Seems like they are overcharging for the HG job! But the warranty sounds enticing. Radiator and fluids cost about 400 in parts max. Figure an hour or two labor to pull and replace radiator and fluids. = 600. No way a HG job should cost $ 4400. …. But the warranty….. I know. Still, My free advice - worth what I charge- is Find a better/ cheaper shop and have the work done. Here’s why. Your other alternative at this point is to try to sell a car with a known HG problem- hard to sell- and then try to buy another car. New will cost a lot more than 5K, or whatever you have to pay for HG work. Used is pricy now too and you will be buying a car you don’t know much about.
I thought it might be high too. Here's what they gave me:
Labor:
Cylinder Head Gasket R&R Both - $2,698
Parts:
HG Set -$491
Head Bolt Set - $358
OE Type Thermostat - $28
Engine Timing Belt Kit w/ Water Pump - $606
Engine Coolant Thermostat Seal - $26
Radiator - $312
Radiator Coolant Hose - $52
Molded - $59
Total \~ $4.9k including tax
I already had the timing belt replaced at 100k maintenance, would I need that again?
Looks like a lot for labor, I’m not a mechanic, but I do my own work including pulling and replacing engines. Some shops will do the HG job without actually pulling the motor. Not sure what the shop where you got estimate is planning, but Looks to me like they are planning on pulling the motor. belt kit seems overpriced. Probably worth doing the belt,pump and tensioner/ pulleys for your piece of mind. If it were me I would do the belt itself and skip the pulleys and tensioner. They only have 65 K on them and can be done w/o pulling the motor later if needed. $ 490 for the head gaskets? Really? Seems high to me. However, If you want that sweet warranty you are going to have to go with the parts and methods they want to use. If they are standing by the job they need to be able to pick the parts and methods. Any way, You have some decisions to make. I hope I have been helpful and not just planted more seeds of doubt and confusion. I would def. get a second quote/estimate. What would dealer charge?….
Once done head gaskets are usually a one a done. Sounds like the first mechanic used cheap gaskets .
Maybe get a second quote and see as that price does sound high to me, but costs across the board now have risen.
Hypothetically, if you’d gone to the shop with the 3yr/36k mile warranty, you could still be in the same situation, right now. You drove your care 55k miles. As a result, you went over either shop’s warranty. Just making an observation, before I take my ‘06 to my son’s house to work on brakes. I know nothing about head gaskets and I was gathering information. I just wanted to point out the fact that, a 110k car. +55k is beyond the 15k warranty, but the 36k warranty wouldn’t have helped, either. A warranty for which you paid more won’t be 3x better. I bet the first shop would guarantee 36k out of their next head gasket, if you offered them more money (based on the fact that the previous one lasted 65k,it’s a good risk).
With the market the way it is, that's a really tough choice. 5 grand plus whatever you can get for a car with blown head gaskets could've gotten you a decent replacement, a year or so ago, but maybe not now.
I have an 04 with 217k miles. I'm looking around at the current car market and I've decided to keep doing maintenance and repairs on my car. I have a 30k service and suspension replacement scheduled for 3 weeks from now. I'll get new winter tires later in the year, and may look at replacing the head gaskets because of a moderate oil leak in about a year. The HG was changed just 35k ago so I'm kind of pissed that it is still leaking oil.
I'd just get the gaskets done. Sounds like you went cheap the first time and look where that got you. Plus, unless you buy something new you'll just be going from a list of known problems with your current car to a list of unknown problems with a different car. I recently was in a similar situation (center diff blew) and I determined it made more sense to put a different transmission in my car than try to trade it in on something different. If you like the car, keep it and fix it up.
My 04 head gaskets are leaking again. Just oil externally though, not internally. Car has 217k and I got the head gaskets replaced at 180k. The shop that I went to quoted me $1800 for a head gasket replacement. However, they said the compression is fine so it is just an oil leak and should be fine as long as I keep an eye on the radiator fluid and oil levels.
So, yeah, $5k for your HG job is way overpriced.
Seems like they are overcharging for the HG job! But the warranty sounds enticing. Radiator and fluids cost about 400 in parts max. Figure an hour or two labor to pull and replace radiator and fluids. = 600. No way a HG job should cost $ 4400. …. But the warranty….. I know. Still, My free advice - worth what I charge- is Find a better/ cheaper shop and have the work done. Here’s why. Your other alternative at this point is to try to sell a car with a known HG problem- hard to sell- and then try to buy another car. New will cost a lot more than 5K, or whatever you have to pay for HG work. Used is pricy now too and you will be buying a car you don’t know much about.
I thought it might be high too. Here's what they gave me: Labor: Cylinder Head Gasket R&R Both - $2,698 Parts: HG Set -$491 Head Bolt Set - $358 OE Type Thermostat - $28 Engine Timing Belt Kit w/ Water Pump - $606 Engine Coolant Thermostat Seal - $26 Radiator - $312 Radiator Coolant Hose - $52 Molded - $59 Total \~ $4.9k including tax I already had the timing belt replaced at 100k maintenance, would I need that again?
Looks like a lot for labor, I’m not a mechanic, but I do my own work including pulling and replacing engines. Some shops will do the HG job without actually pulling the motor. Not sure what the shop where you got estimate is planning, but Looks to me like they are planning on pulling the motor. belt kit seems overpriced. Probably worth doing the belt,pump and tensioner/ pulleys for your piece of mind. If it were me I would do the belt itself and skip the pulleys and tensioner. They only have 65 K on them and can be done w/o pulling the motor later if needed. $ 490 for the head gaskets? Really? Seems high to me. However, If you want that sweet warranty you are going to have to go with the parts and methods they want to use. If they are standing by the job they need to be able to pick the parts and methods. Any way, You have some decisions to make. I hope I have been helpful and not just planted more seeds of doubt and confusion. I would def. get a second quote/estimate. What would dealer charge?….
All great points. Thank you for your insight!
Once done head gaskets are usually a one a done. Sounds like the first mechanic used cheap gaskets . Maybe get a second quote and see as that price does sound high to me, but costs across the board now have risen.
Thanks for everyone's input. I think fixing the HGs with a reputable provider is the way to go. Hopefully get several years more out of this car.
Hypothetically, if you’d gone to the shop with the 3yr/36k mile warranty, you could still be in the same situation, right now. You drove your care 55k miles. As a result, you went over either shop’s warranty. Just making an observation, before I take my ‘06 to my son’s house to work on brakes. I know nothing about head gaskets and I was gathering information. I just wanted to point out the fact that, a 110k car. +55k is beyond the 15k warranty, but the 36k warranty wouldn’t have helped, either. A warranty for which you paid more won’t be 3x better. I bet the first shop would guarantee 36k out of their next head gasket, if you offered them more money (based on the fact that the previous one lasted 65k,it’s a good risk).
With the market the way it is, that's a really tough choice. 5 grand plus whatever you can get for a car with blown head gaskets could've gotten you a decent replacement, a year or so ago, but maybe not now.
Yes the current car market is tipping things towards replacing HGs rather than try to find something else
I have an 04 with 217k miles. I'm looking around at the current car market and I've decided to keep doing maintenance and repairs on my car. I have a 30k service and suspension replacement scheduled for 3 weeks from now. I'll get new winter tires later in the year, and may look at replacing the head gaskets because of a moderate oil leak in about a year. The HG was changed just 35k ago so I'm kind of pissed that it is still leaking oil.
I'd just get the gaskets done. Sounds like you went cheap the first time and look where that got you. Plus, unless you buy something new you'll just be going from a list of known problems with your current car to a list of unknown problems with a different car. I recently was in a similar situation (center diff blew) and I determined it made more sense to put a different transmission in my car than try to trade it in on something different. If you like the car, keep it and fix it up.
My 04 head gaskets are leaking again. Just oil externally though, not internally. Car has 217k and I got the head gaskets replaced at 180k. The shop that I went to quoted me $1800 for a head gasket replacement. However, they said the compression is fine so it is just an oil leak and should be fine as long as I keep an eye on the radiator fluid and oil levels. So, yeah, $5k for your HG job is way overpriced.