Corolla Struts Need Replacing

[Vogel515]

Exactly as the title says, i know nothing about cars, but is $1500 about right? and how often do struts need to be replaced?

 

[Riverhound777]

Well you may want to do a bit of research. You didn't say what year, so I just did a quick google.
http://www.autopartswarehouse....+11788+4294967267+9313

strut assembly, cost $100. You need two of them. so... $1300 labor. About right?

 

[Vogel515]

It's a 2001, I am seeing that the quote is about right, but they just upped the quote to $2000 for the entire service or $1000 for just the front.

It's my girlfriends car and she is the one calling. I just want to give her as much info as possible.

 

[Vette73]

This the dealer? that seems high to me, even if it includes the aligment.

Buy your own parts from adavnce or even rockauto.com and have a indi shop install them.

 

[Vogel515]

Nope, good year.

Anyone know any good independents in Boston?

 

[Vogel515]

By the way - I really appreciate both of your help.

 

[dug777]

I've been quoted around $900 AUD for the struts on my '89 323 5-door hatch, so to the extent that a different car in a different country is at all relevant, it seems a tad high...

 

[FeuerFrei]

No it doesn't sound right.
For that Corolla struts can be found for $80 apiece though $92 may be more common. Then it's .75 hrs of labor per strut * whatever hourly rate is. Do the math.
If they are also installing new strut mounts that could be another $40 in parts per strut.

 

[Vogel515]

Well, thank you all for saving me a headache + gf some money, we will take the car somewhere else.

 

[Vette73]

Firestone/goodyear/presision tunes/etc... type places are mostly rip offs (I say mostly as there might be a couple really good ones somewhere). When I was an autotech and before I worked for myself I applied at a couple places like that. Long story short if you did not bring in a certain $$$ they would let you go. So even if you were honest either you would do things you would not think of doing and/or not work there long.


Find a good indepent repair shop. Ask around and see whom everybody else goes to.

 

[zoiks]

Thats a rip off. My mechanic did it for 350 or so to change both front struts in my 240sx. I had to provide the struts however.

 

[The Stigenator]

my dead focus before it died had a quote for 700 all struts replaced.. that includes 4 wheel alignment.

 

[AMCRambler]

Well it may very well be a rip off. $1500 for all four if they are just changing the struts is high. If they are replacing the struts as well as all the parts there like the spring seat bushings, the strut bearing, strut boot, etc. That crap adds up quickly. We did all new parts on my friends Neon and it added up to around $700 bucks for all four corners. Add in labor and you could be getting close to $1500 if it's a dealership. We put decent KYB struts on the car too and not just crap. If they upped it to $2000 they are out of their friggin minds and I would tell them so.

EDIT: It's your girlfriend talking to them? Haha. They heard a female voice on the phone and went into scam mode. You should call back and inquire independently and see if they give you the same figure.

 

[Vette73]

Rockauto.com has the quick strut (Strut, spring, and mout all ready put together) for $150 each for that car. So all parts would be $600.

The struts themself start at $56 each for standard and go to the low $70's each for monroes or KYBs.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

They are charging her a Female Tax. She is getting ripped off. Good Year/ Firestone are pros at screwing people over. For $2000 she better be getting an airbag system installed.

 

[BudAshes]

lol, they must be kidding.

 

[AdamK47]

For $1500 you could replace most of the suspension on the car... if you did it yourself.

 

[alphatarget1]

Do it yourself... should be fairly easy.

 

[Bignate603]

I just had a strut mount replaced on my '99 camry. It cost $160 in labor for the removal and replacement, and that would have been the same if it was a whole strut. A complete strut assembly for my car costs $225 from Rock Auto. So that's $770 for the two front struts. I guess if you're doing all 4 struts that wouldn't be too far off, though the rear struts would be a bit cheaper.

Get them to give you an itemized estimate (labor and parts) and take it around to a few other shops. You could probably find a better deal just by comparison shopping.

 

[bruceb]

Paid about $700 for 4 struts & new strut bearing plates (used KYB parts) installed and aligned on my 1999 Grand Prix .. so for your car, the priice is somewhat high. And remember, most dealerships are now charging about $90 per hour in labor costs. Even still, figure on 30 to 40 minutes per strut to remove and replace and then another 30-40 minutes to do the wheel alignment. So about 3 - 4 hours of labor at $90 / hour = $360 in labor + parts which should run under $150 per strut, even with new bearing plates .. .so that would be about $600 in parts and $360 in labor + tax .. around $1000 at a dealer, less at an independent mechanic. As to how often they need replacement, depends on the roads. In NYC (lots of potholes) you may only get 2 years or so out of them. My car, went to 160K before I replaced them, but that was a lot of NJ, mostly highway miles

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Do it yourself... should be fairly easy.

I think the gist is just jacking the car, removing the wheel, having a quality spring compressor (because if not an unleashed spring can do naughty things), then undoing some bolts, hooking the strut up, bolts again, put the wheels on after releasing the spring and then alignment, isn't it?

 

[bruceb]

Basically, yes. But you do need a spring compressor to move the spring from the old strut to the new one, unless you buy struts that are preassembled with a new spring (which I would do, if the old springs were weak or sagging) .. and sometimes, those strut to steering knuckle bolts need a bit of persuasion to get them out (around 75 Ft Lbs or so)

 

[BW86]

Do it yourself, its a fairly easy job. I recently had to change my gf's rear struts on her '00 corolla and the hardest part was removing a stuck brake line bolt. Other than that you just need to take the rear seat out, take off the sway bar and rent a spring compressor from your local hardware store. The fronts are even easier.

 

[BUTCH1]

Get a good socket set AND a 3/4" breaker bar, also a haynes or Chilton's manual and have at it.
Save a lot of $$$ on this job and it's something a DYI'er can handle as access is fairly easy..

 

[bruceb]

You will need a front end alignment after the new struts are put in. Otherwise the camber & caster will not be in specs.