Most expensive paid for repair

A

andrew_j

Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
3,514
Location
Cow Hampshire
What are people’s most expensive car repair?

Myself is $3100 in 2011 address burned valve along with slew of PM items easy to do with motor out on our 2005 Subaru Legacy turbo wagon manual transmission at 140k miles.


Long version:
Dealer quoted $6800 for long block replacement.

My Indie quoted $2200 to machine heads which required removal of engine with flat four. That climbed to $3100 when he recommended replacing piston rings, water pump/timing belt, plugs, throw out bearing.

The upside after this I only changed oil for another 100k miles and repaired it driving till 2018.
 
Years ago I bought a crashed MK3 with a G60 swap so I could G60 swap my MK1 Cabriolet.

That and all ancillary parts were ~$1000.

When I rebuilt the Trooper after the head gasket popped was ~$1500 all in.

Outside of those the only time I've really spent more was on tires 😑
 
Headgasket on a 95 Neon. I think it was ~$1100 in 2007? At the local dealer too, a couple years later the water pump went, so it was time for that and a timing belt, tensioner for ~$700.
I think we've had a couple $4-500 brake jobs done over the years before I starting doing them myself.
It was a bit of shock when our Subaru dealer started on about the $1100 service package at 60k miles, and she seemed a bit surprised I didn't just say yes right away.... Eh no, just do the plugs and the CVT fluid and I can do the rest.
 
$1600 to have a shop pull the exhaust manifold off a 2013 Equinox to clear the soot out of the air injection ports. Could not get rid of nuisance CEL because of it. Turns out the exhaust manifold was cracked anyway, so it needed a new one. Finally got it to pass e-check, then it got totalled two months later.
 
All gonna be in the $1000 ballpark. Starters that I couldn’t do. Suspension. Just recently got caught with my pants down at BMW for state inspection and paid them $950 for what an indie coulda done for $500 or so with me supplying parts. I let BMW do it so I could be done and get my inspection stickers. If not, then 2 more days off from work.

My ABS pump failed and it woulda been at the time $4200 at the dealer, but that was not possible. Too much. So I DIY’d for about $450 including software.

Would my luck change with a 2025 Tahoe? I researched and a platinum extended warranty to 8/100 is $3550 with $0 deductible. My plan is to get it but see if I can get a lower price. I didn’t normally do extended warranties until > 2010, and plan on it with the ‘25. One can wait until 30 days or 1000 before the 3/36 expires, but I think after 24 mos the price goes up? All actuarial games…
 
$4600 for a Jasper engine that lasted less than 6 months and 2500 miles (failed lifter).
It's replacement lasted less than 6 months and 3800 miles (coolant in oil).
It's replacement is now at 54000 miles, even though UOA's continue to show elevated amounts of lead since day one.

When you average it out... I did great. 3 engines (unfortunately, only one was good) at $1534 each. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO::mad:
 
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Going by memory around $2k - Redid warped exhaust manifolds on both sides of the 4.6 3V in an '07 Explorer. They spent a lot of time extracting the broken studs. Service advisor was apologetic, but was like if you saw the room they had to work with, you'd feel bad too! Will also state this was many years ago now - I'd hate to see what this would cost today...
 
Just started shredding old car records, for vehicles I haven't owned in a while (wife dug them out during some cleaning). I should have looked more closely... but I found some Excel files for a couple of my vehicles.

The leaf springs on my Tundra was $800 back in 2019.

My VW? $1100 for struts in 2008, TB and a couple odds and ends another $1100 in 2010. 2012 was a bad year: summer started with a clutch and a couple minor repairs for $1100, end of summer brought TB and turbo (turbo shaft snapped) and some other repairs for another $2700 (included a tune but that was needed for the otherwise no cost turbo upgrade)... month later, fuel pump, that was only $360... then an O2 sensor for another $150.

Including timing belts (but not tires and oil) it was just under $11k over 11 years and 314k on that VW. I guess that's not bad, as long as I average it out over total ownership?
 
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Around $900 for a rebuilt engine (250 inline-6) from Sears for my '71 Chevy Biscayne - c. $4400 in today's dollars.

That was a mistake - I should have scrapped the car.
 
Failed ECU in a 2014 Armada, IIRC it was around 800, maybe 3 years ago.
We still have the vehicle, at 160K now, and that is the only major issue we have ever had with it.
 
Body shop quoted $5000 for a new BMW Z4 hood and that was before paint. Needless to say I went aftermarket fiberglass for $800.
 
2008 BMW M5
I did the work, but paid almost $900 for the set of new OE radiator hoses. They were not leaking but 16 year old M car, I was trying to be proactive.

Not the most expensive by total dollar amount but likely the most expensive radiator hoses....
 
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$1000 for a windscreen on my Prius Prime.

$300 for the glass, $200 for the installation, and $500 for calibrating the camera/ crash sensors.

They got me out of there in 2.5 hours, so the calibration is a flat-rate money maker for them.

My insurance has a $2k deductible so I didn't file a claim. My full coverage is darn cheap, even with two male teen drivers. They'd get the money back somehow if I tried.

I got a chip in the new glass a week after it was installed. It's still there.
 
eljefino said:
$1000 for a windscreen on my Prius Prime.

$300 for the glass, $200 for the installation, and $500 for calibrating the camera/ crash sensors.

They got me out of there in 2.5 hours, so the calibration is a flat-rate money maker for them.

My insurance has a $2k deductible so I didn't file a claim. My full coverage is darn cheap, even with two male teen drivers. They'd get the money back somehow if I tried.

I got a chip in the new glass a week after it was installed. It's still there.
Click to expand...
I was always skeptical about auto insurance, the commercials, the fact we pay decades without claims.

Through no fault of our own our car was a total loss in May. I must say MA Auto handled everything 100%. They acted as if they cared.

Very surprisingly at least to me, people we do not know made claims against us. “This is America” came to mind. Not knowing what transpired MA Auto got rid of the vultures.

So my opinion of auto insurance changed. Prior I said we haven’t had a car loan since 2014, we should have dropped all coverage since.

At any rate, comprehensive covered our loss and paid us at a fair amount. As promised, when the renewal came, no increase due to the loss, nor were any discounts removed. Also, imho the agent earned the business. Used to think they don’t do anything at all.

When you need them, you’re glad you have them.

The end. 😊
 
Is painting a classic considered a repair? Every panel was reworked and refitted, chrome polished, etc. No early Vette came from the factory with panel fitment like this... Check out the gaps! A labor of love. This would be maybe $50K today, but first ya gotta find the right guy...
68Back.webp

68side.webp
 
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