I have a Spyder GT 2001 and a mileage of 69K on it. Many told me that it is high time for me to get a timing belt change. Is this necessary? A dealer in San Jose quoted me a price tag of $1400 for general service and timing belt change. I feel it quite high.
What do you guys think? I am looking for suggestions if it is really required for a change now. I called up Pep boys and they said it was not necessary until 90K mileage. I am confused!! However, they quoted my a price of abt $900 for this.
I do not know the maintenance schedule for the Spyder. My 1991 300GT requires the timing belt and plugs be changed at 60K mile intervals, so 69K does not seem unreasonable to me. Check your owner's manual since it will list this under the maintenance schedule.
As to the differences in the price, make sure you are comparing apples to apples, cause what the dealer may be doing could include replacement of the water pump (a good thing to do while they have it apart to do the belt), the plus, wires, or other maintenance type items as well. If it is apples to apples, then make sure the non-dealer is competent and has experience on Mitsubishi engines. If so, then you have no reason to go to the dealer to pay higher labor rates since the car is well past its warranty.
Yes, it does seem high. But you are not pinned to the wall by any stretch. Make them provide an itemized list of the services planned and the price for each.
Many dealer 'general service' items involve looking at a component and charging $20 labor. Repeat one dozen times. I strongly urge that if your money is worth taking some of your time to call ahead, that you get estimates from a couple of dealers, a couple of independent shops, and make sure they list which parts are included in the price, and which service items are included too. Things like coolant change, ATF change, brake fluid bleeding, water pump replacement, etc can have a huge effect on the bill.
Again, it depends on the services provided, and now that Pep Boys is not a dealer, the parts will be different and may be different quality. Labor estimates will also vary if the shop isn't aware of the extra time/effort taken to change the belt on a v6 vs. the 4 cyl engine. (The v6 is larger and more cramped, making the timing belt an extra pain). I also don't trust a Pep Boys or other chain store unless I have strong recommendations that the particular location is run by good people and they have good mechanics.
Well 70k is not emergency time, but they do recommend 60k to replace it. Somewhere in my Mitsu service book (we have an 01 Eclipse 4 cyl) it shows 100k in some cases. I changed ours last year at 90k, since our car is almost all highway miles. The risk is that timing belt failure will basically destroy your engine - while it's not common, that kind of risk is not worth pushing. So it will need done sooner or later.
I did mine myself, since I have some mechanical skills, basic DIY tools, and we have a spare vehicle in case I got stuck. It took me one full day. But it's not that huge of a job, and you can save massive money by buying all the parts yourself from a place like
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(OEM parts at 30-40% less than your dealer will charge) and find a mechanic who will do the work at a plain old hourly rate. If you have a friend who works on cars, a couple cases of beer, tickets to a ball game, etc or returning of the favor will get you way ahead. Just be sure that if a DIY'er does the job, they have proper documentation (the mitsu service manual is what I'm thinking of) and good tools.
If you're going to have a shop do it, feel free to post the contents of your best estimate and parts they intend to replace and we can screen it for bs.
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