Getting a quote right now at 7 hours, according to Mitchell (apparently Mitchell is an industry tool used to estimate labor). That's nearly $700!!!! WTH??

Any advice? TIA!

 

Jim that's way off. You should be around 2-300 depending on where you take it. If you can get someone with the know how and rent a spring compressor that would be the best route

 

3-4 MAX w/ breaks...

 

Brakes were done 3 weeks ago, so it's just the springs

EDIT: lol, wait, i think you meant them taking breaks...DUH

 

So the manager is saying the front is easy, but the rear will definitely take 3 hours due to complexity with all the arms. He even mentioned part of the trunk having to be taken out in order to reach a couple of things. Seriously???
I have not seen anything on here remotely describing this much work.

 

IMO......The back is very easy - the entire suspension is exposed. The front is a little more difficult due to less room for the tech to work.



It all depends on the rust and bolts and nuts that are seized (depending on age and mileage). It is definitely a plus to use a garage that is familiar with changing these out. I had to use a torch on some nuts, but they eventually broke free. A coil over swap is max 2 hours - so add another hour for coil changes.

The trunk carpet needs to be pulled back to loosen the top hats on either side. None of these things are unusual or take much effort. The engine also needs to have the side covers removed on the front as well - with most shops that do these installs it is part of the service, so you never hear anyone talk about it.

The IS300 was more difficult than this design.

It sounds like you should shop around for another quote in your area......if possible.

 

From my experience, spring installs take about 7-8 hours (3-4 hours for 95% of it, 3 hours battling one stubborn nut/bolt on the very last corner, and 1 hour to put things back together and clean up). Total cost is a couple cases of beer for you and friends, some bloody knuckles, and maybe some pizza. This is using a jack and stands, so I'm sure using a lift would help out a ton!

 

i don't see why it would take any longer than 3-4 hours, and that is being lenient. my fronts were done in an hour from turn of first lug to lowering the lift.

 

@-3 hours max! That shop is nuts and shouldn't touch your car

 

I'm getting my springs put in on Tuesday the shop told me 3-4 hours and is charging me $225 for install.... Legit quality shop that only deals with modding cars

 

Thx everyone for the input!

 

Quick update: my buddy who did my entire brake replacement for $100 said his book shows 1.7hrs for the front and 2.6hrs for rear. So a little over 4 hours. His shop says $86 an hour (so ~$370 total), but he's going to see if he can get it for less.

Does that sound decent?

 

Murph, how'd the install go?

 

My springs took 4.5 hours to install. I had the installers wrap the dead coils with heavy duty shrink wrap though to prevent squeaking.

 

Good to know, thanks.

Do I need to get an alignment as well afterwards?