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Maintenance & Repair Maintenance & Repair Costs
602 messages, Last post on Oct 19, 2009 at 5:25 PM
You are in the Maintenance & Repair Forum. Your Host is mr_shiftright
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Replying to: jeffyscott (Feb 24, 2009 7:50 am)
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Replying to: burdawg (Feb 25, 2009 7:42 am) Currently, business is so plentyful, he won't notice missing me. The jobless % in this area is 14+ % so we'll see. |
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Replying to: euphonium (Feb 24, 2009 11:21 am)
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Replying to: bolivar (Feb 26, 2009 4:37 am) |
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Hi: I have a few questions regarding driving a car from 120,000km’s(75,000 miles) to 240,000km’s(150,000miles): 1) When is it likely to need front end work (Tie-rod ends, ball joints, etc)? 2) The emission system again, how long should the oxygen sensor’s last, and the catalytic converter last? 3) Based on your experiences would a budget of say $175.00 per month put aside get one through from 120,000 to 240,000+, or would more funds be required? Thanks for everyone’s help much appreciated
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Replying to: carguy89 (Mar 14, 2009 6:15 am)
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Replying to: jeffyscott (Mar 14, 2009 6:48 am) As for front end work, usually suspension starts to weaken or deteriorate at around 80,000 miles, although this is so gradual that many people never notice it until they replace the worn parts, and then they marvel at the difference. |
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I ran up to Tucson yesterday to order a half shaft for our Toyota Avalon. It has a torn boot. I didn't even bother to get a dealer quote. First I Went to Fletcher Auto - a chain. $125 to replace boot with no CV joint clean and repack. $600+ to replace half shaft. WOW! Another estimate was 200 for boot and repack (but the counter guy wasn't sure about the repack). Who knows, maybe they used a zipper type where you don't even have to tear everything apart. I asked around, then found garage who would do the rebuilt half shaft with a 1 yr guarantee for 200. I was going to go with him, but then. there was a retired body guy that does painting on the side, and he refered me to another guy near his shop. $75 bucks labor for a 2 hour job, and I furnish the part. He said Autozone has a lifetime guarantee on half shaft, which is only 70 bucks, but had to pay in advance as it was a special order. Sure pays to shop around, and it ain't rocket science. $150 I can handle. There are options. You just have to find them. I did all brakes with rotors and ceramic pads for under $300 too. A dealer charged someone else $1300. This is posted in another forum. Avalon, 04 and prior, I think. You can search 55396 to find the discussion.
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Replying to: 55396 (Mar 16, 2009 6:30 pm) I just saw your post as I was searching for what someone recommended for aftermarket rotors that were superior to OEM. I just bought an aftermarket rear bearing/hub assembly for our 03 AV. $85 with a 2 year warranty. $300+ at the dealer? Taiwan, but who cares? Labor, about 1 hour  $48/hr. OK, I took it to a local junk yard. Mechanic builds and races stock cars and seems top rate. New rotors would be $20-30. Pads are almost gone. $20 for OEM. $40 for ceramic. I just talked to NAPA and they quoted me $45 per rotor. They didn't have drilled. Then I spoke to my mechanic at the junk yard. He quoted me $22 for grooved rotors. Quess what? He got em from NAPA. He must have not marked them up from his cost. Now that's treating the customer right. So, we are doing a rear hub and bearing assembly, turning the rear rotors, new grooved front rotors, and new ceramic pads all around. Not sure what the total will be. Well, I picked up the Avalon from the junk yard. Brakes have a really nice feel with the ceramic pads that Todd recommended. Very quick with a solid performance feel. This may lessen a bit as they break in, but I hope not much. I like it. We will break them in gently until the surfaces wear in to each other. With the previously installed KYB GR2 HD struts ($209/set new on ebay plus installation and alignment) and Energy Poly sway bar bushings, this has become quite a sporty feeling car to drive. I agree with ABFisch, very BMW like. This is now a very enjoyable car to drive, and I don't even have the rear bushings installed yet. I couldn't believe the difference the front bushings alone made. I highly recommend them. At about 30 bucks, you can't beat the improvement. If your struts are weak, this should firm things up a bit too. I did ours before the struts, ant it was very noticeable. My wife was thrilled with the difference. Now that says alot. A rear wheel bearing started to go on the trip home from Arizona 2 years ago, but didn't seem to get any louder, so made another trip last year fully loaded. Still no change, but I thought I had better not push my luck. Good thing probably, as it takes considerable effort to rotate the old one. More of a lube problem than anything. I can usually lube a bearing and free it up, but this one isn't responding well, so I assume it's the outer bearing that I can't get to. I'll let it sit a day or 2 to see if oil gets down to it. Anyway, I bought a new bearing/hub assembly online for $82, and Todd installed it. I probably could have - only 4 bolts, but didn't want to this time. At 68k, the pads were quite thin, so we replaced them with ceramic. and turned the rear rotors as Todd said they rarely warp. In retrospect, I would have gone new, as the cost was only slightly more. Should be fine though, as only needed to clean them up because they weren't warped. Fronts were warped and pulsating, so we replaced them with grooved aftermarket rotors. Bearing/hub labor was only $33.80. I won't dirty my hands for that. Turning the rear rotors and all other labor came to $78. $20 for 'shop supplies' seemed excessive, but no complaints at this price. So, my out the door total including tax was $283.18, plus the hub/bearing that I supplied. Helluva deal. My theory is that when coming to a stop and holding the brakes on causes the heat to remain under the pads while the rest of the rotor cools, possibly causing the warpage. So, we try to brake early and more lightly, then stop about 10-12 feet back at an intersection. The rotors don't get so hot with easy braking, but then we also let the car creep ahead so that the rotors cool more evenly. It's my wife's car, and while she says she practices this, I notice that she sometimes, um, forgets.
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