dirtyrice

I just took my 1997 4runner in to the dealer for a little preventive maintenance and a needed repair. I had a starter put on, timing belt, water pump, cam and crank seals, idlers, tensioner....you name it...LOL. Well, after $650.00 in parts and $750.00 in labor, I think we'll be good to go till the rest of the motor gives out!

Before you all start getting on me for taking it to the dealership (stealership) for the repairs, I must tell you these facts (or problems at times).

1.My wife and I travel with her company, so we are in CA this month and could be in MA next month, so we needed to take it somewhere that had a 'nationwide warranty' to say (no shadetree shops!).
2. I don't travel with my tools and don't have some of the needed special tools or airtools at my disposal
3. My apartment (every one we've lived in) REALLY frowns upon working on cars in the parking lot/garage.
4. Needed it fixed ASAP. Even if I did have a place to work on it, the tools to do it, and a case of beer, I still wouldn't be able to do all the work in less than the day it took Toyota.

So, there it is...a car I just paid $9600.00 not even 2 months ago just ate a HUGE chunk of money out of my wallet. My a$$ still hurts from the dealership, but unfortunately, I don't think I had much of a choice.

Sorry to rant on here, but I needed to do it! LOL.

Anyway, what have some of you paid for repairs? Please help me feel a little better by posting some outragous things you had to get fixed!

neoworm0

I bought an oil filter from the dealer for $11.70 CDN today. My butt was pretty sore from that.

j-man

dood, dont feel so bad. Ive had all 4 of my 4runners serviced at the stealership for timing belt/wat pump/pullys/cam seals just cause i didnt want to fark with em all, and i also got a good price since i buy so many parts and service work its worth it to me.

86tuning

You might be going to the wrong dealership then. I pay around $7 for mine

neoworm0

Ya I usually pay around 7 as well. I was in a hurry and went to a dealership I don't always go to. Guy at the counter was.... well nevermind. Anyway I won't do that again.

infiltrator

i can understand where you are comming from, but i can't at the same time. why did the timing belt have to be replaced right that minute. couldnt you search around, call quote, check for peoples advice on here. you should have found a better mechanic, and saved yourself couple hundred bucks OR more. granted, you get your 'warrenty' but if someone has been changing timing belts for years, i think they got it down pat.
any shop would do the work.
but hey, this is comming from my a part time college student. my wallet is thinner than paper.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

If it makes you feel better Rice, I would have had to pay $2500 for a new torque converter and front pump install on my 99 dodge ram 4x4 diesel, but it was luckily covered under warranty. Just look at it as: $2500 for a torque converter install. Big spendin.

dirtyrice

The reason we had it done 'right now' was that we are moving next week, the starter was either not starting when the key was turned (3 times in the last week) or staying on after the engine had started(also 3 times the last week), and the water pump was squeeking and an antifreeze smell had developed over the last couple weeks. We took it where we did due to the fact that if I took it to Jose's auto werx was that if we are in a different state (which we will be) and there is a problem, how are we going to get Jose to fix the problem (if there ever is one).

I just feel raped at the price I paid, but at least it is done, I can drink my beer without getting my hands dirty, and no worry of getting it done bafore work the following Monday. The bad thing about the Dealer is that we walked up to the parts counter and I was going to order the parts, but it was $987. I went home and ordered them online (from the SAME dealer) and got them for $650 shipped! Weird how these dealers work...

KdF

You paid about right for a Stealership to do that much work. Besides, if you don`t have the time or tools to do it, yes it hurts the posterior a bit, but the end result of not worrying makes the difference. I have changed 3 timing belts in my life and i am 51, so who says that I will do it perfectly again or even want to any more. I let the Stealer do the Taco last year, water pump, tensioner and belt and they are the ones who have to eat it if it wasn`t done right.

Carry on..............

rearviewmirror

There's nothing wrong with getting it done at the dealership, but make sure you negotiate with your service writer. They'll accumulate all the steps in the labor price, even if a few tasks are a natural progression of another and would take the whole Toyota spec'd time allowance. Also with the dealership you're getting a warranty on their parts and work.

Oh yeah... negotiate your parts price too, there's a 100% markup at least on those parts.

j-man

whats your dam prob man? Who are you to place judgements on what other people own?
First of all, 3 of "my 4runners" are in baja - a place where you need to have very reliable vehicles, good on gas, and can take a good desert beating; which all are built accordingly.
Secondly, i bought them each for cheap - about 5k each from various sources and gave 2 of them to my inlaws to use.
Lastly - we usually have a group of people when we go camping/backroads exploring in baja and in a place where parts can be very hard to get its a smart vehicle choice to have more of the same parts handy.
So i respectfully ask you to keep your smart ass comments to yourself u narrow minded little shiat .

apalmer1

One time i was going to buy these two little shear off bolts that went to the ignition of my mazda pickup as i was putting a new steering column/ignition/everything on it after somebody stole it for the 2nd time nad broke all that stuff. Well anyway the mazda stealer wanted like 40 dollars for these 2 little bolts so i said screw that and just chiseled the old ones back in untill they were tight.

tomwadden

Dirty Rice,
How much parts and labor do you estimate the starter was out of the total bill? My tacoma needs one bad and i know its just the silly $45 contacts and plunger, but i have ZERO time do it and i need it done quick. Im always able to play with it in parking lots to get it to start but im sick of having to do it and its a little embarassing in the school parking lot when everyones leaving, haha. I wish i could just rebuild the stocker cuz i have the tools and know how, but im out of time lately with work and school.

Ian Rogers

wow 750 labor ... you could of bought new tools and had $400 in you pocket. That if you stupidly paid list at the dealer, no need to do that. And as to the warranty if you buy OEM parts at a dealer the parts are on a nationwide warranty with toyota. its your money you can spend it any way you want.

dirtyrice

Tomwadden, Let me look it up. I have the old starter here and wanted to rebuild the contacts myself, but tools, time and wife negated that decision. Anyway, I will run out to the car and get the bill....

dirtyrice

No, I didn't pay list price....funny though...The dealer AT THE PARTS COUNTER quoted me $987 for parts. I was like WTF! I went home and ordered the parts from THE SAME DEALER online for $650. I will be getting a few bucks back on a core and a thermostat gasket not used. I also printed a coupon from another dealer that was 15% off any service work and thid dealer honored it. So....Had I let the wife do what SHE wanted, it would have been done a week earlier, but over $1850.

Spence1016

i was unbelievably pissed when midas charged me 116 to weld on a muffler...

dirtyrice

OK, the starter was $197.25 for the 1.8kW, and a $30.00 core. This is an OEM, but REBUILT from Toyota. I am showing .7 hours and I think $87.50, but I am not positive on the price. I hope this helps. This particular shop charges $125.00 an hour labor rate.

Wow, less than an hour on the starter? It would have taken me a month! LOL...well, not a month, but at least 3-4 hours.

JGrauman

my dealer charges 19.99 for an oil change, includes toyota filter and 5qts of oil. just saw this on tv today, i'm going to call tomorrow and see what they charge for synthetic.

doctorcarta

what kind of warranty(s) or guarantee(s) do Toyota dealerships give?