2002 Volkswagen Beetle

Can someone please tell me if I’m being charged fairly for a front wheel bearing passenger and driver side. Mechanic is charging me $500. He said if others would charge me $700. Does it really cost that much? Please help. I don’t want to get ripped off just because I’m a female. I left my car at his shop earlier today and he said it will be ready by noon tomorrow, Thursday Aug 15th

I think you’re being charged a fair price. The front bearings need to be pressed into place, so the entire front knuckle assembly needs to be removed from the car so the old bearing can be pressed out and the new one pressed in. And that is for each side. You’re paying most for a lot of labor. The front knuckle assembly has your wheel and tire, brakes, including brake rotor, pads, caliper, and caliper bracket that must be removed, CV joint that must be removed, and then the front knuckle needs to be separated from the lower control arm, upper strut assembly, and steering rod to remove it so it can go to the hydraulic press. Once the bearing is replaced, all of that needs to be reassembled. And do all of that again for the other side. The rears are much less expensive because you only need to pull the wheel, tire and the brakes to get to the hub assembly to swap it out, no press required.

I paid $800 to replace the front wheel bearings on my 2000 Blazer back 8 or 9 years ago. The entire front hub assembly with a built in ABS sensor is replaced, not just a bearing. The price seems reasonable.

Ed B.

he is making some money probably, but his family must eat too.

not a rip off.

really the only time a mechanic can rip people off is if he is dishonest and charges you for something you don t need.

if they quote you a price for a real problem, it s up to you.

you can shop around if you want. you can call others and get a quote for the bearing repair from others to see if he is in line

yes that is a fair price all things concered

Thanks guys for ur input. I just called mechanic to ask if he can bring it down to $400 and he said no way. He said he might be able to save me some money though if he can just replace one bearing instead of both. But now he says the front axle is bad too, that it might need a replace also. Is that going to be more $$ than $500 that he quoted me for the bearings, now that axle too is bad?