Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Discuss any problems, warranty, repair, or replacement issues you are having with your Vibe & Matrix
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Bigfoot
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:36 am

Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by Bigfoot »

I heard a noise so I took my 2005 Pontiac Vibe AWD to the local auto shop. Have had work done there before and tend to trust them. They said I need new front shocks and struts assemblies ($300 each) with $300 in labor and $200 worth of suspension parts. And rear hub assemblies, wheel bearings and seals ($500 each) with $500 in labor. And new rear brakes shoes and brake overhaul $200 in parts and $150 in labor. All in all about $3,200 worth of repairs with sales tax and other stuff. I looked at some stuff online and that seems crazy in price. Is it crazy or correct. Any help is great. Thanks in advanced.
Caretaker

Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by Caretaker »

Answer: the Doctor you and your family have been seeing for over 20 years just gave you the bad news that you have cancer that has spread into your pancreas and kidney. Both need to be removed immediately. What is the first thing you are going to do?

I hope you realize that this is the answer to your car woes. As long as the car turns over and runs, take advantage of that and go get two more opinions. Pay the guys $75 for the exam each time. If they agree with your "doctor's" diagnosis, AND you know they are a reputable mechanic, get quotes from each of them. Business is business. If your current mechanic does not understand that, they are not worthy of your time. Just to keep my relationship in tact with my mechanic, I'd even take a quote over to him and see if he can match it or at least come close. You can and should do the same. If you need a list of reputable mechanics near you, go to www.repairpal.com and enter your zip code.
ehoff121
Posts: 756
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:19 am
Location: Conn.

Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by ehoff121 »

How many miles on the odo, Bigfoot? See Caretaker's post earlier this week about this car being able to run for 200k-300k miles. Our '05's are now 12 years old and some of those suspension parts have rubber in them that doesn't get better with age and use. Were the rear hubs making noise? No reason to replace unless they were. Rear brake shoes are not a big job and last a long time, so unless an "overhaul" includes replacing the cylinders/hardware and brake fluid, then bleeding at all four wheels, I'm not sure what this would be. The rear hubs are sold as a unit- the bearings and "seals" are not replaceable, so should not be charged separately.

I agree with Caretaker that it's worth getting a second opinion on these- do NOT mention anything about the first shop's diagnoses. Let the other shops figure out what needs work. A good shop will give you an estimate and priority of each repair. It sounds like this guy was mentioning a lot of parts to make the work sound more complicated than it is, so that's a red flag.

Are you a do-it-yourself kind of Viber? Front struts (we don't have "shocks" per se) are also sold as a "quick strut" that includes all the parts to make it a straightforward remove and replace job, no spring compressor required. Once you have the old struts out, it's not a stretch to replace some of the suspension parts while you have the wheel off.

If you prefer to have the mechanic do the work, make sure they aren't just adding up the labor for replacing each individual part. Repair software shows the effort and estimated hours to replace part X. Sometimes, part Y is removed in order to replace part X, but if you need to replace part Y too, they might charge you the estimated labor rate to replace just part Y on top of the labor for just part X, thus double counting the labor for part Y.

No mention of the condition of the exhaust? Maybe you live in a state that doesn't use road salt...
2005 Pontiac Vibe AWD - Platinum
Bigfoot
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:36 am

Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by Bigfoot »

I am DIY inclined. I would be willing to do the repairs myself if they don't require any special tools. My car has 165,XXX. I live in Wisconsin so lots of road salt. The exhaust had a hole last year but that was cheap to have someone do. The rear hubs are making a noise. The car is parked until I decide what to do. My uncle is a mechanic and he said that me and him could do.
jayoldschool
Posts: 294
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2014 6:04 pm

Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by jayoldschool »

Owning an older car means that you will need to do maintenance. That means making a choice: pay someone to do work, or do it yourself. Everything in your first post is DIY for a good home tech, and can be done for much less than your estimate.
bigdoug
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:36 pm
Location: Detroit Area, Michigan

Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by bigdoug »

This issue is probably already resolved, but I thought I'd throw in my own experience.

I've had shops that have thrown the book at me in terms of repairs needed. They'll tell me that I need A,B,C,D, and E done. And then I take it down to another shop, and they'll say that all I need is sway bar links, or a tie rod, or brakes. This actually happened once, one shop wanted struts for $500 or so, the second shop recommended something, sway bar links I think, and that fixed the problem.

I'm not sure if those shops are just trying to hose people down with unnecessary repairs, or being overly cautious with what needs to be fixed. With my example, maybe the struts WERE starting to go bad, but that was not the actual source of the problem. A good mechanic will know what is actually causing the problem and needs to be fixed NOW, and what may need to be fixed soon but can wait or just be watched. The mechanic I dealt with was either lazy or dumb and just heard the noise and guessed it was struts (without checking), might have been one of those "Throw parts at it until it's fixed" idiots, or just noticed the struts were a little worn and didn't bother checking anything else.

Second opinions are always a good idea.
tpollauf
Posts: 4025
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:37 am
Location: Toledo/Oregon, Port Clinton Ohio
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Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by tpollauf »

Good advise so far from all others here. One thing to note is that once a car is hogging up a bay in a garage, multiple repairs DO go quicker and more efficiently. Once a car is lifted, the mechanic could do multiple work on the underside and cut time way down. Granted, labor rates are spec'd as if it were ONLY that item being fixed. Multiple repairs should render a break in the labor if not more. Curious to see what you come up with 2nd or 3rd opinions/quotes. good luck ;)
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2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

"everything is modifiable"
Abbie89
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 24, 2017 6:43 pm

Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by Abbie89 »

Vibe 09'- Abbie

My issue is I may have electrical issue plus my fuel door wont open when I lift the lever to fuel up my car. I only had her for 2 years now bought her in 2015, she was used but only had 140k at time of sale. I was quoted by GM dealer nearly $500 just to diagnose if it's an electrical issue or not. Is there anyway I can fix this myself? If so any tips how I can do just that willing to learn. I live in Wisconsin so for some reason mechanics rather try to talk circles around the women in my experience. Please help I want to keep my car she's PERFECT!!
Caretaker

Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by Caretaker »

dealer huh???? OK, first wash your car off to get the filth off from visiting the dealer. Next, take your car to your trusted mechanic. Don't have one? Find one here (www.repairpal.com) or start doing some local research (friends, yelp, etc) to find one. There isn't a dealer who has a clue about our Toyota vehicles other than a Toyota dealer and I wouldn't recommend them either.
circuitsmith
Posts: 242
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:26 pm

Re: Big Repair Bill! Need Help

Post by circuitsmith »

Abbie89 wrote:My issue is I may have electrical issue
Symptoms?
2006 Matrix 5-sp
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