Is this a reasonable estimate for major work @180K?

[mgerardt]

Folks, would you be so kind as to put in your 2 cents about the quote the Subaru dealer is giving me for some substantial work?

My 2005 Turbo just hit 180K. I'm confident the mechanic is giving me his honest opinion about what work should be done at this time, given I tell him all the time that I adore my Scooby and want to keep her forever, or at least until they stop letting humans drive at all.

Here's the dealer's words, verbatim:

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The noise is the front strut bearings are cracked and the struts and mounts need to be changed.
Here is the breakdown:

Valve covers $745.34
Timing belt $1505.46
Struts $974.14
Alignment $119.95

Total $3344.89 plus tax
Parts need to be ordered and the car will not be done until Wednesday or Thursday depending on when the parts come in and how easy it is to get bolts off. The only coupon I can use is the $25 coupon, the 15% is for accessories(ie mud flaps, trailer hitches, moldings). Please email me back with the authorization. The check engine light this time is for slow leak(last time was a large leak do to the part we replaced). There is a lot of rust in the evap area and it might be hard to find.

-----------------------

Thank you kind and wise fellow ScoobyTruck fans! I don't know what I'd do w/o this group.

MG Thompson
Brooklyn, NY




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[Baja_CNY]

I do all car work myself, so I am
not usually familiar with dealer
prices, but I do read what others
have paid on various forums.

Here is my opinion:

Valve covers $745.34
I have no idea what this entails
and have no experience, so can't
make a judgment. On the face-of-it,
seems like a lot of money. I'd get
more details.

Timing belt $1505.46
Definitely too much for just a
straight belt replacement. The
main cost with the belt replacement
is labor, and you want to pay the
labor only once. With 180k, you
should also have the water pump
replaced (driven by the belt) and
a new belt tensioner. Also, with this
mileage, I would check the crank
and camshaft seals and replace if
suspect. All this can be done once,
with the belt off. If the dealer is
doing all this, then $1505 may not
be so bad. If just replacing the belt
(which I wouldn't do), it should be
$400 - $600. If you just replace the
belt, and the water pump, tensioner
or seals need replacing afterward,
you're going to pay the labor all over
again. Plenty of people have played
this game and there's many posts of
people regretting it. Do everything
at once and you'll be good for 80 -
100k miles.

Struts $974.14
Others will disagree, but no need to
spend this amount for Subaru struts.
Check into aftermarket and I bet your
price will be more like $300 - $400.
Whether the strut bearings appear
damaged or not, they should always
be replaced.

Alignment $119.95
Not a bad price, but Firestone offers
lifetime alignment for less. Pay them
once, and they will check and align
for free for the life of the car. Even
if you get the struts at the dealer,
Firestone can do the alignment.
I have the lifetime alignment for
three cars and it's a great deal.

Hope this helps . . . . Brian

[mgerardt]

I do all car work myself, so I am
not usually familiar with dealer
prices, but I do read what others
have paid on various forums.

Here is my opinion:

Valve covers $745.34
I have no idea what this entails
and have no experience, so can't
make a judgment. On the face-of-it,
seems like a lot of money. I'd get
more details.

Timing belt $1505.46
Definitely too much for just a
straight belt replacement. The
main cost with the belt replacement
is labor, and you want to pay the
labor only once. With 180k, you
should also have the water pump
replaced (driven by the belt) and
a new belt tensioner. Also, with this
mileage, I would check the crank
and camshaft seals and replace if
suspect. All this can be done once,
with the belt off. If the dealer is
doing all this, then $1505 may not
be so bad. If just replacing the belt
(which I wouldn't do), it should be
$400 - $600. If you just replace the
belt, and the water pump, tensioner
or seals need replacing afterward,
you're going to pay the labor all over
again. Plenty of people have played
this game and there's many posts of
people regretting it. Do everything
at once and you'll be good for 80 -
100k miles.

Struts $974.14
Others will disagree, but no need to
spend this amount for Subaru struts.
Check into aftermarket and I bet your
price will be more like $300 - $400.
Whether the strut bearings appear
damaged or not, they should always
be replaced.

Alignment $119.95
Not a bad price, but Firestone offers
lifetime alignment for less. Pay them
once, and they will check and align
for free for the life of the car. Even
if you get the struts at the dealer,
Firestone can do the alignment.
I have the lifetime alignment for
three cars and it's a great deal.

Hope this helps . . . . Brian

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mgerardt]

Brian, thank you so much for your reply. It's incredibly helpful. Having such accurate language to use when I got back to the dealer, well it was invaluable. My gratitude to you!


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[bajaguy]

I agree 100% with what brian said.

[Baja_CNY]

I'm glad I could help MG.

I'm interested to know just what
"valve covers" mean?

Perhaps you can let us know sometime.


Brian

[mgerardt]

Just spoke to him. He means rocker panels. He did better on pricing for me, and I owe that to you, Brian. I just paid him $1600 for all the parts. He will do the repairs next week once all the parts have arrived. Meantime, I have my Scoobster back for the weekend! Many, many thanks, ScoobyTruck Forum!


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[Baja_CNY]

You're Welcome !

[kamesama980]

That's all high (dealer markup on parts, $120+/hr labor) but not the worst I've seen.
[edit]
I'm wondering what doing the valve cover gaskets entails on the turbo... my non turbo it's an hour job even as awkward as it is.
Nevermind, had rocker covers in mind. Rocker panels = body work = $. experience with bodywork.

T-belt: nothing to add except make sure it ALL gets done as mentioned above: water pump, tensioners, idlers, and oil seals (crank, all cams, etc)

Struts: for a dealership, yea OK. no reason you need to go to the dealership tho.

That's a lot for an alignment but that's what you get at the dealership. Again, nothing exotic necessitating dealership service.

When you start looking into dealership pricing, that automotive tech degree pays for itself real quick!

[Baja_CNY]

mgerardt mantioned that it was
Rocker Panels and not valve covers.

As for my Rocker Panels,
I get Rust Check done every year and
still have new paint on the underbody,
in salt-road-loaded Central New York.