My sister has a 1997 Metro with almost 100k miles on it. Recently her check engine light came on and according to the mechanic she needs a new upstream O2 sensor. He also reccomended a timing belt change and a tune up. He quoted $700 for everything. Is that a reasonable price? He's a AAA-approved mechanic so I believe he'd do a legit tuneup, including fuel filter and new pcv valve, etc.If the timing belt is going to be changed, how much extra time would it take to replace the water pump on this vehicle? On my car at least it's pretty easy to do if the belt is off and probably worth it. But on the Metro?Thanks!

"Jim Bancroft" wrote innews:zPDMg.17378$% 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.

1997 Metro. Tuneup and timing belt $$?

Sep 09, 2006 22 Replies

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Edwin Pawlowski 19 years ago

I don't. Nor do I know if a band new one will fail. New does not always equal good.

I can also get a flat tire, have a fuel pump fail, have all the electronics fail, have the transmission die (again), have the starter fair, water pump leak, or a radiator hose break. Not to mention the timing chain can send valves through pistons or the oil pump can wipe out the engine. At 5 years and 119,000 miles, anything can happen. I've had brand new parts fail out of the box in the past so it is always a bit of a crap shoot.

Driving is scary stuff.

Aside from all of that, I just want to keep this thing going for a few more months. I don't want to buy until January, but GM seems determined to have me do otherwise.

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James Goforth 19 years ago

We had a local parts house which featured GM Delco parts, which we would use for GM cars, as we considered the quality to be better--since if the car came back with a defective part we'd installed, we'd have to eat the labor. I'm not a big fan of the alternators and starters from some of the other places. Certain relays and such from Delco would weigh as much as a roll of pennies versus a similar one from the cheaper places would weigh like a book of matches. We had VERY few comebacks using Delco.

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James Goforth 19 years ago

aarcuda wrote, "There is never a decent price on junk. ************************************* LOL !! You are the MAN!

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