Timing belt replacement pricing.........

[Kaspian]

Its about time to replace the timing belt on my wifes car. It was recommended to do so at 80k miles. Well the car has almost 120k.

So, we get a quote from the Hyundai dealer on a timing belt replacement. It came to $1000 give or take one to two hundred bucks.

I went and got a quote from a local shop: It came to $242

 

[ayabe]

Well teh dealership is always going to try and bend you over.

But I would think there has to another explanation as well. Normally when you do your timing belt you should also do your water pump, perhaps the dealer is doing that as well?

 

[DougK62]

I'd be very cautious of the $242 price from the local shop.

 

[overst33r]

The dealer asking price is normal... I had a friend who got quoted $1200 for a T-belt in a Civic Si. Could the local shops estimate be for the serpentine belt and not the actual timing belt?

 

[cardiac]

Kaspian, I guessed at what Hyundai you guys have, but for a 2002 Elantra, a Goodyear timing belt (Not serpentine) is $48, and the best water pump I could find was $110. If the stealership is charging $1000, then they are including a whole lot more, or rippin' you off. Also, the local shop price might be a tad low. Get itemized estimates whenever you get them. This way you can compare apples to apples......

Bob

 

[Kaspian]

Originally posted by: ayabe
Well teh dealership is always going to try and bend you over.

But I would think there has to another explanation as well. Normally when you do your timing belt you should also do your water pump, perhaps the dealer is doing that as well?

Nope. Just the timing belt replacement.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Timing belt services are incredibly dependent upon the car. Almost all of the money is in labor, not in parts. Most car will run between $500 and $1,000 to replace the timing belt and water pump (along with the accessory drive belts).

I would expect that you should be able to find someplace that can do the proper service for around $500, but I would be very wary of the $242 quote and ask to know exactly what it included (check that for the dealer quote as well, both parts cost and labor).

ZV

 

[Kaspian]

Originally posted by: DougK62
I'd be very cautious of the $242 price from the local shop.

We've taken our vehicles there for misc repairs. They have always been pretty reasonable. We did not know that they would replace the timing belt in my wifes car (Hyundai Elantra '03) till yesterday. We took her car in for a wheel bearing replacement and we asked about the timing belt.

 

[Kaspian]

I'll call the dealer and have them fax me an itemized quote. But for what they verbally told us a while back it was just for the timing belt and labor.

 

[Kaspian]

Now, just out of curiosity why is the water pump changed at the same time the timing belt gets replaced?

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Kaspian
Now, just out of curiosity why is the water pump changed at the same time the timing belt gets replaced?

It's easy to get to because everything is pulled off already, or you must remove the timing belt to get the water pump. I have seen it both ways.

 

[exdeath]

Water pump bearings also coincidentally start to get loose and you start getting shaft play in the time span of regular timing belt maintenance, at least that is what I personally have experienced predictably. There is a lot of labor involved in ripping the front engine cover open, and the water pump is just two or three more bolts and another $50 or so.

One reason I would suspect for the drastic difference in cost could be one is literally just the timing belt, while the higher one might be the whole timing cover 'kit', ie: front seals, tensioner, belt, idlers, water pump, etc,

 

[thomsbrain]

Dealer price is definitely high, BUT BUT BUT: Not all "timing belt" services are created equal.

On many cars (I don't know if this applies to yours or not), a full timing belt replacement service includes a number of extra parts, including tensioners, all the other belts, and most importantly, the water pump gets replaced, too. If you don't get the water pump replaced at this time, it's more likely to fail before the next timing belt change, and cost an arm and a leg to get to, since you basically have to do a timing belt service just to get to the water pump. This happened to me when I was young and wanted to save a buck. 20,000 miles later, the water pump failed, and it cost me way more to replace than if I had had it done when they already had the engine torn apart for the timing belt.

Understand also that timing belt services can be hugely intensive on some cars and easy on others. So if the local shop isn't familiar with your car, they could end up charging more than their quote once they see what they are dealing with. My advice is to find an independent mechanic who specializes in Hyundais. He'll probably charge somewhere in between the dealer and the other guy.

 

[imported_Truenofan]

i would go wit what ZV said. hes right. if its placed in a way they have to remove engine mounts then it requires alot of work like my moms car, have to take off an engine mount to change the serpentine belt. man, what is up with you guys and your water pumps....my parents have owned dozens of cars, replaced only timing belts and nothing else, and never had a problem with any of the water pumps, i've seen water pumps just fail but never around the time of a belt change.

 

[ayabe]

Originally posted by: Truenofan
i would go wit what ZV said. hes right. if its placed in a way they have to remove engine mounts then it requires alot of work like my moms car, have to take off an engine mount to change the serpentine belt. man, what is up with you guys and your water pumps....my parents have owned dozens of cars, replaced only timing belts and nothing else, and never had a problem with any of the water pumps, i've seen water pumps just fail but never around the time of a belt change.

It might not be dead at the time but it will fail at some point, so while you've got everything open and apart it's just a good idea to replace it since it's relatively simple.

I've had pumps die on two cars of mine my Integra and my Samauri at around 120K.

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: Truenofan
man, what is up with you guys and your water pumps....my parents have owned dozens of cars, replaced only timing belts and nothing else, and never had a problem with any of the water pumps, i've seen water pumps just fail but never around the time of a belt change.

I'm guessing it's more common in hot dry dust bowls like Arizona. Usually I don't see them fail completely, but just barely leaking or making annoying noises. Sure enough when I play with a water pump after changing a timing belt, there is always excess shaft rocking. And this is on cars with 60k miles on their first timing belt service, so it's not like it's a car with 120,000 going in for it's third timing belt while still on the factory water pump or something that would skew the results.

It's only like a $30-50 part for most cars, not worth the the time and effort to *not* do it if you ask me.

 

[Kaspian]

Well, crap. I forgot to call the dealer about faxing that quote. I'll do so on Monday when I'm back at work.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: exdeath
Water pump bearings also coincidentally start to get loose and you start getting shaft play in the time span of regular timing belt maintenance, at least that is what I personally have experienced predictably. There is a lot of labor involved in ripping the front engine cover open, and the water pump is just two or three more bolts and another $50 or so.

One reason I would suspect for the drastic difference in cost could be one is literally just the timing belt, while the higher one might be the whole timing cover 'kit', ie: front seals, tensioner, belt, idlers, water pump, etc,

Mine WP went bad only 5 months after changing the timing belt, it's a no-brainer
to change it while your in there..

 

[andylawcc]

again, what most ppl said above

1) $242 may not include the whole "thing": water pump, seals, other belts.
2) change the water pump too. cuz it's take alot of work just to take the water pump out, and it is almost the same work require to do a timing belt job, so ppl usually bundled the two together.


I had 3 timing belts job done on two cars. both 4 banger. both came out to around 400 bucks. (1 = celica/corolla 1.8L, 2 = honda D series 1.7L)

 

[PingSpike]

That seems pretty high, even for the dealership. I had the head gaskets repaired, changed my timing belt and replaced the water pump on my neon all at once and the bill came to around $1000.

 

[mrblotto]

Had the timing belt, WP (with gasket), and seal (crank?) replaced on my '97 Celica for about $400. IMO only thing dealer garages are good for are
-handling recall issues
-charging way too much for repairs

 

[sjwaste]

I'm about to go down this road soon too. I need to find a shop here that can handle the timing belt on my 91 Supra. It's pretty straight forward, but its an older car and I don't want a lot of mysterious collateral damage from the job (oil leaks, etc).

Luckily it's a longitudinally mounted engine with a lot of access up front, but there's still a lot of labor involved. I'd do it myself, but the crank pulley's spec is 200 ft-lbs. Even if I got it off, I could never put it back on.

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: sjwaste
I'm about to go down this road soon too. I need to find a shop here that can handle the timing belt on my 91 Supra. It's pretty straight forward, but its an older car and I don't want a lot of mysterious collateral damage from the job (oil leaks, etc).

Luckily it's a longitudinally mounted engine with a lot of access up front, but there's still a lot of labor involved. I'd do it myself, but the crank pulley's spec is 200 ft-lbs. Even if I got it off, I could never put it back on.

Sit on your 1ft wrench...

 

[j00fek]

i would do it myself for the price of the belt

 

[IGBT]

..why don't they use chains. It would prob last the life of the car/truck. I noticed Nissan uses chains in their V8. Toyota still uses belts.