Thermostat Replacement Cost 2019 Prius

My new-ish mechanic (since I moved to a new state) charged $479 to replace a thermostat on my 2019 Prius. At first I was shocked by the price (I have a friend who just paid $500 for a thermostat replacement for his 20-ish year old F150 by a dealer), but when I tried to sanity check whether I got a fair price, I see that the cost varies a lot depending on what car you have, and I see prices all over the board, from a couple hundred bucks to four figures, and the only answer I see on the Internet specific to my car is from RepairPal, and it suggests I overpaid by about $200, although the average price for all cars looks like it could be more than I paid. Perhaps it didnā€™t include the cost for a flush? I donā€™t know: is RepairPal accurate? From my limited previous experience, the mechanic seemed to be competent, honest, and fair in pricing, so I need to figure out if I still have a keeper, or someone who will soak me. What should this service cost for my car? Was the price fair or excessive?

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Find other shops you might consider, call them for an estimate. But donā€™t say ā€˜I was charged $479, was that fair?ā€™ Theyā€™ll say ā€˜no, come here next timeā€™. Just ask for a quote, including all the work done on your Prius.

Me, if I was happy with the work and the service I got, I wouldnā€™t worry about it. Use them for routine service, see how they do, and the next time a repair comes up get some bids.

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Trying to remember but on the Pontiac, I paid about $600 for coolant change, thermostat, a couple hoses, and crank sensor. A little higher than I thought but like I said everything is now a hundred or two more than before.

On the Acura I wanted it changed but they said they never had one fail and said to do it with the timing belt for $1300.

I have looked at Repair Pal and really donā€™t think much of the site.

Subtract the price of the ā€œflushā€, how much was the thermostat replacement?

Looks like about 1.5 hours of labor, thermostat is $59, coolant is $27 per gallon. You may have underpaid.

Your vehicle has 10-year/100,000-mile coolant, why did you approve of a cooling system flush? Drain and refill is sufficient when replacing parts.

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Well, thinking about prices some more, I paid $200 for a brake fluid flush on the Pontiac which was about $100 more than I thought it would be. Last year the brake fluid flush for the Acura at the dealer was about $100 while there for other service. Maybe just timing but I suspect they have just had to boost their rates. I just need to add a hundred or two to my mental estimates. I never ask for quotes ahead of time. If they give me one fine.

If ā€“ as posted above ā€“ it is a 1.5 hour job, plus $60 for a new thermostat, and the cost of replacing the coolant, $400 - $500 seems about right. 1.5 hours to replace a thermostat is considerably more than Iā€™d have guessed, and is much more time than it take on any of my vehicles. So what to do about it? Suggest when considering which make/model to buy in the future, to price out commonly needed repairs so you at least have a heads up on the overall cost to own stat.

Another alternative, this is the sort of job many diyā€™ers do routinely in their driveway. Not something Iā€™d do, but some diyā€™ers might well filter & reuse the existing coolant, rather than replacing it, since it apparently is specā€™d for a full 10 years of use. If done that way, the total cost would only be $60 plus tool expense & the time it would take you to do it. .

Hourly shoprates vary quite a bit depending on you part of the country. Hourly rates in New York or LA will be much higher than Salinas, Kansas. Be happy you have a Prius and not a Porsche Cayenne. Much more time to replace a T-stat in the Porsche.

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I dunno, commonly replaced parts? In the old days, weā€™d replace thermostats and coolant every fall. Now though itā€™s like. Five years. Maybe see if oil changes are a big pain in the neck, but a lot of stuff that may happen in five or even ten years anymore is best left to shop with a lift. I did consider changing the thermostat and hoses but access just was not good. Plus gotta be careful with air and dexcool etc. guess maybe Iā€™m getting either lazy or smarter.

The thermostat is not easy to reach, the A/C compressor is not shown in this picture, it would be mounted below the thermostat.

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I am more curious why the t-stat was replaced in the 1st placeā€¦

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I would guess P0128 . . .

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I have had to replace one thermostat in 70 years of driving and maintaining all of my familyā€™s cars. I would rather re-install a factory thermostat than take a chance on getting a bad or wrong part.

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Lucky you. I had to replace the t-stat in my wifeā€™s 6 year old car a few months ago. Itā€™s not as easy as it used to be.


Iā€™ve replaced a few on my daily drivers as well over the years. For not opening or not closing.

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Just paid to have the 2011 MKZ hybrid thermostat replaced, stuck open, and pretty well buried in there. Money well spent.

Unless you have a car with an actual temperature gauge, or a code reader, you may never know you have a bad thermostat until the little warning light goes on. I agree the new ones are not like the old $5 variety where we would heat them in a pan of water with a candy thermometer to check opening and closing temps before going to the work of replacing it. Ever had a bad one in the pan? I did. Yep never had an engine blow up from lack of oil in 70 years either.

My first car was a 62 Ford Galaxy, and its thermostat would sometimes stick closed, stay stuck for a minute or two, then suddenly with a loud ā€œbangā€ pop open. Sort of like the sounds you hear on Star Wars movies. Replacing the t-stat on that car was a doodle. I found a faulty new t-stat one time using the water bath method.

My car pool driver had just picked me up and we got about a half mile on the freeway and pop/bang. Scooted it back to the car pool lot where I drove to work alone and he went home for repairs. Said he just changed the thermostat the night before. I didnā€™t ask if he checked it first in a pan of water. No point rubbing it in.

The only engine I ever blew up was on my 56 Desoto Firefight I just raced it too many times. 330 cube Hemi. The stock points in the dual point distributor limited it to just over 5000rpm. I replaced them with Mallory pointd and the speed in low gear increased from 60 to 70. Made a world of difference.

d been keeping the speedometer at the end peg for a while when a rod exited the oil pan.

After it cooled down, I drove it home20 miles, vibrating like mad with no oil in it.