LexusRX300 Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Hello! I have a 1999 RX300 that I purchased from the bank. It had been repossessed, had sat for a year, and had a seized engine. BTW, I'm in the Caribbean. I took it to the local independant repair shop, and talked to the mechanic who I knew. He didn't own the garage but was in charge of the repair department. He told me to simply take out the old seized engine and put in the new used engine I had would be $900 or about 12 hours of work. It sat there for three weeks without being worked on. I'd call either mechanic or the owner of the garage and they'd say that he was very busy and it would be ready in a day or two. This went on and on. Finally, they start working on it, and a week later it's done. The bill, instead of $900, is now $3700+, for 59 hours of work! Including replacing the engine, the brake master cylinder had been rebuilt; trans, oil, and brake fluid changed, and the A / C charged. It turns out that the mechanic who I had been dealing with had resigned and wasn't on good terms with the owner, plus left the island. Could anyone tell me the following: 1. How many hours should changing the engine take? 2. Does the fact that the existing engine is seized increase the time? 3. How many hours should "rebuilding" the brake master cylinder take? 4. How many hours should charging the A / C take? 5. How many hours should changing the fluids take? Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexdog Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Wow !!! Rough Deal, Did you get the original estimate in writing ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexKid630 Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 All i do know is that if you received an estimate, and it's that much more, it's not right for you to need to pay..That's a biiiggg difference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexKid630 Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 yeah; if you got it in writing, its a done deal! At least legally it is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruznroadking Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 You need to as the shop for a break down of all of the repairs. Did they replace the engine with another engine? Or did they rebuild the siezed engine?? In California you can complain to an agency called the Bureau of Automotive Repair & they will contact the shop & speak in your behalf for a resolution. If the repair estimate exceeds the original signed repair order the shop needs to contact you for an increase. Did they do that?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexusRX300 Posted April 23, 2005 Author Share Posted April 23, 2005 Thanks for the replies! No, I didn't get the original quote in writing. What I'd like to know is how many hours the different tasks they performaned should take, so I can see if 60 hours is a reasonable amount of time. To me, for it to take 60 hours to do the following seems very excessive. 1. How many hours should changing the engine take? 2. Does the fact that the existing engine is seized increase the time? 3. How many hours should "rebuilding" the brake master cylinder take? 4. How many hours should charging the A / C take? 5. How many hours should changing the fluids take? Does anyone know how long each of these five tasks should take? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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