Hello from Chicago

[chencho]

The water pump went wrong in my car and the car broke down, damaging the cylinder (that’s what the mechanic said). I think is full of it and is too expensive ($1500-$1700). The me car is not drivable, so i had to bring it to this mechanic that is friend with a friend of mine, he said I need to replace:

- The cylinder head gasket kit.
- Timing belt.
- Water pump.

I probably need another opinion, because the mechanic says that i need to change the cylinder head gasket because there is no compression to start the car. And even if i only replace the Timing belt and the Water pump the car wont start -I don’t know what that means-. So, he need to work in the cylinder for over 10 hours...BS, the final price could be around $1700

What do you think?

Any help or advise to save money will be appreciated.

[MR2Jedi]

Whenever you have a question about your vehicle, you should always state the year and model.
So thats the 1st thing we need to know. There is a section for each model with people there that can help you.
A blown headgasket is a pretty pricey thing to have to fixed. On top of no compression, you will have coolant leaking into the oil and oil leaking into the coolant.
Need more info. Then we can get where you need to be
Welcome to The Forum

[chencho]

The car is a Toyota Camry 2k 4 cylinder and thats all i know so far.
The mechanic is asking me for a lot of money, so i dont know what to do.
Any help will be appreciated.

[Albuynp Ryeno]

Get a 2nd opinion from another mechanic. I thought that the camry was non-interference.

Unfortunately the only way to save money on cars is to spend the money on preventive maintenance. When you allow the water pump to break, well its a little too late then to save money. The only way to save money now is to do the work yourself.

[chencho]

I got another estimate from another mechanic that talked to the first one and agreed to do the job for $900 the most. But this guy work from his house, but i know him and he fixed my previous car, the only think is that between paying him $75 inspection+$65 town truck to the first place + $145 deliver from the 1st shot 2 the second mechani the total is $285, and if you add the $900, the total amount is $1.185.
Do you think is worth to go to the aggravation to change shop to save around $400.?

Originally Posted by Albuynp Ryeno

Get a 2nd opinion from another mechanic. I thought that the camry was non-interference.

Unfortunately the only way to save money on cars is to spend the money on preventive maintenance. When you allow the water pump to break, well its a little too late then to save money. The only way to save money now is to do the work yourself.

[BMR]

$900 seems like a fair price for that much work.

As for whether you should switch mechanics to save $400?... If you trust the guy and think he does good work, why not? Perhaps you could ask the first shop if they'll do it for the same price? That would save you some hassle.