Is this a good price for a radiator replacement?

Maintenance/Repairs
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21

@texases @galant

Receipt showed $189 for parts and $300 for labor ($505 total with tax). I know from the time he called for approval until he called that it was ready was less than two hours. So I doubt it took more than 1.5 hours, all told. So I don’t know why the labor charge was $300. I think their shop rate is about $100 an hour. (Was $80 an hour a few years ago, but I assume it went up.)

@Volvo-V70

Yes, I agree. Doing a good job is most important, even if it’s not the least expensive. I just mainly wanted to know if it was in the ballpark. Like, if people said, “No, you shouldn’t be paying more than $200!” then I’d be upset. But it sounds like it was a decent price (though, as noted above, I am questioning where that labor charge came from).

@George_San_Jose1

Yes, parts, labor and new fluid (MOPAR fluid). $189 for parts and $300 for labor.

I asked about replacing the thermostat, and he said it didn’t need it. Said some thermostats have a failsafe, where you have to replace them, but this one didn’t. Said thermostats are very hearty and don’t break easily. (Note: the thermostat went out 4 years and 10,000 miles ago, and was replaced. So it’s not very old.)

Didn’t ask about the radiator cap. Don’t know if it’s new or not.

Did the engine overheat? Well, it went to H and the alarm went off. I was just a few blocks from home at the time, so I continued to drive it home and shut it off. I then drove it to the shop (about a mile or two away) a few hours later and got there before it went to H again. So it went to H, but the engine didn’t overheat or shut down.

@old_mopar_guy

Actually, I was told by a mechanic a few years ago that the engine mount was loose and needed to be replaced. So maybe that’s what caused it. But, then again, the radiator is the original (I assume; I got the car when it was three years old) and the car is now 18 years old with 105K miles on it. So maybe it was time for it to go out anyway?

@tcmichnorth

:+1:

22

The labor time goes by the “book”. Book might be three hours but if a mechanic is well versed and does it in 1 hr, then it is his/her profit. Flip side is that if he runs into a problem and it takes 4 hrs, he/she will probably still charge you three.

Not sure where you live, here in Southern CA, most dealers are charging $175 per hr (that is the non-luxury brands I deal with) and the shops are just behind that number but not by much.

I think if you don’t end up gong back in two days for a botched jib, you have done fine.

23

Because your mechanic is good at his job.

I’ve been doing this for over 30 years. If a particular repair has a “book time” of 3 hours you can bet I will get it done in less than 2. That’s what we all strive for.

1 Like
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Book time is 2.3 hours.

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Tester

3 Likes
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While it doesn’t sound like you had any major overheating incidents, still it did overheat, so there’s some possibility of other pending damage. Suggest after the job is done to be vigilant, looking esp for any unusual loss of coolant; anything more than a cup of coolant loss in 3 months is a cause for concern. Thermostats actually do fail quite frequently, you could use the forum search feature here (right upper, this page) to see what others have said. However if it is only 4 years old, probably nothing to worry about at this point.

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@galant

Thanks. That’s good to know. I’m in DFW, Texas, so things are lot cheaper here. And it’s a small, very reasonably-priced place (owner doesn’t even mark up his parts very much, unlike some places that mark them up 100% to 200%). So they’re probably at $100 or $120/hr, since they were at $80/hr a few years back. So I’m guessing the charge is 3 hrs @ $100/hr.

@tcmichnorth

“Book time is 2.3 hours.”

Is that for my vehicle specifically? And does it include the flush? If so, then I guess 2.3 hrs @ $130/hr would be $299.

@Tester

So 10 years at $100/hr would be $87,660. I guess I got off easy! :slight_smile:

@George_San_Jose1

That’s good info. Thanks!!

(BTW, I knew a George in San Jose who used to be on Compuserve, back in the day. Mid 90s. I wonder if that’s you? :slight_smile: )

28

That is vehicle specific and does not include labor time for a flush.

Seems to me you already know you have a reasonable mechanic. You did good.

29

Oh, if it doesn’t include the flush, then that means the rate was probably a little lower than $130. Not that it matters at this point. Was just curious. Thanks.

30

No, never used Compuserve

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@George_San_Jose1

Good to know. Thanks for the reply!

32

I concur with the others; The radiator was close to 20 years old, that’s a reasonable life expectancy. There’s likely nothing you could’ve done to make it last any longer than it did. Given the age of the vehicle, I probably would’ve had the hoses replaced, radiator cap, as well as the the thermostat. The $520 price is perfectly reasonable, though I don’t think OEM coolant would be a huge deal for this vehicle, probably could’ve saved $20 or so going with an aftermarket brand.

Keep an eye on the coolant level over the next few weeks. You’re probably okay, but if the coolant level starts dropping inexplicably, you might have a head gasket failure, this can be confirmed by either the engine oil level increasing (coolant makes it into the oil pan), or by a signifcant amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust (coolant makes into the combustion chamber and/or exhaust system and is vaporized by the heat).

33

What is your level of comfort under the hood with a couple wrenches in your hand? I replaced one of these in the parking lot of a Wal Mart in Loveland, CO a number of years ago. I purchased an aftermarket aluminum radiator from AutoZone(I think) - just across the street. The radiator actually unbolts on the top and has two rubber mounts that just sit in the framework for the bottom. Check out a video.

These things got a lot more difficult with a bit of a design change in about 05-06, but this job wasn’t too bad. I’m sure it was done in 30-45 minutes and I’m not a whiz at mechanical stuff.

A new radiator might set you back $100 to $125. Add the coolant to that and possibly the radiator hoses.