I recently took in my 2001 Honda Accord. The alignment has been rusted in place, causing the tires to wear thin on the inside. Firestone quoted me at $560 for parts and labor to replace the Trailing Arm Bushing on both sides, as well as the Rear Trailing Arms. Does this sound reasonable?
Many times you can beat Firestone pricing by getting an estimate from a local independent shop. I would get a second opinion and estimate accordingly, and then decide. Labor rates vary widely by location, so it is hard to determine that part of the equation, via the internet, anyway.
Get a quote from your Honda dealer in addition to an independant mechanic. Sometimes Honda techs have more experience with a particular repair and the costs can equal and even beat other quotes.
An alignment is only about $65 to 75. Your estimate is to repair rusted parts that make an alignment impossible since these parts are fixed in place and can’t be adjusted.
It does sound fairly reasonable. You could drive around town and pay more shops to evaluate your suspension, but by the time you do that, you’ll be back at $560 even if they do cost a few dollars less for the actual repairs.
Before you start pouring money into this car, you might want to have a body shop do a complete rust inspection of the undercarriage…There may be more, extensive, rust damage…
how fast are the tires wearing out? a pair of economy minded tires for that car are probably $150.00 a pair. you could by at least 3 sets 150x3 = 450 . now if the toe is really bad then set the toe only. there is no caster adjustment and camber is done through the strut by using a cam bolt adjusting kit. align 75 cam adj bolt kit 2 sides 150 for a total of 225
A little PB Blaster will take care of “rust”. The alignment should not cost anywhere $560. Even a dealer would do better than that. The trailing arm bushings and rear trailing arms would be fine unless you have been in a wreck.