Is the price right for the job?

[the desolate one]

Hello gentlemen on this INCREDIBLY RAINY morning in Los Angeles,

Before I begin, let me state that the car in question is an 87 Camry, 4 door, automatic, 4 cylinder....

On the way to work this morning, as I going up the freeway onramp, the engine goes DEAD. Coasted to the emergency lane, called a towtruck, and was towed to my "usual" car shop. Left the car there and waited for the phone call, telling me the damage. Mechanic calls 30 minutes later and says that my timing belt broke, and to fix it, the water pump needs to be removed, and the seal rings replaced on it, as well as the timing belt needing to be replaced. He said that the timing belt and water pump share a very close relationship in relation to each other, and to fix one, the other needs to be removed. Said total for parts and labor was $380. That's quite a chunk of change. My question to you all is, does that seem like an "appropriate" amount to charge for that particular job, on that particular car? I'll pay, as long as it doesn't seem like an unusually high price for that kind of job. Any advice will be appreciated, as I told them that I would call them after I got a 2nd opinion on the price they quoted me. They gave me till closing time today to let them know. Any advice from any of you that might be a mechanic, or that knows mechanic prices would be greatly appreciated!

[fj62]

It has been years since I've had that job done. That might be the going rate now where you live. I would definitely have the water pump chaged at the same time to avoid paying another big bill. Does this price include the water pump? The timing belt should be replaced as maintanance item every 60,000 miles at least the 1985's were done at this mileage.

[Yota_Boy]

Not too privy on Camry's repair costs but generally a timing belt change is pretty invasive as they need to take the balance pulley off and I know it can get up there in price sometimes.

I had a old grand am before that blew a head gasket and to just replace that was about $1200. That was before I knew how to work on my own cars. Replacing a head gasket it not much further of a step then what you are describing.

Again I am not trying to sway your decision on what is and is not reasonable. Hopefully someone else will chime in but to me, if it were me I would think that was reasonable given my prior experience with repair places and what they like to charge for things. I figure the water pump and belt alone are probably close to 40 or 50... maybe even more so....

[the desolate one]

Originally Posted by fj62

It has been years since I've had that job done. That might be the going rate now where you live. I would definitely have the water pump chaged at the same time to avoid paying another big bill. Does this price include the water pump? The timing belt should be replaced as maintanance item every 60,000 miles at least the 1985's were done at this mileage.

You know, I didn't actually ask if they were going to provide a NEW water pump. I can call them and ask them after sending this message. I remember them saying that the water pump SEALS would be replaced with new ones, but they didn't mention if the pump itself would be replaced.

[the desolate one]

Originally Posted by Yota_Boy

Not too privy on Camry's repair costs but generally a timing belt change is pretty invasive as they need to take the balance pulley off and I know it can get up there in price sometimes.

I had a old grand am before that blew a head gasket and to just replace that was about $1200. That was before I knew how to work on my own cars. Replacing a head gasket it not much further of a step then what you are describing.

Again I am not trying to sway your decision on what is and is not reasonable. Hopefully someone else will chime in but to me, if it were me I would think that was reasonable given my prior experience with repair places and what they like to charge for things. I figure the water pump and belt alone are probably close to 40 or 50... maybe even more so....

Yes, I know that the head gasket is about the WORST thing to have to get replaced on a car. That repair alone is the down payment on another car. I've told myself, if my car's head gasket ever blows, that will be the one repair that I will NOT approve. I'll get another used car instead.

[white90dx]

Sounds like a decent price for the LA area. Like the others have said, make sure that includes a new water pump. Also consider getting a new pullies while you are in there (idler and tensioner). Make sure they check for oil leaks while they are in there too.

Good luck! (be happy, on most cars, a broken timing belt means a new engine, pretty much...)

-Charlie

[Sturdavj]

I would consider that a fair price in Oregon shops.

Parts are not that expensive, howevre there is a fair amount of labor involved in R&R of same parts.

A coworker told he had the same done on his 2001 S60 Volvo this past Saturday and he paid $659.00. He obtained quotes all the way up to $800.00

[Grego 92]

As a last resort, and in case you don't get any other replies before you need to call back, I'll give you my $.02 from a fellow L.A. County guy.

I'm not a mechanic, I've only changed the timing belt on my V6 and a timing chain on my truck. I've only paid to have my timing chain done once, and that's no comparison to your work because the head was pulled to do that. So here goes...

$380? I would say a little expensive if he uses OEM seals, aisin water pump, toyota coolant, and oem belt. I would guess the parts and toyota coolant would cost around $150. If you have green prestone stuff coolant, then maybe closer to $125 for parts. He also didn't mention the tension spring and maybe idler pulley(s).

So that means around $230 to $255 for labor. It would probably take me 6-7 hours to do that work...I guess a mechanic could easily do it in 3 hours. So around $81 an hour? seems kind a high to me. I would think $300 seems more fair.

Did you get a quote from another shop? Hopefully someone who has paid to have this done on a 4cyl. or a mechanic will chime in before you have to call. If so, throw out my comments as BS and listen to someone else.

EDIT: Hhahahhahah.....while I was typing you got better answers.....so don't even bother reading my post and BS rationale!

[the desolate one]

Originally Posted by white90dx

Sounds like a decent price for the LA area. Like the others have said, make sure that includes a new water pump. Also consider getting a new pullies while you are in there (idler and tensioner). Make sure they check for oil leaks while they are in there too.

Good luck! (be happy, on most cars, a broken timing belt means a new engine, pretty much...)

-Charlie

They're pretty proactive about checking for future problems while they work. I'm sure they'll tell me about an oil leak in the area. As far as the pulley, I'll have to ask them about that. I've never heard of a new timing belt being indicative of a new engine. Why would that be?

[the desolate one]

Originally Posted by Sturdavj

I would consider that a fair price in Oregon shops.

Parts are not that expensive, howevre there is a fair amount of labor involved in R&R of same parts.

A coworker told he had the same done on his 2001 S60 Volvo this past Saturday and he paid $659.00. He obtained quotes all the way up to $800.00

Wow! I guess having an older car has it's advantages!

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by the desolate one

They're pretty proactive about checking for future problems while they work. I'm sure they'll tell me about an oil leak in the area. As far as the pulley, I'll have to ask them about that. I've never heard of a new timing belt being indicative of a new engine. Why would that be?

No no, I'm saying that in most cars a broken timing belt will ruin the engine...

Example: My brother-in-law's '05 VW GTi - a broken timing belt caused ~$8000 in damage to the engine (covered under warranty, luckily).

Example: My Camry- a broken timing belt cost me ~$18 in parts and a couple hours of my time one morning.

-Charlie

[the desolate one]

Originally Posted by Grego 92

As a last resort, and in case you don't get any other replies before you need to call back, I'll give you my $.02 from a fellow L.A. County guy.

I'm not a mechanic, I've only changed the timing belt on my V6 and a timing chain on my truck. I've only paid to have my timing chain done once, and that's no comparison to your work because the head was pulled to do that. So here goes...

$380? I would say a little expensive if he uses OEM seals, aisin water pump, toyota coolant, and oem belt. I would guess the parts and toyota coolant would cost around $150. If you have green prestone stuff coolant, then maybe closer to $125 for parts. He also didn't mention the tension spring and maybe idler pulley(s).

So that means around $230 to $255 for labor. It would probably take me 6-7 hours to do that work...I guess a mechanic could easily do it in 3 hours. So around $81 an hour? seems kind a high to me. I would think $300 seems more fair.

Did you get a quote from another shop? Hopefully someone who has paid to have this done on a 4cyl. or a mechanic will chime in before you have to call. If so, throw out my comments as BS and listen to someone else.

EDIT: Hhahahhahah.....while I was typing you got better answers.....so don't even bother reading my post and BS rationale!

Hey man, if you know about cars, your answer is VALID. So far, it seems like the price is in the ball park of "reasonable". If I was mobile, I could've gone to other auto shops to get price quotes, but my only car is THAT one, and many mechanics won't quote unless they diagnose the car themselves, so this site has pretty much let me know that I'm not being blatantly ripped off, and that's what I was most concerned about. I'm probably paying than some shops would charge, yet there are shops that would've charged me more for the same job. Since that's the case, then I don't feel financially violated, which is the most important thing to me.

[Sturdavj]

Japan-VS-Europe

I own a Volvo, wife's V70 wagon. Great car

I own two Toyota's and I love the price of parts, I do most of my own work.

I tell everyone if need economy by Japan, not European

[the desolate one]

Originally Posted by white90dx

No no, I'm saying that in most cars a broken timing belt will ruin the engine...

Example: My brother-in-law's '05 VW GTi - a broken timing belt caused ~$8000 in damage to the engine (covered under warranty, luckily).

Example: My Camry- a broken timing belt cost me ~$18 in parts and a couple hours of my time one morning.

-Charlie

I wish you lived driving distance from me! You'd be my personal mechanic! I'd pay you 75% of what shops charge, and we'd both come out like fat rats!

[Sturdavj]

You'd be lucky to get Charlie'