[Beav]

Shoulda called me, for $630 I might have come up there and done the job myself. Prolly been done in an hour or so and could have had a nice weekend away on your nickel. Probably would have installed a new timing belt while I was there.

Seriously. if it took a tech six hours to do the job he must have spent four of those hours at Hooters - it is Friday, you know....

Dealers are normally required to buy $xxx dollars in parts/model sold/year. They are also usually required to buy xx% of the national average. They need to keep their CSI (consumer satisfaction index) at or above a certain level in order to qualify for specials, discounts, allotments and additional dealerships, etc.

However, they can still do anything they want. They can trim back their parts inventory investment to not include parts for a limited production model that doesn't interchange with more popular models. Especially when considering the model hasn't been built or sold as new in the past five years.

3.8 Hours is the typical charge for labor and that includes r&r timing belt. Add an outrageous $200 pump, $10 anti-freeze and $266 (@$70/hr.). $12 for a t'stat and .7hour more labor for it equals $537 + tax. I hope they took you to dinner first and lit your cigarette afterwards.
If I were concerned about being gouged, I'd be calling NAPA and finding out what the 'street' price is for that pump. They're usually a lot more competitive than that.

In regards to legal action - that varies from state-to-state. Some states put a limit on what can be considered a reasonable profit while many others avoid the mess by offering 'Caveat Emptor' as the credo to buy by. That is, until one of the lawmakers gets burned, then the gloves come off...