...)

["Ken Keith" <keith@specialdevices.com>]

> 
> >      In addition it would seem that the Audi owners who would work on their
> > own vehicles are a special abomination.  People working on these machines
> > without all the special tools?  Blasphemy!  And to change factory parts into
> > renewable resources? (bomb recharge thread comes to mind)  What must they
> > think?
> 
> True.  In my case, self-wrenching has been forced on me by the total and
> utter lack of skills at the dealerships.  I discussed having my fuel
> injection problem looked at by a local dealership, but the service
> receptionist stopped me halfway through my description of the symptoms
> and said they had _NO_ diagnostic ability other than replace-and-see.

I asked the local Audi dealer how much the hourly rate was for labor.  I 
knew it was expensive, but I had no idea just how much so.  I was rather 
shocked to find that it was $87.50 (USD) an hour.  Does this rate 
fluctuate between dealers, or is this the standard?

Ken