Timing Belt Replacement

It's probably not just the belt; he's changing other things while he's in there, and his book says it takes that many hours. What's his hourly rate, and is he quoting clock hours or book hours?

I've no doubt you can get this done less expensively, but be sure you're comparing apples to apples. Get a quote from this dealer on exactly what he's doing while he's in there--he may be padding the bill with things that aren't required, for example. Winnow his work down to what's needed--replace TB and water pump and whatever accessory drive belts are in there--and take that information to another dealer, plus a local shop (not Firestone et al., but a real shop), and see what they have to say.

Hopefully that includes the water pump.

Last year, I was charged $660 labor (belt, water pump, seals & gaskets) plus $68 for the belt & $163 for the water pump.

Hello,

I'm not calibrated with this kind of thing, and would like your opinions on, please:

Dealership want $ 900 for a new (OEM) Timing Belt for 6 Cy. 2005 Accord Says it is a 6 hr. job.

Wow !

Is he in the ballpark for this ?

Why 6 hrs just to change a belt ? etc. ?

Thanks, B.

Your problem is finding a good mechanic that is an independent operator. I found a very good one. He quoted me 500 for my 98 CRV timing belt. It came in at 465. He said he quotes high because he often finds other things wrong. He only replaced the timing belt and water pump. From my perspective of mostly ignorance of engines and transmissions, he sounds like a mechanical genius. Everyone in town competes for his time. You would think he would just raise his rates to match the demand. He feels that would be unjustly taking advantage of people. I think he deserves more money for his talent. Just my opinion. I had suggested he raise his rates by 10 per cent. He did raise his income without impacting his cost by only accepting cash or check for work done.

I went in to him complaining about serious road noise. I suspected something seriously wrong with the drive train, maybe the rear axle. He took it for a test drive. He said the problem was a lot simpler. We live in a place were there is serious cold weather in the winter. He said even though I had plenty of tread on my tires they had freeze rot. This causes them to make noise. He sold me a new set of tires. Noise problem solved. Here in the upper peninsula your tire life can often be determined by time exposed to below zero weather. I now keep my CRV in a heated garage.

Michael

sell the car bob. you can't afford to drive it and you keep wasting our time with retarded bleating. take the bus.

I had mine done at 110K last week on a civic requiring 3.5 hours of labor. They replaced about a half-dozen things in addition to the belt.

How many times are you going to ask this group the same question, you seem to be bordering on troll territory. More importantly, did you bother to ask the dealer for a cost breakdown before asking the group?

Hello,

I'm not calibrated with this kind of thing, and would like your opinions on, please:

Dealership want $ 900 for a new (OEM) Timing Belt for 6 Cy. 2005 Accord Says it is a 6 hr. job.

Wow !

Is he in the ballpark for this ?

Why 6 hrs just to change a belt ? etc. ?

Thanks, B.

Hello,

I'm not calibrated with this kind of thing, and would like your opinions on, please:

Dealership want $ 900 for a new (OEM) Timing Belt for 6 Cy. 2005 Accord Says it is a 6 hr. job.

Wow !

Is he in the ballpark for this ?

Why 6 hrs just to change a belt ? etc. ?

Thanks, B.

Had the timing belt, w/pump drive belts etc replaced on a 2003 Pilot last year for $636 by our local Honda dealer. Perhaps the Accord V6 is more complex than the Pilot V6.

not really.

What answer do you want to hear that's different than the answers you've been given the last 3 times you asked?

not really.

Tongue in cheek!