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I haven't read all of them, so forgive me if I'm repeating something. Depending on where you are in the country (if shop labor rates are over $100 per hour, say), these costs may not be outrageous. They're quoting about $1,200 for the heater core, radiator and radiator hose. That's probably 5 hours labor to them, maybe 6 is if they're building in some comfort, so they're saying 6-7 hours. I'd say a shop should do this in 5 or at most 6 hours, so they're a little high there, but they may just be protecting themselves against difficulty removing parts from a 15 year old car. So, that leaves about $5-600 for parts, which is not an unreasonable rate for a shop to charge for them. Look up parts prices for factory parts for a heater core and radiator on genuinesaab.com, and I bet they'll be more than that. One thing you want to be sure of is that they are using decent quality parts; parts don't have to be Genuine Saab parts to be decent, but they shouldn't be cheap junk either. I'm thinking there can be very poor quality radiators and heater cores out there. What makes this quote look silly is the $50 for a battery service. They shouldn't be charging you for that, even if all you do is ask them to estimate the rest of the work.
As many others have said, none of these projects are rocket science. Eeuroparts has a good array of genuine and quality aftermarket parts, and their reps are knowledgeable and will help you select an option that makes sense for you, if more than one option is available. Say if you're in the situation that you know your wife's car is going to be paid off next year/your student loans will be paid off next year/etc/etc and you plan to only keep the car until then, a cheap heater core will be fine; looks like you're planning a long term relationship with the car, so better quality parts are probably a worthwhile option for you. I think Noel's suggestion of a weekend to do this stuff is realistic. If you're not a very experienced mechanic, you may end up having to do some of the smaller things on a second weekend. Or you could spread them over several weekends if you wanted; the only ones that logically go together and should, if at all possible, be done all at once, are the heater core/radiator/hose. That will likely take you a full day, maybe even a long full day.
The other big question is, do you actually NEED all this work? Or do you need all of it immediately? If the heater core isn't bad, a seeping radiator is something you can live with for a long time.
Is the car showing any symptoms of these problems? Smell of coolant in the car, fogging up windows, damp carpet in front passenger area are all signs of a failing heater core. Obviously, loss of coolant too, or coolant puddle/drops under the car when parked. Radiator leakage should be easier to find, since the radiator is more visible. Radiators in 9000's can leak, and mine was seeping for a couple of years before I finally replaced it at 11 years old/135,000 miles, when doing the heater core. Radiator failure is not a common as heater core failure in 9000's, but it does happen.
Brake bleeding is pretty easy to do with a rented or purchased $50 bleeder. As someone said, be careful with the bleed screws, and you will also likely have to bleed some air out of the system after. Keeping brake fluid fresh is an important part of keeping your brakes working properly, and should be changed every two years; it breaks down as it gets older and you don't get quite the same braking force from it. Older brake fluid can also play havoc with components like abs controller/module, etc. These are expensive, you don't want to end up replacing them.
The parking brake cables are worn in my car, and the parking brake alone will not hold the car on a hill any more. They can be adjusted a couple of times before you have to replace them; adjusting is a lot easier than replacing, so may be worth looking at. As others have mentioned, the parking brake part itself may also be sticking, and could be a simple repair.
I personally have never replaced a tie rod myself, mostly because I have visions of not tightening something correctly, and having it come loose at the wrong time and leaving me without steering. I would definitely recommend an alignment after replacing it, an alignment is less expensive than two new tires, which a bad alignment will quickly lead to. I'd also think about doing both tie rod ends, unless the other one looks really good. Replacing both really makes the car feel a lot like a new car.
Buying good quality parts from a vendor like Eeuroparts, should run $600 for all of these things (could be less if you go with more budget friendly options), and, depending on what tools you have already, you may want to spend $50-100 on tools, which you will always have for future jobs. Most things on the 9000 are fairly easy to work on, which makes it DIY friendly. Parts and labor can be very expensive when you pay "list price" for everything, so that's another reason to DIY. If you're really not comfortable doing the work yourself, ask around in your local area if there are any mechanics at a big dealer who do side work (there will be), and most of them will probably charge $30-40 per hour, and will let you buy your own parts online. You would probably be able to get all of this done for about half the quote you got.
posted by 71.184.199...
, Sun, 28 Oct 2012 08:33:38
, Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:37:11
, Thu, 25 Oct 2012 07:30:18
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