tbilisi79

I ordered a kit from Sewell . Timing belt, water pump and all the seals and pulleys .

Had it done at a shop I know for the past 15 years.
I have to be honest, I was nervous, but all turned out well .

Old timing belt looked like new, hardly any wear. I did have one of the bearings making noise at start up sometimes which made me nervous.

$375t for parts,
$350 for labor , plus $40 tip.

If anyone needs a place to get their timing belts done let me know. This place in Queens NY has dine me well . PM me if needed.


Regards.

Dave

alchemist

iTrader: (1)

Nice price. How many miles on your car?

tbilisi79

About 100350 or so.

jli

which of the sewell timing belt kit did you buy>? The premium kit is listed $447 on the website. Did you have to bring your own coolant as well?

tbilisi79

I ordered a deluxe kit, it was $384.
I thought the kit would come with a tensioner and pulley, but it only came with a tensioner pulley. I told them to check the tensioner and they said it was perfectly fine.
Kit came with one bottle of antifreeze, which I thought would not be enough, so I got an extra bottle from Toyota, $22.

Will do tranny flush and rear end flush next time I go for oil change at Lexus.

Love my car.

blue00

You tip your mechanic!!??

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

I do also, is that something weird?

Schmexus

That guy made a killing on that job. $100/hour? I suppose that's still cheaper than a Lexus dealership though.

What car/motor is this?

tbilisi79

I tip whenever I can. This was a big job and I wanted it done right. Dealer wanted $1900 and I'd do it if I was sure those morons there would not F it up.
Every time I went there I had issues with them completing a basic task, so doing a timing belt with them was out if the question.

alchemist

iTrader: (1)

this is the going rate for most mechanics.

Schmexus

What area? They don't charge that much here. Unless its a dealership.

blue00

Mom/pop mechanics here charge about $80/hour... $90 are the ones that are actually decent at their job and aren't afraid to ask for the money... dealership is $120.
+13% Ontario tax.....

I reserve my tipping for people to whom the potential additional money is an incentive. Tipping someone making $100/hr seems more like an insult to either mine or their intelligence.

Schmexus

Haha I agree.

I've never taken a vehicle to a shop so I guess that's about right. My uncle has owned a shop for 20 years or so. I'll have to ask what his rate is.

tbilisi79

I don't know how you guys are calculating. I seriously doubt the mechanic working at this shop is making $80 and hour. He doesn't own the shop, I know the owner who is also there turning wrenches. Guy probably makes $15 -20 an hour, if that. So a tip is just a token of appreciation. This car is important to me because I transport my daughter in it on daily basis so taking care of a guy, on a Friday by giving him some extra cash was a cheap way of buying me some peace of mind, an assurance he will not overlook anything and treat the car well.
Now I didn't start this post to debate the ethics of tipping, just wanted to say I did the timing belt and if someone needs a place in NYC area I have one, tested.

Happy motoring.

Schmexus

If you didn't want people commenting on the cost/tip maybe you shouldn't have included that bit of information in your original post?

I was ASSuming this was an owner/mechanic type shop because it seems like that's all we have out here. If a shop has to pay payroll/tax/workmans comp, insurance etc than I guess that's a different case.

Oops sorry, I'm still talking about it. :-0

Just curious though, do you tip the guy BEFORE he works on your car or AFTER?