the Cost of Toyota Repair

The right hand side Front Lower Arm bushing had started to come out and my car failed state inspection because of that at my regular 5k mile maintenance. This happened at the Toyota dealership in Bangor, ME. The dealership suggested replacing both the Front Lower Arms, since the left side was also a little bad.

They gave me a quote of almost $1,300 (6-8 hours labor * $120/hour, Parts around $350). I did not have that kind of money so thought of looking around. I called Carquest, Advance Auto Parts and even auto parts salvage in Bangor, ME, but all of these dealers were giving the estimates based off a computer program they were using. The labor was the most significant part of the repair.

I finally went on E-bay and started to find the parts, and found both Front Lower Control Arms for $ 120 shipped vs $350 for the Toyota dealership.

Then I called a couple of local mechanics that were experience to do such a job. Then one finally agreed to do the job once the parts arrived. All said and done the job took 3 hours of labor @ $50/hour, parts $120 and I gave the mechanic a gratuity of $ 30. Total cost was around $300 for the whole job.

I called the local mechanic and told him I have the parts in my hand. He set up a time for me to come in on a Tuesday, afternoon. I was free of any commitments from my job on that day. I was planning to spend my time while the repair job was being done to do some office work on my laptop.

The local mechanic's place was not the most spacious and clean, but with the amount of savings, I could stand the place for 3 hours. The mechanic with his buddy started the job and occasionally came in to apprise me of what was happening. They also showed me the faulty lower control arms with the bushings coming out. I was shocked at how the steering system was working and glad I got it done sooner.

The repair required taking the front wheels along with the wheel rim. The job was done successfully and in around 2.5 hours. The number of hours I am told is usually rounded up, so the 3 hours. The mechanic mentioned the ride would a little bit stiff for the first 100-200 miles. They drove the car for 10 miles and made sure everything was working fine.

1. The dealership offers a good value to those who have the money and a factory warranty, no doubt, with the ambience, wireless internet, complimentary coffee and water, air-conditioning and many other things. I am not saying that they are bad in any way, but with the times as they are right now paying a premium of $1,000 for the above job was not value to me.

2. I always used to take the dealer price on face value. I had done two job in the past with the dealership, and thought they were fair, until I did this job. So my advice is to shop around a little bit, you never know what you might find.

3. Some local mechanics will not work with parts brought by the customers or ask for a higher labor rate, so ask before you go in to do a repair job.

4. Some mechanics might not have worked on a Toyota before, so ask before you go.

5. It is a good idea to get the regular maintenance done at the dealership, as they know their automobiles in and out, but might do some of the bigger jobs outside.

Thank you