itrsport.com

My local Acura dealership is trying to charge me $775 for installing a new water pump and timing belt. The breakdown for this charge is 5 hours at $92 per hour labor charge ($460) plus $315 for belt, water pump, and the other miscellaneous little parts needed for the installation. The car is sitting at the dealership now (inside) since they need to order the belt.

This price seems unbelievably outlandish! Anyone, please chime in and tell me what your local dealership charges – more specifically the hours Honda/Acura officially estimates for this particular task. I presume the dealerships have nearly full control on what they charge for the hourly rate but don’t they have to follow some guidelines for “hours” per job?

I may call the service guy tomorrow and tell them to cancel the work at that price. Can anyone give me advice on this situation? I could accept paying $450 for this entire job including parts but $775 is out of line. Don’t you think?

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted. The car is doing well (86k) and I’m looking forward to spending my 5th summer with #457. Hope to see you guys at the Expo or a Chicago meet.

I miss these days - Sept 02 Chicago Meet

cmdr430

i am not sure what the total bill would be at my dealership, but i believe there labor rate is $65-70 per hour

$92 seems like a lot.....

330R

The belt lists for $52 and the water pump for $116. I can't think of what other misc parts would bring that to $315. Can anyone else?

The labor rate sounds close to what I've seen called "exotic" rate of $100/hr.

Good luck!

Kicker773

damn where have you been?!!!!! We all thought you went missing....jeeesh..hope to see you at the summer itr meet that i can hopefully host

Kicker773

Oooh n is that Nate i see on the 3rd pic.. where da hell is he too...

743power

The hours are normal, but the parts are through the roof expensive. $150 in misc. parts? They might be replacing the tensioner/spring/bolt, but I wouldnt consider that "miscellaneous" That's robbery right there. If anything, they might replace the crank pulley/balancer bolt which is like $15 I think.

I work at nissan and our labor rate is $90/hr.

Chris F

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 330R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The belt lists for $52 and the water pump for $116. I can't think of what other misc parts would bring that to $315. Can anyone else?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Duh, you forgot the $3 water pump gasket. If they're replacing sensors and the thermostat, maybe...

Call Acura of Brookfield and get a quote on the phone.

330R

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Duh, you forgot the $3 water pump gasket.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol, now it adds up

itrsport.com

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris F &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Duh, you forgot the $3 water pump gasket.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, the service writer was just going through all these dinky things necessary over the phone - $11 here, $12 there... I don't remember all the little parts he said. I'm sure they are there but it is still ridiculous. The parts plus the service charge all adds up. I do all my own service but I don't have the tools/experience necessary to do this job without risking damage.

MugenHonda

just get a GMB water pump and a gates timing belt and you're straight
GMB=acura as they're both made in japan and gates is one of the best belts around
If you were in NY/NJ I'd do it for 100 bucks and food labor only
and get the parts for 50 bucks or less
you don't even need to set timing, if you turn the crank to tdc before taking the crankshaft off

itrsport.com

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MugenHonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just get a GMB water pump and a gates timing belt and you're straight
GMB=acura as they're both made in japan and gates is one of the best belts around
If you were in NY/NJ I'd do it for 100 bucks and food labor only
and get the parts for 50 bucks or less
you don't even need to set timing, if you turn the crank to tdc before taking the crankshaft off</TD></TR></TABLE>

I could buy round trip air fare to fly you to Milwaukee to do the job and still be less expensive than Acura. LOL... oh wait... that's not funny.


Modified by itrsport.com at 5:18 AM 4/8/2005

jetydosa

That does seem crazy high, although dealers often are. I just checked my local dealer Acura Carland, they charge $655 normally, but are having a "special" for $579.

http://acuracarland.com/Specials-Service.aspx

Keyed ITR

That doesn't sound too unusual for dealership labor rates. Falconi's Acura here in Las Vegas charges $105/hour. They also charge $39.95 for an oil change. I haven't been to service there since I purchased the car!

BlueR

iTrader: (10)

show them the ad and see if they will price match

db8sirg

why didnt you do it your self? no time?

btw my dealership replace all these items for a timing belt/water pump service

t-belt
water pump
vc gasket
cam seals
crank seal
all drive belts (ac, ps, alt)
coolant

so depending on how much they charge i can see it being 300 for parts.
labor also seems right in terms of what a dealer would charge.

some of the v6 t-belt serivce can run up to a grand.

Mugen Mike

King Motorsports labor rate is ~$70/hour, and they charge actual time -- not "book rate."

Good luck with the stealership. I imagine they feel they can get away with the high rates, since they are they only Acura dealership in town. Did you use Dave K as your service writer?

Splat

In 1999, I got a quote for a timing belt change on my '93 Accord - $450, and that did not include the water pump.

Dealers charge re-damn-diculous prices for t-belt changes.

WP, belt and tensioner runs me about $70 for the old Volvos, and a 12-er for the tech at Harris Volvo gets them installed

Kengs

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Splat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
WP, belt and tensioner runs me about $70 for the old Volvos, and a 12-er for the tech at Harris Volvo gets them installed </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm glad I live within spittin distance of the We-Todds (and Len), no need ever to see the dealer

Splat

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kengs the "OG" JDM Junkie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I'm glad I live within spittin distance of the We-Todds (and Len), no need ever to see the dealer </TD></TR></TABLE>




Used to go visit Harris Acura quite often for this and that (pre-P1 Auto days). I just wish Harris Volvo worked on FWD Swedish joy

Then again, I hear you know people I need to know for that kind of thing

Willard

I have sent a to a transplanted "we-todd" friend that now lives in Milwaukee.

Black R

**** THAT.

If you HAVE to pay someone else to do it - at least don't pay over $500 for everything.

It's not a hard job to do for the first time diy'er - just make sure you go by the helms instructions.

If you can install spoon calipers, you can do the infamous timing belt/ water pump/ tensioner install. I have learned from h-t. And if I can do it, you can do it.

Stein

I paid $715 with water pump from my Acura dealer 2 months ago.

vactor

i got quoted $917 and "right around a thousand dollars" from the 2 suburban chicago dealerships. i think i pissed them both off as they had hung up on me by the time i stopped laughing. gonna do the one on my GSR sometime this year.

330R

Well crap, at this rate when I'm due for this service it's gonna run $1200

Seriously, time to research jack stands and necessary tools..

mickey513

You're getting RAPED. If I were you, I will cancel the service if you still can.

I got the water pump, timing belts, cam seals (2), cam plug end repaced for $500 at a local indepdent shop w/ OEM parts. I also had a valve adjustment done. Parts was like a little over $200 and labor was 4 hours, $240.