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 didnāt include the cost for a flush? I donāt 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?
Find other shops you might consider, call them for an estimate. But donāt say āI was charged $479, was that fair?ā Theyāll say āno, 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 wouldnāt worry about it. Use them for routine service, see how they do, and the next time a repair comes up get some bids.
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 donāt think much of the site.
Subtract the price of the āflushā, 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.
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 Iād 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 diyāers do routinely in their driveway. Not something Iād do, but some diyāers might well filter & reuse the existing coolant, rather than replacing it, since it apparently is specād 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.
I dunno, commonly replaced parts? In the old days, weād replace thermostats and coolant every fall. Now though itās 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 Iām 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.
I am more curious why the t-stat was replaced in the 1st placeā¦
I would guess P0128 . . .
I have had to replace one thermostat in 70 years of driving and maintaining all of my familyās cars. I would rather re-install a factory thermostat than take a chance on getting a bad or wrong part.
Lucky you. I had to replace the t-stat in my wifeās 6 year old car a few months ago. Itās not as easy as it used to be.
Iāve replaced a few on my daily drivers as well over the years. For not opening or not closing.
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 ābangā 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 didnāt 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.