1997 Metro. Tuneup and timing belt $$?

"Jim Bancroft" wrote in news:zPDMg.17378$% snipped-for-privacy@newssvr29.news.prodigy.net:

Is she going to be keeping the car a long time? And is the car in good shape? Was it taken care of (all oil changes done)? Is the compression on the cylinders good? If answer is 'yes' to these questions, it would be worth it to do the timing belt and water pump. Seems kinda pricey though, to me. I'd tell him to include the water pump cost and replacement in that $700 estimate. Don't be afraid to haggle with estimates. By human nature, the mechanic will get as much money out of you, within reason, that you'd be willing to pay. Parts cost for the belt and sensor, tuneup parts, would only be like $150 total. So he wants $550 labor to do a timing belt and tunine up? Sounds pricey. Water pumps are only like $40. I'd have him to do the belt, tune-up, and the water pump, parts and labor, for $700 or even $650.

I come up with $370.00

aarcuda69062 wrote in news:nonelson- snipped-for-privacy@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com:

How are you getting that much? Autozone has o2 sensors for $80, belts are like $30, ignition tune-up parts and wires and plugs are about $50. Could you itemize your numbers? Well, $700 for everything would still be a lot cheaper than buying a replacement engine or another car. His mechanic should have recommended a water pump change automatically with a timing belt change, since most of the work to do a water pump change is done when you go to change the timing belt.

Thanks for your help. I've also itemized things in the ~$150 range. And I just want to make sure: changing the water pump in a Metro is no big deal provided you're also changing the timing belt? It isn't with my car (Dodge Neon) but I don't know about Metros specifically.

Thanks again!

"Jim Bancroft" wrote in news:wRFMg.26677$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com:

I have never had a Metro and don't have a Chilton's on it, but from what I've just researched, it's no big deal to also change the water pump at the same time as the timing belt. You may want to confirm with a bit of research -- perhaps call a Suzuki/Geo dealership. But the water pumps are only like $30 at Autozone, she should get the whole job done for $700 (timing belt, water pump, tuneup). Is this a 1.0 liter 3 banger or a 1.3 4 banger engine?

Have you thought about labour?? It's about 50 - 70 bucks an hour. So ya.. about 400 before labour..

grappletech wrote:

List prices at my local NAPA

I'd assume he wants it to run better, not worse.

Sure; Timing belt $70 O2 sensor $120 Spark plugs $16 (4@$4) Ignition wires $60 Distributor cap $30 Rotor $15 Air filter $20 Fuel filter $40 One could add another $30-40 for the accessory drive belts. The OP didn't specify which engine his metro has, so I priced in the middle between the 1.0 parts and the 1.3 parts.

$700 is extremely reasonable for a 100K mile service. (the car has probably needed little up to this point) Just did a 100k on a 94 Eagle Summit wagon on Thursday, the price was very comparable to the Metro. Water pump change is not necessarily needed or part of the timing belt job on a Metro.

Those Eagles are cool little vans, same as the Plymouth Colt Vista, Mitsubishi Expo. I know a WW2 veteran who bought an Eagle Summit brand new. "I only buy American cars!" he proudly said while showing it off. I didn't have the heart to tell him it was made by Mitsubishi (Japan)! Especially since he was in the Pacific theatre of the war, and Mitsubishi made the Zero fighting plane!

NAPA has good parts, but you can get the same quality for less. Of course, the shop is going to charge list price in any case.

May not be logistically possible. i.e., I have NAPA and CarQuest available locally, I can source from a WD but it may take a day extra for delivery. Customer might balk at tying up the car for an extra day not to mention me having to juggle my scheduling to accommodate the parts wait.

aarcuda69062 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com:

Isn't CarQuest cheaper than Napa? Napa has the best parts but are pricey. Does Napa even carry the cheaper stuff? I just go to Autozone because it's closeby.

I think just about everyone is cheaper than NAPA

hah yeah I've had that happen a few times. What seemed wierd to me is starting about 5-10 years ago, I started to see alot of older people driving Honda/Toyota/Nissan, and was like wait a minute? didn't they fight those guys? then I realized how old they were, and realized they were the Korean generation, so they might have spent time in Japan on shore leave and driven some of the cars and liked them.

My NAPA beats CarQuest 99% of the time on parts cost plus, I get a rebate check on total purchases made via ProLink each month.

Why are ignition modules so darn expensive? Is there some company in China or Mexico that makes them and sells for a decent price? My dummy neighbor blew up another GM FWD car (a Grand Am). He had just replaced a couple of the ignition modules a few months before the clyinder head cracked. I told him to snag the modules, and I'd slap them on ebay to sell. He didn't listen. He gave the car, modules and all, away for free.

Don't know, I've seen them manufactured, but I'm not involved in their manufacture. I suspect that it has to do with the fact that there is little if any competition at the consumer level like there is for cell phones and PCs.

There is never a decent price on junk.

People actually buy -used- ignition modules?

aarcuda69062 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com:

Yep. At junkyards/wrecking yards when a car comes in, the workers take the modules off and put them on a shelf and sell them. They're about half the price as new. They probably take them off, so that people won't sneak them out in their toolboxes. But anymore, most wrecking yards don't even let you walk back to the cars.

Sure, why not? Most electronics either work or don't work and may last 25 years. No moving parts to wear.

Considering the cost, I may put one in my car in the next day or two. Tomorrow it will be in the shop. We eliminated the coil by swapping the suspect one so it is probably the module.

Except that at in the case of a part like an ignition module or PCM, they can fail intermittently.

So how do you know that used module is any better than the one you're replacing? How do you know it won't die in the middle of rush hour on the day your boss is coming in early for a meeting with you?