Is $80 a reasonable price for spark plug replacement? They charged $10 for parts and $10 for labor.?

Question

I have a 4 cylinder 1999 Acura Integra. I could have easily gone to Advance Auto Parts and done it myself for less than $20. How much is considered reasonable for a mechanic to do it?

Answer 1

You are right, you could have done it yourself for less. You took it to a professional, and they charged you a fair price. If you are unhappy with the price, next time do it yourself!!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Its about right, my shop is right at about the same price. Plugs that we use are about $6 a plug and the labour is about $50 for half hours labour (includes inspection). If you could have gone to a parts store and done it yourself, why did you OK the work? Why didn't you change them yourself?

And as a side note, what is the torque spec for tightening the spark plugs in that car, and what is the spark plug gap? These are important to know. For you people who say that there is no torque spec, everything on a car has a torque spec, yes, even the valve caps.

Answer 4

I'll answer with some questions.
how much do you make an hour on your job?
how much does it cost you to do your job?
if you work for a company that sales something what is cost vs sales price?

mechanics buy their own tools they are not cheap.
car manufacturers change thing every year so new tools are required to keep up.
all in all you could do it yourself but unless you know to put anti-seize on the spark plug threads before installing and di-electric grease on the spark plug wire boots next time would cost alot more.

so $80 to change spark plugs is not too bad.

Answer 5

Just changing plugs is pretty easy. If you are getting misfiring or it is running badly, you should probably change plug wires too. Around here (SoCal), shops get about $70/hour. Just plugs should be less than .5 hour. (I could probably do it in 10 minutes).

Warning!! Do not listen to O pick me. Never put loctite on your plugs. You can use anti-sieze compound but never loctite. You may want to get them out without damage someday.

Answer 6

Thats about right shop hour is about 75.00 per hour to 90.00 per with your car it runs better on platluim so they would cost about 5 bucks a plug and shops usully doubles the price so yes it is about right dont worry about it you did good

Answer 7

it depends on how difficult the sparkplugs are to get to.

if the plugs are right on the top of the motor it shouldnt take more than 15 minutes to change out 4 - 6 plugs. or cost more than 20-30 in plugs

Answer 8

You did OK. However, if you ever do it yourself, DO NOT put Lock-Tight on the threads of the plugs as one answerer said. I don't know where these people come from. If they don't know, they need to go answer questions about cats, or something.

Answer 9

Way too much. The mechanic should have done it for free, scoped your engine, and done any adjustments needed. To make up for his greed, I suggest you demand a free oil change, and a wheel alignment. LOLOL!! How can you compare your free labour, in your free driveway, on your own time, to shop time on demand and the services of a tune-up specialist? Of course it is reasonable!

Answer 10

Do it yourself!!! Any labor to replace the plugs is to much! Just buy the plugs, spacer gage and some lock tight. Look in the owners manual or under the hood for the gap specs for the arm to ignitor and space it with the gage, if you gap it to much bend it back and do it again. Put a dab of lock tight on the threads and use a socket wrench to secure it into place, not to tight just enough so it doesn't turn in its lock position anymore.