Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In need of a timing belt on the car, dealer and private mechanic are quoting same price for the job,,Dealer i assume will use all factory parts and have the proper equipment to take care of the job especially if something goes wrong,
Private mechanic has treated me well over the years but he will probably use jobber parts and use some compromising work if things dont go right.
So do i go to the so far trusted mechanic or the supposed highly professional dealer?
you can find good mechanics everywhere, not just the dealer. if you already have a good mechanic, have them do the job. no need in spending extra money to cover dealer overhead. as for parts, what you find at the dealer, and what your mechanic installs are going to be about the same quality.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
45,039 posts, read 82,269,993 times
Reputation: 58674
When you find a good honest mechanic, stick to him and recommend him to your friends to make sure he stays in business. While they may be the same price on this job, the independent will almost always be less.
Personally, I do not understand why timing belts wear out, they could surely be made of some space-age material that would outlast the engine. Even if they cost $100 more to manufacture, it would be cheaper than replacing one. My Sentra has no belt, it is an old-fashioned tempered steel timing chain, which, presumably, will never "wear out". What's the deal on belts in the first place? Why have we been taught to unquestioningly accept that a car must have a timing belt, and that it is has to be a POS that needs to be replaced when the car is still essentially a "new car", and we line up single file in lock step to pay hundreds of dollars in labor to have a mechanic go to a pre-designed inaccessible place to do it?
I have heard that after-market timing belts are of better quality than original equipment, and belts rarely need to be replaced a second time. Like ink cartridges in a cheap printer or batteries in a cheap cordless phone. Does anybody have any information about this?
Note that the OP said the dealer and the indie both quoted the same price. In that case, I would think the job from the dealer would have a better warranty.
Even an OEM timing belt shouldn't cost that much. (I like seeing "Gates" on them personally)
The job itself is a plain vanilla task that any BUSY shop should be fine for.
Anyone who tries to tell you "might as well do the water pump too" ...
is really telling you to find another mechanic.
Personally, I do not understand why timing belts wear out, they could surely be made of some space-age material that would outlast the engine. Even if they cost $100 more to manufacture, it would be cheaper than replacing one. My Sentra has no belt, it is an old-fashioned tempered steel timing chain, which, presumably, will never "wear out". What's the deal on belts in the first place? Why have we been taught to unquestioningly accept that a car must have a timing belt, and that it is has to be a POS that needs to be replaced when the car is still essentially a "new car", and we line up single file in lock step to pay hundreds of dollars in labor to have a mechanic go to a pre-designed inaccessible place to do it?
I have heard that after-market timing belts are of better quality than original equipment, and belts rarely need to be replaced a second time. Like ink cartridges in a cheap printer or batteries in a cheap cordless phone. Does anybody have any information about this?
Note that the OP said the dealer and the indie both quoted the same price. In that case, I would think the job from the dealer would have a better warranty.
You bring up a good question. Few people do not know to check to see if the car they are buying has the "interference" engine as they are called. In the design of these engines you need to know that the water pump is enternal and driven by the same belt. Water pumps seldom last the life of a car and its better to replace a belt when replacing a water pump that is driving it and less possible internal damage from a broken water pump coming apart and jamming up the metal chain and sprockets. You should always replace the water pump when replacing the belt to avoid paying the same labor price again when the pump does go out.
In need of a timing belt on the car, dealer and private mechanic are quoting same price for the job,,Dealer i assume will use all factory parts and have the proper equipment to take care of the job especially if something goes wrong,
Private mechanic has treated me well over the years but he will probably use jobber parts and use some compromising work if things dont go right.
So do i go to the so far trusted mechanic or the supposed highly professional dealer?
Don't say you trust the private mechanic when you question his judgement on parts source .
Even some car dealers use non factory parts to get a job done from time to time. Besides, few car makers make all their own parts anymore. It's all outsourced parts.
As to quality of workmanship.....
Dealers will stab you in a heartbeat. The private mechanic can't stay in business stabbing people for very long.
Like ink cartridges in a cheap printer or batteries in a cheap cordless phone.
In the case of these items, you can buy a printer for less than the cost of the replacement ink and the same thing for the cordless phone at the retail level. But if you go to ebay you csn by these replacement parts for a quarter of their store prices.
Quote:
Personally, I do not understand why timing belts wear out,
Well not all people drive the same way, so they get stressed in different fashions. So usually the touring & sporting get slightly different engines. So depending on your driving habits and how long you keep your cars you will at least replace it once around 100,000 miles.
Also looking from a material point of view close to nothing on this planet has lifetime expetency to work. All materials will fail when you reach or pass its stress level. So in the case case of rubber belts over time it loses its bonding and seperates (heat and friction).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
