Took my car in and found out I need to replace the Lower ball joint on the front driver side wheel, all the others are in good shape. They told me it would be about $400 for just that one ball joint and an alignment afterwards. My questions are... Is the alignment necessary for an 03 Civic (it has no problem with the alignment at the moment), if it is necessary, is $400 really a fair price for the two? And if I don't need an alignment what's a fair price for just the ball join replacement? They also said my leaky radiator would be $600 which seem outragesouly expensive, so I'm just doing it myself,. Thank you all for the advice and have a wonderful day!

 

Whenever you remove a component that will impact the arrangement of the suspension's geometry (balljoints included), its best to get an alignment. Even if your alignment is currently good, the amount of components to remove in order to do the work properly will bring it out of specs. If that $400 includes an alignment, its a decent price for the work.

As for the radiator, to get at the radiator they quoted you book time at their shop rate. $600 seems normal for that work, but its something you can do at home, if you're patient and have decent mechanical skills.

 

i agree

 

Paid $80 to replace two ball joints and two wheel bearings on an 89 civic. Not including the prices for the parts, which where about $100.

 

the prices are high because of that shops labor rates..i spent half of what you paid for an alignment and ball joint repair on my integra..i took the spindles off myself and had a shop hammer out and press in a 2 new ball joints..then brought my car in for an alignment...radiator is an easy fix. hondas are easy to work on..only time i brought my car to a shop was when i had an electrical bug i couldnt fix and had no time to deal with..thats when its better to pay a certified mechanic/shop imo

 

You can rent these two tool sets from Autozone for free and DIY. If you don't already have a 32mm socket to take off the axle nuts, then you will need to rent that also.

https://honda-tech.com/honda-civic-d...164-a-2987276/