nice to see so many replies so quickly. yes i disassembled the unit. no i did not check to see if the gear was broken. i did not find any lose pieces inside the unit, but honestly i did not inspect the gears. the unit completely refuses to load discs or eject. was hoping the memory of the car was telling the unit that it was full. i guess i will remove the unit and disassemble it once again to inspect the gears. i feel like blaming a failure on a plastic gear might be a lazy excuse to charge someone $300, i work in a shop, although it is not automotive, and we frequently have clients who have been lied to by other shops by blaming random parts that dont really seem to make sense. before i removed the unit i could hear it trying to force the discs out and it never sounded like it was grinding or missing teeth, and a broken piece of plastic inside would leave...pieces of plastic to be found. not impossible but i would suspect more that the trays are in the full positions, and thats why the unit continues to think it is full. did any of these places actually produce a broken, cracked, or worn gear to back up their claim or was this just what was told to you guys. i always ask to see any parts which are replaced because someone claims they are broken, and i never let them change my headlight fluid.

 

The gear in question was cracked but not broken off, he did show me the gear which look like a RC control car motor gear. I bet you can get one from any RC stores or maybe Radio Shack.
I agree that the fee was too outrageous but he "claims" the labor was 2 hours which I don't believe and the gear was ordered from Japan which once again, I highly doubt as well. But at the time, I was pretty pissed and just wanted to have the thing fixed. Didn't have a clear mind and was really taken.