My Mechanic Wants to Charge me $1,700!

[Alexzander]

He looked the car over while giving me an oil change and tire rotation, and he had a considerable list of things that needed to be done on the car. I have not consented to these repairs yet.

My car is a 2001 Camry with 60,000 miles on it. Here is the damage with reasons given:

1) The front engine seals are beginning to "seep". Not leak mind you, but they will soon. When it starts leaking, it will spew oil all over the timing belt, and then it will eventually fail. So that will take $776 to repair.
2) Since they working in this general region of the car, I should get the timing belt replaced ($61), as the labor covers. All well and good, as they have to take it out anyway.
3) But they insisted the water pump MUST be replaced with the timing belt...every time. When I told them I did not do this when I replaced the belt around 45,000 miles (now have 60M), they said there was no way the water pump would last until I had to put in a new timing belt anyway. It could fail at any time! (Cost $380).
3) Front pads for the brakes, which makes good sense to me. They have never been replace before ($120). About two years ago, I was told by a Toyota dealership that I had about 60% left. Now 20%. Must be replaced.
4) But the rotors must also be replace at the same time. They are rusty (the car is a 2001). I asked him it this means they would fail, and he backed all the way off from that implication. But...they are rusty. Besides, the rotors will not perfectly match with new pads, so the braking might be a bit "uneven", whatever that means. ($360)

Total bill: about $1,700.

How much of this seems necessary, and how much is...well...maybe not so necessary?

I can totally see the pads. As for the rest I am not so sure.

[FireFire]

rotor 360???

sounds not right.

timing belt and water pump usually replace at the same time.

[Retrospekt]

Way too much, obviously.

Front engine seals - 760? The camshaft, o-ring, oil seal, etc. cost about 50-70 bucks in parts. You can get a full timing belt job (including all the seals and water pump) for less than 700 bucks if you find a good mechanic. Good mechanics do it so much they can close their eyes and finish in a few hours.

Brake pads: You can do it yourself. If the rotors are warped I'd replace them also. You can resurface rotors but usually it's not worth it as new rotors cost about 25 bucks a piece. Either way 360 is way too much for the rotors.

[92Camry5sp]

shops over priced alot of things when you dont know anything about mehanic work. brake and rotors are easy to replace. shouldnt take more then an hour to do both side. front pads being 120 and rotors being 360? this has got to be the most rediculus pricing ever.

776 for replacing the seals? thats like getting a new motor already.

[chronoti]

waaaaay too high and if he was a good shop he could resurface the rotors for you alot of shops do it just for the 10 min of labor it takes. my factory water pump lasted me 200k miles till i replaced the engine due to bottom end noise.

[Hajoca]

Do you have another mechanic (competitor?) that can give you an estimate as a sanity check?

[JCamry94]

Pads and rotors do yourself. It's not very difficult or labor intensive and you'll save a bundle.

The rotors can be resurfaced as well if they're "too rusty." -about $20 a rotor.

For the other work: timing belt on 4 cylinders is reccomended to be replaced every 60k, 90k for 6 cyl. Water pump is belt driven so it would make sense to replace since it is accessible at the time of the change, but it is not necessary. HOWEVER, this along with the seals would be better off looked at by someone else.

My advice is wait to find a decent price (my yota dealer actually has cheap timing belt changes coupons in the mail once a monthish), and take it to a different mechanic for a 2nd, 3rd, etc... opinion

[the_professional]

The brakes and seals are very over priced.

Do the brakes yourself. Spend the money you were going to pay the mechanic instead to buy higher quality discs & pads, and still have $ left over.

& generally the water pump should be replaced with your timing belt, as they require the belt to be removed, etc.

I'm quite peev-ish when it comes to water pumps, I never experienced a overheated engine, but I never want to, with only 65,000 miles on the cam, its on its 3rd water pump and 3rd belt, never any issues. Once the belt seems brittle or hard it comes off.

[Mike Gerber]

Your mechanic is way overpriced on just about everything. He is double dipping on the labor for the timing belt, seals and waterpump. We'll assume your car has the 4 cylinder 5SFE engine in it (most common), since you don't say. I had a friend with a 98 Camry 4 cylinder who recently had the timing belt, waterpump, all seals behind the timing belt, along with the 2 accessory belts replaced at a dealership. Total was about $800. If your car has the V6 engine it would be slsightly more. Front brake replacement at a dealership (which would include resurfacing the existing rotors) should run about $200. Find another mechanic.

Ask friends to recommend a good mechanic or try the MechaniX files on Car Talk's website.

Mike

[Alexzander]

Sorry I did not say before.

It is a Toyota dealership, amazingly enough. I say that because my experiences with Marina Del Rey Toyota were excellent. They were honest as could be, and always fixed the problem with a minimum of hassle and expense.

I appreciate the sanity check from all of you. I will look around for a second opinion.

So to be sure, you all are thinking about $700 for the timing belt, seals and water pump? I don't have a problem with that, if its what it takes to keep the car reliable.

Thanks for reminding me about resurfacing the rotors. I forgot about that entirely. I will ask around on that as well.

[Retrospekt]

700 seems to be the average and the highest I would pay. Just make sure that they do ALL the seals while they're at it.

Try to bring your own parts too.

[Venom_5]

it cost me almost $800 after taxes (9.25% here) for my water pump + timing belt job on the 5S-FE about 3 years ago ... so ya, id say $700-800 is about what it should cost depending on where you go

usually people do them at the same time, but you said you did the water pump 20k miles ago? if so, its definitely not due to be replaced yet ... especially assuming its not showing any signs of aging now, and your coolant doesnt look like vomit

[Zviator]

Originally Posted by Alexzander

Total bill: about $1,700.

[JohnGD]

Looks like your dealer knows that Christmas is right around the corner.

[johnfrisco]

Let the mechanic do the timing belt, seals and water pump. Look around for a better price on the brakes. Rotors are dirt cheap these days and aren't even worth turning (cutting). Get a new set.