damn i need to stay home and just do timing belt/water pump replacements.
$1500 worth of maintenance!
- Thread starter Ron5937
- Start date
gearheadmike
New Member
the spark plug part is crazy and id say the hoses are too. Another good thing to do is when the machanic say this and this is wrong ask to see it. Ive see them say something is bad charge you for it then either not put it on or they do and your old one is fine. It is hard for ppl who have no ideas on cars or anything. Im glad ive been handy with wrench ever since i could pick one up.
Yeah, $500 for a timing belt is absurd. My local Honda Enthusiast shop does timing belts for like $150.
Last weekend I bought a 1996 Civic LX with 102k miles. It's in nice condition and runs well. Since it has 102k miles and I want to drive it on ski trips, I thought I should go ahead and replace the timing belt. Any number of people said to do the water pump at the same time. The timing belt was $368. When I added the warter pump the bill went to $720. That surprised me. Then the mechanic (who I think is a pretty straight shooter) called to tell me I had a broken motor mount that should be fixed for $149. And the water hoses were original and "crunchy." He thought the spark plugs should be replaced along with the gaskets that were part of a timing belt/water pump kit. In the end, bringing my car up to fully maintained status cost $1500. The air filter was good, though.
I'm a bit surprised at these costs - though individually they don't seem high: timing belt/water pump - $720; hoses $175; flusinhg coolant $89; motor mount $149; plugs $84; fuel system flush - $89; and, a brake adjustment - free! Total: $1500. Am I being had?
Dude, you got beat. That guy took you for about $1000. You could have bought all the parts and tools to do this yourself, and still have spent half what he charged you.
Def. got ripped in my book. Glad I do EVERYTHING myself.
This is why I do as much work on my car as I can. If I can't handle it, I call some friends.
Damn I feel bad for u man. But I guess lesson learned. I suggest one thing, head down to your local oreillys/autozone whatever and pick up a haynes or chilton sevice manual. The majority of those things you could have easily done yourself, even a timing belt isn't too bad on an sohc for a beginner, assuming you have the correct tools.
I avoid autozone like the plague now. Oreillys is very hit or miss for me. I only go to NAPA now.
Don't go to any of them. They all have a 300% markup. There is always somewhere online that has what you need for a lot cheaper.
I stopped reading after this. DING DING DING!
I changed my water pump and timing belt with tensioner just last weekend...for $79. They sell them in kits ya know.
Entire engine gasket kit was only $72 I think.
Coolant was $20 and I flushed it myself.
Plugs and wires were $80(i got a deal)
I did a slew of other repairs last weekend with the motor out and I came to less than $300 total.