Is this a good price or should I look elsewhere?

Question

My fiance has some friends that he works with that have offered to do an oil-change, tune up, and a radiaton flush (?) for $60 PLUS they want to charge us for parts. Is this a reasonable price or should I take the car in to a regular automotive repair shop?

And, as far as the parts...what other parts would we need to purchase besides the oil-filter and the oil, if any?

Ok....so, i just found out that they want to charge us $100 for everything, including parts....still sound good?

i wanted to add....

the car is a '98 Pontiac Sunfire

Answer 1

Meggan, It sounds like a very good deal if they truly can and will do a complete cooling system flush with cleaner. As you said You'd need an oil filter for the oil change plus ignition wires, spark-plugs distributor cap and rotor for a fairly complete tune up. Possibly a timing belt if your car has one.

If you would have entered the make, year and model and mileage of your car I could be more precise on the dollar amount.

A simple radiator flush is opening the radiator at the bottom, letting it drain, stuffing a garden hose in the top and rinsing it out. In my opinion, a very half a*sed way to clean the entire cooling system. The old coolant must be entirely flushed out. It then should be filled with pure water and a cleaning solution such as Prestone Heavy Duty Cooling System Cleaner and run through the system for an hour with the motor running before flushing it out with pure water. The radiator must be drained. Next fill one half of your cooling system capacity (found in your handbook in the glove compartment) with 100% fresh antifreeze that your handbook calls for. The other half may be filled with distilled water.

E-mail year make and model. It makes a great difference concerning the parts needed for a complete tune-up.

Answer 2

First of all, the price of the parts and what kind of parts you need depends on what kind of car you have. Some cars don't have distributors so you wouldn't need a distributor cap and rotor. Depending on the age of the car, you may or may not need new spark plug wires. If you are concerned about whether the price they quoted you is high or low, go to a repair shop and ask them for an estimate for the exact same repairs. They won't charge you for an estimate. Keep in mind that a reputable repair shop will stand behind their repairs and you can be certain that they will be done correctly and if there IS a problem you can take it back and they will make it right. Also remember that a repair shop has all the necessary correct tools to do proper work and give you the best service. A "cheap" job is not always the BEST job.

Answer 3

The parts you will need are oil filter, 4 or 5 quarts of oil, one gallon of anti freeze, four or six spark plugs depending on if you have a four or a six cylinder, spark plug wires, distributor cap and rotor if applicable. Sometimes you can get away with just changing the plugs and skipping the wires, cap, and rotor. It depends on how many miles are on the car. An oil change including parts and labor usually costs between $15 and $30. A radiator flush and fill usually costs between $40 and $60 including parts and labor. A tune up depends on if it's just plugs or if it's everything and if it is a six or four cylinder. You can figure on it costing $70 to $150 with parts and labor.

Oil and oil filter - if you buy name brand $20
Anti freeze - $10
Spark plugs - $16 to $24
Plug wires - $30
Cap and rotor - no more than $20 not all cars have these now so you may not need to consider this cost.

Hopefully this will give you an idea of what to expect. You can go to http://autozone.com and look up your car and look up prices to get a more accurate estimate on parts prices. I'm just estimating because I don't know what kind of car you have.

I just read your edit, it sounds too good.

Answer 4

I have been to Phuket several times and never been to Pattaya. Personally I would say Phuket is a better place, that is based on what I have heard of Pattaya, which is indeed notorious as a seedy place. This year I went to Phuket for a few days during July as well and though it is the monsoon season, it is not raining every day and not all day. If it rains, it might be just a couple of hours of tropical rain, but the weather is oherwise quite pleasant and warm. The advantage of going in July is that you can get a good hotel for about half the price you would pay for it in the high season and the other advantage is that it won't be so crowded with tourists everywhere. Phuket has several activities, that you can do during the monsoon season as well - like scuba diving / snorkeling (though not at all dive sites during low season, you can still do great dives at Racha Islands as a day trip from Phuket), do a tour to the Phang Nga Bay, Phi Phi island, go canoeing, or land activities as well, jungle trekking, elephant ride, etc. And after all the activities, enjoy a nice dinner (European, steaks, Italian, Japanese and of course Thai cuisines), get a Thai massage, foot massage, etc. And don't forget the shopping (but bargain hard at the street stalls). Go for a hotel with swimming pool, though you can sit at the beach too, if there is a strong current, they will put up signs that you shouldn't swim in the sea. I stayed at Thara Patong Beach Resort, which was pretty good and value for money during July. And if you are flying in to Bangkok, I would recommend to book a flight from there straight on to Phuket when you arrive. On your way back, stay a few days in Bangkok to do some sightseeing there - if you've never been there before. Bangkok can be overwhelming, as it's a pretty crowded and polluted city. Must see there: the Golden Palace and Wat Pho temple ...

Answer 5

ok i sell this job everyday. an oil filter available 5 bucks or less same car as me 4 qts of oil good stuff 15 bucks 2 gallons antifreeze 20 bucks flush 6 bucks 4 spark plugs cheapest is 1.48 each so $6, wires about $30 so about $90 for the parts. thats leaving out the air filter, fuel filter and the bottle of fuel system treatment that is reccomended for every oil change. your getting ripped off, either they wont replace what they are supposed to or they need $10 for a hit of crack and crackheads and cars will get you killed. you could take it to a shop it may end up over $200 for parts mark up (example: the $1.48 spark plug is marked up to $2.50 - $3.00) and labor. or you could make your b/f get off his butt get the repair manual out if necessary and dont get ripped off. at the worst you could do it yourself its so easy. and there is always soap when your finished. go get dirty and look better than the guys! by the way, your car does not have a distributor so the cap and rotor button are not needed

Answer 6

as for parts for a tune up you would need ignition rotor, ignition cap, new spark plugs and wires. New fuel filter, oil, oil filter, radiator flush, and anti-freeze. So yes $60 is a good price if they are going to do a full tune up.

Answer 7

For parts only $60 is about right. Basically, they're doing the labor part for free.

The parts you would need: oil filter, 5-7qts. of oil, coolant, and to do a proper radiator flush, you would need some type of cleaner.

Answer 8

Yeah, that's the best that I've seen so far but to make sure, check other prices.