Price shopping timing belt/water pump job

[Electromotive]

Recently had a timing belt and tensioner/water pump job done on my 06 Elantra. I live in a mid size city/metro area. Prices (total parts/labor and tax) ranged from $475 to $1140. The shop I chose used a timing belt/water pump kit from O'reilly's, and the shop's warranty is 12 month/12000 mi. parts and labor.
The local Hyundai dealer estimate was $990. The $1140 price was quoted by an independent shop that has several locations in the area.
That is big price spread in my book. Price quotes were $475, $ 550, $840, $990, and $1140.
Has anyone else seen that big of a price difference when shopping for a timing belt/water pump replacement?

 

[bdcardinal]

It would be interesting to know what the higher quotes included that the lower ones didn't. I try to do any estimate "worst case scenario" because I would rather that than to quote low and they do the callback with "o hey so you are going to need X, Y, Z in addition."

 

[UncleDave]

rollers and tensioners are often left out.

 

[mclasser]

I used to have an 05 Elantra and I recall my indy charging $500 to do the TB, WP & acc. belts. He used some kit, either from Dayco or Gates.

 

[BigGeo]

As a reference; for my son’s 2008 v6 accord I purchased a kit on amazon for $189 which included
AISIN Water Pump
•AISIN Hydraulic Tensioner
•Koyo Idler Bearing
•Koyo Tensioner Bearing
•Mitsuboshi Timing Belt
•Water Pump O-Ring

+ serpentine belt $20
+ coolant $20 = $239 for parts.
$475 sounds low. Make sure they use new quality parts and everything likely to fail in the next 90k miles is replaced If you plan on keeping the car.

 

[97prizm]

My 2005 Dodge Neon was $500ish. Then my steering became extremely difficult to turn. They pulled out a few pieces of a pulley that the bearing seized. They charged an extra $100 for new pulley and the hour of labor. My regular indy shop guy was busy and $120 more but the next town over is ridiculously expensive making businesses charge more.

 

[Klarque420]

Paid roughly over $550 for labor only on a timing belt, water pump and associated pulley/rollers with tensioner and accessory belts job, I provided an AISIN kit from rockauto.com which at that time costed me $223, for my V6 Galant

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

1996 Toyota Corolla DX, 250K Miles
About 3 years ago my son had his upper end R&R. Timing belt, tensioners, pulleys, water pump, crank seal, plug tube seals, valve cover gasket, hoses, t-stat, and coolant. He bought everything online from PEP BOYS. It was a Gates kit. Parts $230 after 35% discount. $350 labor by an ASE mechanic friend.

 

[Hall]

Yes - son has a '12 Accord and most independent shops quoted around $600 using parts store parts (if I'm not mistaken, these typically only include the belt and water pump). A Honda/Acura specialist shop, that only uses Honda OEM parts, quoted $1100. He replaces 'everything' too. A local Honda dealer frequently has a coupon for $500-550 for the timing belt only. In their defense, many Honda mechanics say they don't see water pump failures nor does the factory recommend replacing it as "preventative" maintenance. I know, I know, you're in that deep and the labor is already there so changing it should only be add'l parts cost.

 

[aquariuscsm]

When I did the timing belt on my 300ZX,I replaced EVERYTHING. I also replaced everything and anything rubber, including all seals, gaskets,hoses,etc. All oem parts from the Nissan dealership.

 

[mctmatt]

I was told a long time ago by a friend who was a mechanic at a local Chevrolet Dealership that all their pricing and charge was based upon a booklet that was used that you looked up the job that needed to be done and it gave the estimated hours or time that it should take to complete that particular job then they quoted a price based upon those hours and their hour rate plus charge for part . If I remember right I think he said a minimum of 3 hrs was always quoted no matter if it was just replacing brake pads or radiator flush . That was a long time ago though so times have most likely changed since then.

 

[The Critic]

Yes - son has a '12 Accord and most independent shops quoted around $600 using parts store parts (if I'm not mistaken, these typically only include the belt and water pump). A Honda/Acura specialist shop, that only uses Honda OEM parts, quoted $1100. He replaces 'everything' too. A local Honda dealer frequently has a coupon for $500-550 for the timing belt only. In their defense, many Honda mechanics say they don't see water pump failures nor does the factory recommend replacing it as "preventative" maintenance. I know, I know, you're in that deep and the labor is already there so changing it should only be add'l parts cost.

Expect to pay an extra 0.5-1.0 hr for the w/p while the timing belt is being done. There is extra time required to clean-up the mess and to properly bleed the cooling system.

 

[another Todd]

Not that job, but I had a leaking secondary coolant overflow bottle on my 2015 F250 diesel. Ford said it wasn't covered under the powertrain warranty, so I asked for a quote. The dealer said $680. I was shocked because the bottle is about $130 and looks easy to change. So I called 3 other Ford dealers and got $280, 340, and 480 parts and labor.

 

[ctechbob]

Yes - son has a '12 Accord and most independent shops quoted around $600 using parts store parts (if I'm not mistaken, these typically only include the belt and water pump). A Honda/Acura specialist shop, that only uses Honda OEM parts, quoted $1100. He replaces 'everything' too. A local Honda dealer frequently has a coupon for $500-550 for the timing belt only. In their defense, many Honda mechanics say they don't see water pump failures nor does the factory recommend replacing it as "preventative" maintenance. I know, I know, you're in that deep and the labor is already there so changing it should only be add'l parts cost.

Yep, replace it while you're in there, and check to see if it has started to seep around the oil pump area. If it is, now is the time to do the oil pump seals. You have to tear into the timing belt area to do that job as well, so timing belt time is a great time to replace those seals. You're only talking $50 in parts and another hour or so of labor.

 

[partspro]

make sure all the parts used are first quality, seals will save you money to do now while the beast is open, same labor to install lower quality, but not the same outcome

 

[zzyzzx]

Just DIY. It's the only way to make sure that all the rollers and tensioners get replaced.