YACT: Timing Belt

[MAME]

How much would it cost to get a timing belt on a 96' Jetta replaced (including parts and labor). The car turned off as it pulled in to a parking spot and wouldn't start again.
The dealer said it's about $80 for the part, 3.5 hours of labor at about $100 an hour plus a $100 fee to have it evaluated. Total after tax should hit $600. I didn't think timing belts were that hard to get to and replace...but I don't know much about cars.

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: MAME
How much would it cost to get a timing belt on a 96' Jetta replaced (including parts and labor). The car turned off as it pulled in to a parking spot and wouldn't start again.
The dealer said it's about $80 for the part, 3.5 hours of labor at about $100 an hour plus a $100 fee to have it evaluated. Total after tax should hit $600. I didn't think timing belts were that hard to get to and replace...but I don't know much about cars.

A Jetta is a chick car so mechanics naturally inflate the price by about 33% on average.

 

[ROTC1983]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: MAME
How much would it cost to get a timing belt on a 96' Jetta replaced (including parts and labor). The car turned off as it pulled in to a parking spot and wouldn't start again.
The dealer said it's about $80 for the part, 3.5 hours of labor at about $100 an hour plus a $100 fee to have it evaluated. Total after tax should hit $600. I didn't think timing belts were that hard to get to and replace...but I don't know much about cars.

A Jetta is a chick car so mechanics naturally inflate the price by about 33% on average.

 

[MAME]

That's what I was thinking actually. It's not my car, it's a (native) Japanese girl's car...but is the price about right? I know the $100 for inspection and $80 for parts is about right, just not sure about the labor.

 

[freebee]

Sounds high. Even if they were doing a water pump and other goodies, it shouldn't run past 500.

Unless of course, the belt already broke, which opens up a whole can of worms for certain engines.

 

[MrColin]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: MAME
How much would it cost to get a timing belt on a 96' Jetta replaced (including parts and labor). The car turned off as it pulled in to a parking spot and wouldn't start again.
The dealer said it's about $80 for the part, 3.5 hours of labor at about $100 an hour plus a $100 fee to have it evaluated. Total after tax should hit $600. I didn't think timing belts were that hard to get to and replace...but I don't know much about cars.

A Jetta is a chick car so mechanics naturally inflate the price by about 33% on average.

He's not kidding, that price is at least 33% inflated. Someone did a research study and found that when looking at a woman's car they charge more. My GF had me get her car towed and it turned out to be the timing belt and it cost about $400. I was pretty embarassed because the car has flourescent flower decals on it but I'm sure it saved her some money to have me take it in.
Call around and find a lower labor cost and consider the cost of towing it to that location to have the work done, or have a male friend call. Maybe $100/hr is the going rate in your area I dunno. Good luck.

 

[MAME]

Northern California. It's from a VW dealership, not some private place. I thought they usually are fair there but now I'm thinking I might try and help her out. The problem is, they've already started on the work so I don't know if I can do much.
I'm not sure if the belt broke or not but the car wasn't being used at all afterwards anyway so I don't so why it would have caused more damage.

 

Good luck, you own an "interference" engine, when the belt breaks, the pistons hit the valves, you didn't state if it was a VR6 or a inline 4.

 

[StageLeft]

It seems funny that they want $100 to evaluate it considering they've already done that right? $100/hour for labor...damn, that aint' cheap. I think a job like a timing belt is of the difficulty that I'd have no qualms about bringing it to a neighborhood mechanic and get them to do it, since most mechanics have done countless timing belts. I bet Roger wouldn't try and charge a whopping $600 for one!

 

4 hours at $65 an hour = $260

Timing belt = $25

Water pump = $50

Coolant = $5

Total parts = $80

Total labor = $260

Total = $340

Tax = $20.40

Grand Total = $360.40

This includes replacing the water pump and flushing the cooling system.

 

[MainFramed]

 

[Scarpozzi]

Roger, is a Jetta even worth $360?

Tell her to SELL SELL!!! Or just drive it until the timing belt breaks. It would help remove one more Jetta from the roads and do us all a great service.

 

[lightpants]

Originally posted by: Roger
4 hours at $65 an hour = $260

Timing belt = $25

Water pump = $50

Coolant = $5

Total parts = $80

Total labor = $260

Total = $340

Tax = $20.40

Grand Total = $360.40

This includes replacing the water pump and flushing the cooling system.

Rodger, you forgot the 33% chick surcharge, please re-estimate.
thank you,
management

 

Chick surcharge - 33% = $241.47

 

[StrangeRanger]

Roger has got it about right. And if she's a cute chick I actually subtract money. If it's a 4 cylinder jetta i could have it done in just over 3 hours. Assuming that either the belt is not broken, or that when it did break she got lucky and nothing else got damaged. It's a simple job to do, done dozens of them.
j

 

[T2T III]

I thought I heard that Jettas were a pain in the arse when it came to engine work?

 

[rh71]

Generally speaking, timing belts changes should be approx. $400... $600 is way up there... then again, you stated it was the dealer doing the work... I'd bring it somewhere local... and at least somewhat reputable.

 

[Pacfanweb]

The moral of the story is, the dealership isn't charging more because it's a chick's car. They aren't charging too much labor. Their prices are just a bit higher (labor and parts) than other shops (or maybe they aren't, depends on where you live).
If their labor rate is 100/hr, then I'd imagine that even the independent shops are going to be more than the prices Roger gave. They'll probably be cheaper, but they're hourly rate likely won't be 35/hr less.

Oh, and it doesn't matter if you can get the job done in 3 hrs, 2 hrs, or 4 hrs......if it pays 3.5 hrs by the book, you should have to pay 3.5. If a mechanic has accumulated years of experience and thousands of dollars worth of tools that enable him to beat the book time, that's to his advantage, not the customer's.
People bitch about that all the time, but if shops only charged the actual time it took to do jobs, mechanics would never be able to make 40 hrs a week, much less more.

 

[Pacfanweb]

After reading the original post again, I might have to argue about the 100 charge to diagnose a timing belt.....it's not like they had to hook it up to a computer to find that out....you can pretty much just turn the key and listen to how the engine turns over and you know it's a timing belt. If you had some problem with the way the car was running and it took some time to diagnose, I'd agree, but charging an hour's labor to diagnose a timing belt is a bit steep.

 

[DurocShark]

Agree with Roger. Very fair price! I had a shop do the timing belt in my Volvo (which should be cheaper because it's rear wheel drive) and they replaced the crank timing sprocket too, for $250. So for a FWD car figure about another hundred bucks because it's more of a PITA to get into...

 

[Nyical]

Originally posted by: Roger
4 hours at $65 an hour = $260

Timing belt = $25

Water pump = $50

Coolant = $5

Total parts = $80

Total labor = $260

Total = $340

Tax = $20.40

Grand Total = $360.40

This includes replacing the water pump and flushing the cooling system.

So were do you live Roger

BTW, is the Vortex inline 4 in the Chevy a interference engine?

 

[Ornery]

What is the bright idea of using a belt instead of a chain anyway?

 

[Quixfire]

Originally posted by: Ornery
What is the bright idea of using a belt instead of a chain anyway?

Timing belts are cheaper to manufacture than timing chains.

 

So were do you live Roger

Connecticut

What is the bright idea of using a belt instead of a chain anyway?

Belts have several advantages over chains, including but not limited to the following ;

Silent

Reduced valve train harmonics

Longer engine bearing life

Reduced engine length

On vehicles equiped with distributors that run off either the camshaft or intermediate shaft, reduced timing fluctuations.

Reduced manufacturing costs and parts replacement

 

[bernse]

Originally posted by: Roger
4 hours at $65 an hour = $260

Timing belt = $25

Water pump = $50

Coolant = $5

Total parts = $80

Total labor = $260

Total = $340

Tax = $20.40

Grand Total = $360.40

This includes replacing the water pump and flushing the cooling system.

I believe you are being waaaay optomistic with those prices, especially from a VW DEALER.

I'd bet you can double, if not triple the parts cost. $50 for a VW water pump? $25 for a timing belt? Pretty unlikely. I wouldn't be suprised if the shop labor rate was higher too.