Engine replacement cost vs rebuild
89rtmama
New Wagonist
Bluebell needs a new engine, or to have her engine rebuilt -- blew a cylinder somewhere along the way after doing so much commuting up I5/99 and back again for 3 years. Anyway. I don't have the time or skills to DIY so I'm looking for some good old consumer advice from my wago-pals.
The local shop is telling me a remanufactured engine replacement will cost me $5,760 (wow). If they drop in a low miles used engine instead, $3,500 with a 6 month warranty. I asked about JDM and what if I could supply an engine drop shipped to them, and they said that would save me a thousand, so that would be about $2,500. All the above quotes include labor, parts, etc. But, if I'm going to spend more than I spent on the car in the first place, I'd rather get some performance out of it at least.
And we didn't even go there, these quotes were just for putting the new engine and and making everything shiny.
I don't have a quote for the rebuild option yet. But do these costs seem out of line for a shop? I was expecting the cost to be about half what they quoted me.
TIA
Jenny
The local shop is telling me a remanufactured engine replacement will cost me $5,760 (wow). If they drop in a low miles used engine instead, $3,500 with a 6 month warranty. I asked about JDM and what if I could supply an engine drop shipped to them, and they said that would save me a thousand, so that would be about $2,500. All the above quotes include labor, parts, etc. But, if I'm going to spend more than I spent on the car in the first place, I'd rather get some performance out of it at least.
And we didn't even go there, these quotes were just for putting the new engine and and making everything shiny.I don't have a quote for the rebuild option yet. But do these costs seem out of line for a shop? I was expecting the cost to be about half what they quoted me.
TIA
Jenny
Comments
get your boyfriend/husband to do it
Jenny
pics would be nice
I would say I EASILY had 20 hours of my labor in it...multiply that by your shop's labor rate and you start to see where they're coming from.
I am considering doing a Vtec Dseries engine swap/rebuild. I can rebuild it myself and a mate gets parts at trade cost. But prices wont matter o you as im on the otherside of the world
Ahh heck. $250 NZD is around $130 USD. :P
Family projects are the best.
wagon.................4ever...........................
ay Dios mio.................my bad. i didnt mean to.
again my apologies mama
wagon....................4ever...................
if i knew I was going to have to replace my engine at 40,000 miles or whatever it is I....
..... would do a burnout leaving the showroom floor
..... beat the shit out of the motor on a daily basis
..... would never change the oil
..... and beat the shit out of the motor some more
Drive like a rental car... $30 a day and the burnouts are free...
I would say, take a good look at the car and set your budget first. Then decide if a used, jdm, rebuild or remanufactured engine would fit your budget.
Then add a couple hundred more to your budget because something else ususally will need replaced too no matter what way you go with it.
hmotorsonline.com <-- will check that one out, I haven't seen it yet
I'm still figuring out what to do. I definitely like the idea of buying whatever I can afford and having the local ricer throw it in ... we were walking down the street the other day and there was a guy with an old Civic and the hood up, he looked like he knew what he was doing, just some random college kid, but I was Oh So Tempted to just stop and say Hey, wanna work on mine too?
As for pics, I'd be too embarrassed -- she's in sad, sad shape. The left side mirror had an unfortunate incident with a deer shortly before the engine died, and I figure I shouldn't bother with fixing that until I know I'm going to be able to drive her again. (Fixed it with a $7 replacement glass from the local auto parts shop & good old electrical tape, hasn't fallen off or even budged, but looks like s**t.) And the hatch hinge went all wonky during last winter's snow, so the hatch is held "closed" (I use the term advisedly) with a bungy cord, which is covered with a plastic grocery bag because the last bungy cord disintegrated in the rain.
Anyway, y'all, thanks for weighing in. If the auto shop would actually fix the engine that's already in it, I'd be up for that, but they only offered to rebuild or replace it. (And I'm sure you can understand why. It's an old car. Still, even if they had quoted me a high price, I would have rather heard just about anything other than, "Nah, it's just too old, we won't work on it.") (My dad told me there's another shop in town that says they won't work on any car older than 1995, isn't that crazy? Especially in a college town. Half the cars I see are older than that.)
That's it for now, still saving my pennies. I sold my iMac for a little spare change but then bought my son a bike for his birthday (no, that didn't cost the WHOLE price of the iMac, but it was a fair chunk of it). By next month I'll be able to do something about this, I hope. I am sooooo tired of driving my hubby's subaru ... it's a good car, but it's not my Bluebell.
come on guys, where are you??
Good luck on the swap!