Repair -How much would you expect to pay

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Fri 24 Oct 2003 13:16
Repair -How much would you expect to pay - naughtyme
I have a 1995 Rover 214 SLi 16V. It\'s gone to the mechanics with starting problems. They have diagnosed problems with the inlet manifold gasket (which was letting in coolant as well as air), coil and HT leads.

My question is how much would you say is a fair price for these repairs.

My mechanics have quoted £225 - is that a fair figure?
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Fri 24 Oct 2003 13:23
Repair -How much would you expect to pay - Bob the builder
Well, what do you mean by the word \"fair\" ??
To do this job myself would probably cost £60 - £80 in parts and let\'s say a generous 2 hours of my own time.
Now, a garage would probably get their parts certainly as cheap, if not cheaper, would charge you what - say £0 - £50 per hour labour (depending where you live it could be a lot more ) and would then add VAT on top.
They might then charge you a tenner for washing your car and topping up your screen washer bottle !
Remember, DIY is always cheapest. But (a) can you DIY ? and (b) how much are you prepared to pay to have someone else do it for you.
Also remember, no-one does \"owt fer nowt\". Garages / mechanics are not registered charities and HAVE to make a profit.
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Fri 24 Oct 2003 13:30
Repair -How much would you expect to pay - naughtyme
I think that if I could get the coil and HT leads I could work out how to do replace them. Someone said the coil is about Red Bull can size and takes a matter of minutes to replace (unplug and plug in). I think the mechanics said that the gasket is the one that will take the most time, i.e. removing caburettor and exhaust to get at it.
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Fri 24 Oct 2003 13:57
Repair -How much would you expect to pay - Big Cat
The inlet manifold gasket is quite a common failure on the K series engine. If it's leaking, keep an eye on the water level in the expansion tank. These engines have a very smalll coolant capacity and even a small leak can lead to rapid overheating and a blown gasket - another well known K series problem.
I would be a bit concerned about the menchanics talking about removing the carburettor - it doesn't have one!
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Fri 24 Oct 2003 14:45
Repair -How much would you expect to pay - naughtyme
Whoops - idiot alert! That would be me (not the mechanics) trying to explain that stuff out of the engine area would need to be removed - carburettor - whoops. Good job I didn't have a go myself then!!
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Fri 24 Oct 2003 18:49
Repair -How much would you expect to pay - Dynamic Dave
Sorry to be pedantic, but your car won't have a carburettor. It will be a fuel injection system.
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