Am I getting ripped off?

[Fido]

Put my car in the shop for routine maintenance + checkup to make sure it could handle a 5,000 mile road trip.

 

It's a 1997 Legacy GT sedan in good condition but I've noticed some problems lately in a certain gear, over 45mph or less if going uphill. Car starts shaking quite badly, engine gets very loud and seems to struggle. The problem goes away at higher speeds. It's very worrying. I have minimal service history so I don't know if HGs or timing belt were ever replaced. It has 130k miles.

 

I got an estimate of $1,230 for the following.

 

• Timing belt (has to be done)
  
• Putting a nut back on the tire (the stud has bad thread)
  
• Oil/fluids/etc
  
• Calipers on the brakes (aftermarket brakes apparently) are apparently rubbing against the wheels
  
• Trans flush
  
• Something in the steering wheel pads or something? Not sure, but that was very minor.
  

 

Main cost is the timing belt, the other stuff together was $700 bucks including labor.

 

Sound fishy to you guys, or run of the mill? They're hoping the tranny flush will fix the engine being weird at a certain gear range, but I've told them I'm not gonna sink a grand into the car if it only "maybe" will fix that. So I told them to flush the transmission and then call me back tomorrow to have me test it with them in it to see if the rumbling/shaking problem persists (since they failed to replicate the problem while test driving it). If flushing the tranny fixes this, I'm to give them the go-ahead for the other fixes (and charges)...

 

Anything to worry about? Also, does changing the timing belt require taking the engine out? Should I have them look at anything else since they're already going to be charging me for that labor, while the engine's out? HGs or something?

[Artsiook]

hmm well, i paid $1,899.68 for camshaft pulley, rear seal, oil separater hydraulic belt tensioner, timing belt, complete head gasket set, new thermosat, water pump, knock senor and misc shop supplies. and over 800 of that was labor. dunno if this helps but i hope so.

[WESTcoast]

for the timing belt make sure the are using all oem parts such as the water pump and idlers. Ask them what all does thier timing belt job come with. Some shops like to skimp out on not including all the parts for a timing belt job. Also there is a difference between OE and OEM Subaru.

 

I can see the calipers costing a good 300 bucks in its self if you are gettings OE calipers, pads and rotors. What did they mean by rubbing agains the wheels, you might have something else wrong if your stock calipers are rubbing up against your stock wheels. Did they mean the pads?

 

Steering rack bushings maybe that is a good way to get some vibrations out of the steering wheels.

 

but like i said I would be worried about that timing belt job and all it comes with. It can be done without taking out the engine, but they would need to remove your radiator so a flush of that is needed.

 

Hg' should always be on the worry list short trip or long trip but if you have had them done then you are fine if not, and you really want to get them done by a shop you are looking at another 1000 for them to get the headgaskets and but the expensive part is getting the heads machined.

 

Are you tires in good tread depth?

[Fido]

Artsiook: Thanks, that does help. I don't need quite that much done but at least I know they're not just throwing numbers at me.

 

It's a Subaru dealership, they haven't screwed me over in the past and they've been very similar to you guys in terms of what they warn me - they definitely know their Subies. They do seem pretty fair, they've done free checkups in the past and have done some other stuff to deserve my loyalty. Their rate is competitive at $75/hour (compared to 85+ for literally every other mechanic I've seen, most at $100).

 

And yes, the calipers are rubbing against the pads, not the tires. They mentioned I have aftermarket brakes (which I didn't know, I thought everything was stock on the car), and that having the caliper rub on the pads was a problem I should get looked at ASAP.

 

The steering wheel does vibrate a bit and I'm not surprised they pointed that out, but overall the car has been in great health, I'm just having them delve deeper than normal. The shaking/vibrating at a certain RPM on the car is definitely not just steering wheel related, though - the engine is practically crapping out and it almost puts tears in my eyes to admit that on a certain gear it's performing worse than the Saturn I drove for a year before this. And that thing... it sucked. I could write for hours.

 

My tires are fine, new from September, summer tires, tread is still very good. I don't drive it too much, only about 2 hours a week the average week during the school year since I lived within walking distance of most places while at college.

 

I can't afford more than 2 grand, either way I'm blowing my savings on this but once it gets over 2 grand it gets too pricy and I have to start playing triage until the school semester starts (and I have a job). Head gaskets seemed fine when I had them look at it earlier (compression test) and there's no signs of oil leaks/coolant issues. I'm fairly sure they were done at some point, but again... no guarantee.

[SpecBamf41]

last time i checked calipers are suppose to contact the pads. pads are held in place buy the bracket, and the caplier piston pushes them into the rotor.