my mechanic is asking $250 for labor to install a new starter & replace the intake gasket in my sc. he said I won't be able to find anywhere cheaper than that.
is this price fair enough, or does anyone know somewhere cheaper? preferably within my area - anaheim - buena park- garden grove - westminster

I'd appreciate any advice. thanks!

 

Thats is very cheap. Just make sure he knows what he's doing. Believe me, if you knew what was involved, you would rather give your first, and perhaps the soul of your second born to have it done by someone else. Its a long job on the 400's.

 

So I take it you don't do auto work yourself?

 

Actually, I did the starter on my 98LS400 Last year. Once you do it, you wont want to do it again.

Edit: for those with 98+ 400's see the LS forums where I did a write up with all the gaskets, and part # needed. Its the only one with pics for the 98+ 1UZ's i've seen to date.

 

Dude, That price is so cheap that I wonder if he knows what is involved...The Lexus dealer will charge you $1300 for the part and the labor...

It is a big job...the starter resides in between the two cylinder banks under the intake...What a big job.

Ryan

 

thanks for all the advice guys! i'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing since he explained to me all the work involved in going about it. i've been a loyal customer for 5 years now so maybe that's why he gave me that price.

looks like i'm keeping my mechanic then...

 

imho you don't deserve or respect your mechanic. He took the time to explain things, its complicated and you still think its worth getting it done elsewhere for cheaper. You were trying to save what - $100 -and go to a new guy after fives years?

 

starter is 2 12mm bols and a 10 mm bolt that holds the power wire.....

cost of starter

1. aftermarket part is like $100
oem brand new is $280
aftermarket rebuild is $80 w/ core deposit
oem rebuld cost me $42.00 at a rebuild shop oem parts used.

laber is like 1 hour @ $90/h

shoot for $200 including the starter if not go to autozone get the starter yourself.

intake manifold gasket lol. just wait til you change spark plugs man.

 

Hold on, isn't he an SC400 and your talking about a 1j or 2j ? Different animals as it comes to starters and plugs.

 

doing the starter on a sc400 is a pain in the .... 250 deffinatly worth it seeing as how it sits in the valley and you have to pull the whole intake manifold. like said before i did the starter on my dads sc400 and if someone would have done it for 250 id tell him to take it there

 

i did a tundra (had to do the process twice due to bad injector seals) and was payed $250 labor doing it for one of my profs., and yeah 250 was not worth all the work i did.

 

you have no clue.

 

I wish I could get my starter replaced for $250... the local (Hendrick-owned) Lexus dealership quoted me $1,585 for starter, timing belt, and water pump replacement. Considering I can get all the parts for ~$400, I've decided to do it myself; I know it's going to be a hassle, but the money I save will certainly make it worthwhile.

 

The starter location on the SC400 is different than the SC300. Much more complicated on the SC400.

For $250...that is CHEAP!