£900 Service

[Dav4]

Hi all, Ive just had a 60k service on my Rav4, new Cam belt, new water pump, MOT and my bill was £900. Can anyone comment on this? Does it sound about right? way over? under? all feedback welcome!

Dave

[T600]

Welcome.

Ouch, sounds like a lot to me if it was a standard service + the bits you mention.

What year / model is your RAV? Did you shop around or get discount?

Ron Brookes in Mansfield have a scheme for 10% discount on parts & labour for cars over 3 years old.

[bothwell_buyer]

A new water pump at 60k seems a bit unusual. I got 160k out of mine and it was the engine that seized due to oil failure - the water pump was still fine!!!

Cam belt is a tricky job with the lack of space, but there should be a book time for this.

Were you losing water before the service?? Or maybe they chose to replace the pump whilst they had the thing in bits??

You can get an engine change for cheaper!

[Dav4]

Rav is 2004 XT4 2.0 Diesel. Im not mechanical and rarely look in the engine but I have seen a small amount of water under the car where I park it, I just presumed it was the air-conditioning or something like that, but apparently it was the water pump leaking. The Garage I took it too was a friend of a friend so I thought they would do a better deal than Toyota because the Toyota garage messed me around last time so I didnt want to go back to them. So it looks like Ive been ripped off then... *****e. I was told that the engine had to come out and side wings come off and front bumper off so that they could get to the water pump, does that sound right? Oh well, nothing I can do about it now except figure out how to pay my credit card bill...

[T600]

Rav is 2004 XT4 2.0 Diesel.

Not sure then.

I'd have got a quote from Mr T as a reference. You could ring them now and get a price; as Bothy says they have a book with a number of hours for each job. And ask whether the engine needs to come out and if that means the wings need to be removed; sounds like a big deal, but it's possible. If they say that's rubbish then you could challenge the price; take the Toyota hours * the garage's labour rate + parts and you should have a better idea of what you should have been charged.

Non Toyota garage only cheaper if their labour rate * their hours less than Mr T's rate * Mr T hours. It's no good being half the price per hour if you take three times as long to do the job.

All that said, if you gave them the go ahead without getting a price up front, then you may have no option but to stump up the cash.

[Dav4]

Yeah I think I'll ask Toyota just to get an idea. Ive already paid (credit carded) the garage. I didnt bother with a quote from a 'mate' but in hind-sight I shouldve had one anyway. I'll post back on here once I get an idea from Toyota whats involved!

[bothwell_buyer]

Sounds like a classic! I had a clutch replaced by a non-dealer who I got to know, some 3 years or more ago and they managed to take the engine out the top!! Took twice the time! They cut away the front, then re-welded it! I don't use them at all now! I watched the guys at the current garage replace the clutch in situ!

The engine on most/many jap cars comes out the bottom. Certainly on the 4.1, it comes out the bottom. By loosening off the mounts and bits, its possible to cant the engine over to free some space to look at the cambelt side, without taking the engine out.

To take the engine out, + take wings off sounds as if they hadn't a clue what they were doing, and you've been hit with their learning experience. Or maybe I'm wrong with your version of RAV.

I think Parts-King posted details or a price of a waterpump on the forum just a few weeks ago and mentioned that it is a common fault (on later models).

Looking at the Haynes manual, the 3SFE engine (ie pre 2000) and the 1AZ-FE VVTi engine (fitted after 2000 but maybe the US market - I'm not sure) can both have waterpump replaced in situ.

Its always difficult to approach a 'friend' to remonstrate on the cost of a repair. An approach to a dealer for a quote helps you to decide if you are saving, or at least give this figure to the non-dealer garage as a benchmark.

Things become misty when you go down the track of non-standard work.... where the engine swap from a 3SFE to a 3SGTE turbo was done by The Garage in Motherwell. They came highly recommended, and they certainly didn't rip me off with the engine swap even though the transition hadn't been done in europe before. Their knowledge of the 3SGTE engine however was a great benefit. And they laughed when I told them that a previous garage had taken the engine out the top!!

For the future, you might find that a garage that specialises in Jap cars will be quicker and better value.

Let's hope you get a wee lottery win soon!

Ian

[Dav4]

Am I allowed to swear on this forum, heres the email I just recieved:

MOT - Special Offer £39.95

60,000 Mile Service / T.Belt / Water Pump = £490.00 including all parts, labour and vat

so much for 'mates rates'

[T600]

Ouch.

As Bothy suggested, either he didn't know the best way to do it (or perhaps he didn't have the right equipment to do it the best route), so has taken much longer than Mr T would have done. £490 sounds more like what I'd have expected. Or he's just ripping you off.

Either way, I'd have a word and try to get some money back; it's hardly your problem if he took longer than Toyota.

It's easy to say with hindsight, but this shows why it's a good idea to at least get a price from Mr T so that you know how much you're saving if you go another route. And always get a quote up-front from whoever does any work on your car.

[anchorman]

Rav is 2004 XT4 2.0 Diesel. Im not mechanical and rarely look in the engine but I have seen a small amount of water under the car where I park it, I just presumed it was the air-conditioning or something like that, but apparently it was the water pump leaking. The Garage I took it too was a friend of a friend so I thought they would do a better deal than Toyota because the Toyota garage messed me around last time so I didnt want to go back to them. So it looks like Ive been ripped off then... *****e. I was told that the engine had to come out and side wings come off and front bumper off so that they could get to the water pump, does that sound right? Oh well, nothing I can do about it now except figure out how to pay my credit card bill...

I don't think I'd have the engine out for a water pump. I'd tunnel in from the boot first. Maybe they are just unfamiliar! The manual says;

Drain coolant

Remove timing cover and belt

Remove the 7 bolts holding water pump and remove pump.

Now there is obviously a bit more to it than just that very brief summary but no mention of engines coming out.

[Parts-King]

What a nonsense............and we get called stealers!

The engine does not have to come out on your RAV, it is done insitu

It is not uncommon for a pump to go on a RAV at this mileage or less, so a pump and cam belt would go hand in hand, plus the service. On a rough calculation I think the £490 is about right for a dealer price, you might have got a bit of discount as well if you haggled

I supply parts to TOC members, so give me a shout next time you need parts

Kingo

[gramps99]

What a nonsense............and we get called stealers!

The engine does not have to come out on your RAV, it is done insitu

It is not uncommon for a pump to go on a RAV at this mileage or less, so a pump and cam belt would go hand in hand, plus the service. On a rough calculation I think the £490 is about right for a dealer price, you might have got a bit of discount as well if you haggled

I supply parts to TOC members, so give me a shout next time you need parts

Kingo

so what would be your price for a 60k service on a 51 reg 2.0 petrol nrg ??? thanks