AJFII

Longtime lurker here and I did a bunch of looking on the forum for price and I couldn't find anything close to what I was quoted:

• $2,108.75 - replace radiator, thermostat and coolant temp sensor
  • Was quoted 6.5 hours @ $169/hr
• $858.62 - replace all brake pads, resurface rotors

I knew dealership would be much more but I wanted OEM and convenience of loaner, also bought vehicle and have done all service thru them (2012, 130k miles). Anyone else gotten work done at dealership recently? Is $170/hr the going rate these days? Thanks in advance for any help or insight.

ASE

Call other dealerships on "book time" .... radiator labor time seems very inflated. Labor cost per hour is a local thing, so research the prevailing rates.

xychromo

Yep, def inflated. Time to find a good local indy shop that has experience with toyota/lexus. I wouldn't mess with 'resurfacing', just replace the rotors. For reference, I had an indy shop replace my front rotors and pads for $190, plus price of OEM parts for $258 (inc. shipping) so about $450. I bought the parts at bell lexus online and had them shipped direct to the shop. My shop charged $119/hr, but I've used another shop that charges per repair not by the hour so shop around for best price.

m5rahul

Def. look for Indy shops.. There's gotta be one that specializes in Japanese Automobiles! I found one near me and the price difference is night and day, with the quality of workmanship being far better than the dealership! Had my front brakes (pads/rotors) done for $120 plus parts ( that I procured! ) as an example.

The radiator replacement price is a major rip off!

skyrocket1

I just replaced the rear pads for total of about $250 including taxes at the independent shop. I purchased the oe pads and shims for about $70 and labor was $150.

Margate330

This is highway robbery price gouging and I'm not afraid to say it.
Why? This list of repairs is entry level tech work that any DIY or tire shop or Indy can do.

Back in the day the shops I worked at loved resurfacing the rotors becase it was all labor profit dollars for the shop but added little or no value to the customer and shaves the rotors down to the minimum specs. New oem rotors are the better deal for the customer but hanging the brake pads and rotors is only a 1-2 hour job max "in and out" for all 4 wheels taking their sweet comfy time.

Radiator and T-stat is same thing and entry level tech work.

ROSCOGX470

That’s awful and I’ve seen those quotes first hand. I recently had my radiator(Koyo),thermostat(gates), top/bottom hoses(continental) and water pump(Aisin) replaced with RockAuto parts by a mechanic friend in his driveway while I watched. It took him 3 hours total and that’s with him wasting about 30 mins trying to figure out how to get at the bottom 2 bolts on the radiator.added 2 gallons of pink Lexus coolant and the parts($300) and labor($200) ran me just under $500 total. Now the mechanic is a friend and extremely reasonable but my point is it was 3 hours with water pump. Brakes may be even a bigger rip off, front/rear brake pads with rotors should cost appx. $400 and like an earlier poster said it takes 2 hours tops. Shop around for an Indy

mntntrls71

Radiator labor is listed in the repair book for 4 hours. I just had mine done by toyota dealer and the only reason I did not do it myself is the sealed transmission. The radiator has a trany cooler running through it and the transmission can be tricky to check yourself. I decided this is a time to let them do it. I had them do the water pump, serp belt, radiator, thermostat, upper and lower hoses, cap, and an engine oil change with synthetic, also a complete vehicle inspection and top off and check all fluids for $1500. Yes most of this I could do myself but they had the rig already and the radiator job itself was about $1000.
and they had it for only 6 hours

xychromo

Brake parts alone (front and rear, pads and rotors) would be about $400-450, so install for another $400 isn't crazy, but not over the top like the bill for radiator repair.

nuclearn8

go else where, they're ripping people off.

Swizerlan

$169 an hour? more than an anesthesiologist makes. Tell them to pound sand

PNWRacer

Dealer labor around Seattle is in the $175 to $200 range. They just throw numbers at people and don't care who walks away because they are so busy with people for whom $5000 is functionally equivalent to $50. That said, I did rotors and pads on the 2005 4Runner and it was dead simple. The pads especially were cake- the calipers didn't even have to come off the vehicle. Haven't had touched my 2016 GX yet, though I can tell the rotors are already warping (I've had it two years off a lease).

ROSCOGX470

$400-450 is retail OEM parts price, I’ve routinely used Advance or RockAuto parts and they are just about 50% less. I used OEM for water pump and other labor intensive jobs, but pads and rotors are easily accessible and IMO equal in quality.

ASE

Most of the PNW Lexus dealerships are like a 5-Star Four-Seasons Hotel ... free coffee, pastries, internet with work-stations in a luxury lounge with a gas fireplace and a 500-gallon salt-water fish tank with a monster flat-screen TV ... everything for a pampered experience minus free massages and yoga classes ... so yes, the dealership service per-hour labor charge in this area is a reflection of this exorbitant overhead cost.

The bottom line ... "book time" should be EXACTLY THE SAME no matter the shop ... so get multiple quotes to keep the labor TIME honest ... beyond that, it's all about finding a reasonable per-hour labor rate for your specific area ... so pick a competent shop accordingly.

ROSCOGX470

+1 ^ what he said.