So my brother in law’s 2000 corolla has a very loud hum when accelerating…definitely the wheel bearing (it sounds like more than 1). The car is a 2000 corolla with 89k miles and there are a ton of potholes here.
Our regular mechanic is asking for $300 (DC/MD/VA area) for 1 wheel bearing (he only thinks 1 is affected). Is this a fair price? If doing all 4, what should be a fair price?
I think $300 is fair. It’s a fair amount of work to do a wheel bearing, particularly if it’s on the front, as the driveshaft has to be separated from the steering knuckle, then you have to bolt/unbolt (or press/unpress) the assembly. The brakes have to be fully disassembled. I wouldn’t expect much savings on multiple wheel bearings, but you ought to save money if you need the brakes done at the same time, because most of the brake work is done just getting to the wheel bearing.
Sounds about right to me, no need to go all four, an as needed situation. a good mechanic maybe even using a stethoscope can confirm the part failure before trial and error method. Get confirmation the part being replaced is the part that is bad, otherwise you may end up with another diagnosis if the first repair does not solve the problem.
I would agree, $300 is in the ballpark, no need to replace more than are needed. But don’t be surprised if eventually you need another.
If you want to be sure which corner has the bad bearing, use chassis ears
About 2 1/2 hours and $125 for the part, one side, front. 3 1/2 hours and $250, both sides, front. About half that time for the rear.
So yes $300 is about right for the front, even a bit of a bargain if they’re using an OEM bearing.
You would be well advised to take @db4690 advice.
I ran into this not too long ago when I had to resort to taking one of my vehicles in for a bad front wheel bearing. I’ve used the conventional wisdom to identify which wheel bearing is at fault for my whole life and never gotten it wrong. When the shop called to advise on the proposed repair, I was taken aback at the bearing they wanted to replace. After some back and forth, they told me they had verified it using chassis ears. Good thing they did, it turned out to be the correct diagnosis. If I had done it myself relying on my prior experience only, I would have changed out the wrong one…
I had to replace front wheel bearings on my Chevy Caprice. It took several road tests and analysis by two different mechanics to identify which one, but because of the miles on the car and its age, we replaced them both. Not too expensive on a rear drive US car!
Last year, my friend had to replace a front wheel bearing on his Rav-4, and the Toyota dealership charged a little over $300.
Some wheel bearings are CAKE…others you will be disassebling most of your front suspension AND have the cutting wheel out AND the 20 Ton Hydraulic press… The wheel hub’s that you can unbolt are super easy…the pressed in bearings…not so much.
Depends on the type implemented here… A Hub? Easy… Pressed-In? Ugh…
Blackbird