My car stopped working and the shop I had it towed to says that the following needs to be done...is this a good price?!? I haven't had to have much work done on my car so I'm a little newer to this...

I have a 2006 Cooper S

FRONT CRANK PULLEY/SEAL MINI S
REMOVE AND REPLACE FRONT CRANKSHAFT PULLEY, SEAL AND REPLACE WITH NEW BELT. (parts $432 / labor $355)

OIL CHANGE
(oil $63 / labor $50)

DIPSTICK O-RING MINI R53
(parts $3 / labor $697)

Thoughts?!

 

a) does the shop you are at work on Minis regularly?

b) when you say stopped... is there electrical? Did the entire car just die?

 

We have a crankshaft pulley DIY here with some good info. Article says if you DIY the job it should cost about $350 in parts (the pully costs about $348) and about an hour of your time. Otherwise, depending on the shop, usually they quote labor times based on systems like ALLDATA and sometimes the actual time it takes them to do it wont be what the listed time is. This is very typically for shops/dealerships. If you're unsure of the quote on those three items, call around to MINI Indy shops and compare pricing. If I'm not mistaken, getting to that o ring is a little bit of a pain so might reflect as to why that is the labor cost. Maybe someone will have some helpful info on that for you.

 

Your first clue should be the $113 oil change. What are your thoughts on that? This is not a Ferrari, it's a mini with a little 4 cylinder. Nothing exotic about it. $63 for 4 quarts of oil???

$700 in labor to replace o-ring on the dipstick is outrageous. It's probably not leaking and might take an hour to do.

Pelican already commented on the time to do the pulley. 1 hour. So they want to charge you $355 dollars an hour.

Definitely think about getting it towed to a different shop.

 

MINI takes 5 quarts of oil ... and you need to factor in the price of the filter.

I paid about $95 for my last oil change from an independent MINI specialist in SoCal. I would have saved about $20 if I had provided the oil.

 

@fatherg
a) yes they do minis and bmw
b) yes there is electrical (lights still work). it kind of just stopped going...i could still pull over though.

@pelicanparts
thank you! my hubby looked up the parts too but i'm not sure we want to chance it. after a little more research it looks like they are upcharging me on parts and labor. i called another shop and they said the parts total would be $380 and labor $140 which sounded more reasonable. i'm just irritated the first shop charged me $149 for a diagnostic test

@shawnnn & @miniac
yes the oil change is over priced IMO too...this second shop i called will do the oil change with oil and labor for $70 which sounds much better.

Now i'm just pricing out the towing from one shop to the other (8.7 miles) Ugh. I'm in southern california too. The mini shop with the crazy pricing was a shop i used to go to (haven't needed to go in a few years) and the guy who i used to work with isn't there anymore. And these new guys sounded annoyed that I even asked for him. But it was bothersome because they ran through the repairs so quickly I couldn't understand anything. But when I called this new shop (MiniWorx) the guy Jon took time to explain to me over the phone and was really kind. I know I'm a girl and sometimes in the auto industry we are taken advantage of. But I'm not stupid and can do research so I didn't enjoy the first shop making me feel like I wasn't an important customer.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ssistance.html

Check out this post. I would message the guy that knows of a couple shops in socal.

Im really cheap and do all my own work so I probably shouldn't be so critical of shops, but I hate seeing people being taken advantaged of.

I mean a 5 quart Mobil 1 container is $25 at Wal-Mart . It's a 10 minute job.

Good luck, hope you get it back on the road soon

 

No these prices Are terrible.

Parts for the crank pulley (OEM), belt and seal ha about right but the Labor is a joke on that replacement - about 1 hour - 1.5 at most for even a moderately competent...so I think that's too much.

Oil change is about double what the MINI dealer near me charges - so that's too much

Dipstick O-ring $700 in labor? What the heck?

I would walk away right now

 

The dipstick thing is pretty ridiculous. In no way would this make your car not run. I can't even remember anyone ever saying my dipstick leaks.

The fragile stick breaks easily but it would take a lot for it to leak. I've pulled mine out a few times doing other repairs and never thought about replacing the o-ring. Probably just cursed myself lol but I bet yours is fine . An honest shop will let you know either way though

 

where are you buying your oil? Walmart Mobil 1 0w40 26 bucks for 5qts a filter $12 $38
Edit, I see someone already mentioned this, crank pulley is diyable buts it's not an easy task for beginners.

 

There rates are really high. If I remember correctly, the supercharger has to come off for the dipstick to be removed to do that o-ring, but Prodemand quotes it at 4.3 hours and the crank pulley at 1.9 hrs. Even at $145/hr which is what they charged for your diagnostic, it doesn't add up.

 

Simply looking to rip you off. Happens all the time, probably more so to females.

Then internet makes it easier to unmask the thieves.

 

When you say "it just stopped going"....can you give some more info?

Did the motor die? If so, when it did...did it make any weird noises? Would it start back up? Did it run rough before it died?

Just trying to see why you would need a new crank pulley.

Also, one way I've found to weed out mechanics throwing needless parts at a car is to ask for the old parts back. It's funny how all of a sudden, some of the parts they said you needed at first...now you don't need.

 

It's the other way around. Dipstick has to come off to get the sc off.

To do the dipstick just pull the bumper and put it in service mode.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...front-end.html

 

The shop provided the oil ... that's why I said I could've saved about $20 by buying it myself

 

Yes....i was actually heading into a little hill and it kind of gave out? like it was still going forward a little bit but the power to move forward was gone. Not like actual electrical power but momentum. Also the red light that looks like a battery came on and the check engine light and the light that looks like a yellow caution sign with a circular arrow around it came on. No major weird noises. I didn't try to start it back up b/c i was scared And it didn't run rough before it died but on and off the check engine light had been coming on for a few weeks and i didn't take it in :/ My bad.

 

ALSO, you guys are RAD.

Thank you for the encouragement and advice. I'm having it towed this morning to shop number two! It's called MiniWorx in Laguna Hills and the guy to ask for is Jon (John?) Anyway....he's too kind and gave me a quote for parts at around $350-380 and labor at like $140 Total job is going to be around $520. Annnnnd he wouldn't have charged me a $150 diagnostic fee :( so....that's kind of a sunk cost. But oh well. I'm glad to move on. Now I can ask this new guy about a few other things on my car. I've been scared to ask b/c of the price but now I might actually do some of the little cosmetic things I've been wanting to address! Better business for him in the long run!

 

Glad you found a good place to take it to.
$150 diagnosis fee. What a scam. My local dealer "only" charges $120

 

Thanks Shawnnn, I couldn't remeber for sure, but that makes them even more of a ripoff.

Most shops charge an hour labor for diagnosis, it's pretty standard, but even if that place had a rate of 150/ hr they were still overcharging for labor.

If you are getting a new crank pulley installed, I would recommend that you get either a PRW or ATI. Both will last for the the life or your car and will reduce vibrations more than the MINI part:

PRW http://tinyurl.com/nj9eb4p

ATI http://tinyurl.com/oeavjfo

 

MiniWorx is a solid shop and they definitely know what they are doing. Also -- print out and read this guide -- if the main maintenance items on here are not completed don't be surprised if they suggested the work. It can get pricey

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/