My mini suddenly started shaking and acted like it was stalling then it wouldn’t accelerate, the shop says its running on 2 cyl but they will have to take the engine apart to see what’s going on, the labor for that alone is 750.00 . this car hasn’t had any problems till this. It has 115k mi
Take the engine apart to figure out what is wrong? I don’t think so, sounds like a rip off to me. Don’t know if you took the car to the dealer or to an independent, but I would take it someplace else. Unless they tell you what is wrong with it I would not let them take the engine apart.
This problem could be as simple as spark plugs and the associated wires.
A simple compression test will tell the tale and that should run about $60, tops. If two adjacent cylinders have very low compression, the HEAD will have to come off to see if it’s just a blown head gasket or something more serious. Removing the head, done by a skilled mechanic using air tools takes no more than an hour, even though “The Book” says 4 hours depending on which book they use…Good Luck…
That verdict from the mechanic or dealership has the odor of “ripoff” strongly emanating from it.
Take the car to an independent mechanic for a more reasonable estimate regarding the diagnostic fee. If this shop wants to charge $750 to diagnose the problem, I would hate to see what they would charge for repairs!