191185

The indy shop qouted me about $560 for the timing belt, and water pump, install , parts and everything...
now they called and said I need a "hydrolic tensioner" because it's leaking..

is that common ? I've never heard of this... they said it's $89 for the part, and they will install it for free..

and now they want to charge me $25 gallon for Toyota coolant, about 2 gallons.. their reasoning it wasn't in the qoute wat that alot of water pumps can be done without loosing any coolant, where as this one is "special" and they have to tip something a certain way and it spills out... .

So the $560 turned into $700 pretty quick ...


Thoughts .. . opinions .. .. how did everyone else's go ?

191185

I forget to mention it is a 2004 ES330..

frohboy33

Thats not to bad of price. I was quoted 525 without tensioner at my local toyota shop. Tensioner should probably be replaced at the same time anyways since they are in there already. I know its a lot to pay, but you shouldn't have to do anything to your vehicle for a very long time after its all done.

frankdms

iTrader: (1)

Tensoner is not that expensive if you are not paying auto shop retail price. Truth hurts when you find out the parts cost are usually 30% or so of what you pay...

To answer your question price is ok IF* you are getting dealer parts.
The special way not to loose coolant? Sounds like you should go some place else. IMO.

191185

I called the actual Lexus dealership for a qoute, and they gave me $799 without the tensioner, which I was told by my Indy shop is $99, and he'll give me $10 off. . .. So the dealer would have charged $899 Assuming the part actually does cost $99 ... and the Indy it looks like it will be around $800.

I guess the only other question is, has anyone ever been charged for coolant before ? at $25 a gallon ?

I guess i'm suprised at how close the dealer price is to the Indy, for $100 more I could have had the dealer do it ? and they would have given me a nice fancy rental I"m assuming to lure my into buying a new Lexus this summer... .

On the other hand the dealer might have some tricks up there sleave as well as how to nickel and dime me to death . .. .


who knows . . . .

97'ES

the toyota coolant is very expensive. your getting a very good price overall if they are using toyota parts as someone said, the stealership would have found a way to screw you. Its not uncommon at all for the tensioner to require replacing. Its a good idea to do anyway. If the work is good I wouldn't complain about your price.

191185

Sounds good... I haven't done any complaining yet.. only on here and that was just to see what was going on.... I'm glad to here that it's not uncommon to replace the tensioner. . ..

PlatES300

iTrader: (1)

you should get your own parts and just pay them for labor. shop around online and you can find all oem parts for about 350 or so. thats what it ran me for timing belt, camshaft seals (2), crankshaft seal, water pump, idler pulley (2), and auto tensioner.

the tensioner shouldn't be more than $50. you should just go ahead and replace the tensioner while you're in there because you have to take apart so much just to get to it. the coolant price is about right. I just bought some from the dealer and it ran me close to $23 a gallon.

mpringle

That's a GOOD price!

191185

OK, so I picked up my car last night, everything looked good. It was $710 out the door. timing belt, water pump, tensioner, 2 Gal of coolant @ $25, and labor. ...

swifty562

very good price. and yes the coolant is along that price range. your actually getting a good deal with the whole package

191185

Just thought I would update this thread....

My water pump failed 1.5 years after I had an indy shop replace it ...

Went to the dealership this time, asked if the water pump that failed was OEM, they said it wasn't .

I think the indy shop charged me for OEM parts, and put in uncle benny's special parts.

mitmaks

Find a local mechanic who can do this at his home garage/shop and buy a kit from Rockauto and have him install it.

mmatheny

OUCH! That hurts.

808mcv20l

Wow that sucks, I have an AISIN Water pump kit and Mitsuboshi Timing belt with Koyo Idler pulleys and auto tensioner, with Stone or KP cam/crank seals, and Kuzeh thermostat and ishino gasket, and Bando Accessory belts.

Those names might sound funny but actually those are all OEM parts, from the suppliers to Toyota.

Got all those parts around 200 shipped.

If you're getting work done at an indy, don't assume they are going to use OEM parts, and always ask what kind of parts do they use. 95% of the time it will not be OEM unless upon request. If they charge too much, ask how much is just labor if you can just bring in your own parts.

I hate shops cause they make money off you twice, once on marked up parts (worse if they aren't using oem) then again on the labor.

Worse case just go to the dealer like you have, my friend used to work at a dealership and he would discount the parts for me even when I took the car in for servicing you can usually ask your service writer for a bit of discount and usually they will throw you a bone.