Mechanic wants too much for this job?

[BennyLava]

My passenger side lower ball joint died. 2009 Yaris Sedan. Its been clunking and clacking for a while now, and I finally got time to take it in.

Well the tire shop wants $331 to fix it. They say that the whole lower control arm has to be replaced. You can get a Moog brand lower control arm for $71 with the ball joint. The AC Delco brand one is $107. Does toyota have a house brand like Ford has Motorcraft, and GM has ACdelco?

Anyway, is this too much for this job? It sounds really steep. I didn't buy a yaris cause I have money to shell out like this. What would you pay? Or maybe DIY? Is it a pain to replace yourself?

[chancellor6869]

suspension work isnt to hard. but what he quoted you isnt bad. do you feel comfortable enough working on it yourself? if not than dont do it. suspension work will kill you if not done right, especially front end work.

[ilikerice]

There is a TSB for the lower ball joints. The Toyota time is 5.5 hours. So $300 isn't a bad deal. The TSB is for both sides and I think the shop is quoting you just 1 side. Shops average about $60 per hour.

The TSB # is 0055-11

you can find the TSB here:
http://microimageonline.com/forums/s...TECH-TSB-FILES

scroll down to the bottom of the first post and you will see a link to USA TSB's. Then another window will pop up and scroll towards the bottom. Look for TSB0055-11

It will show you how to replace it, what the new part number is and if your car will fall under the specified repair.

[CoryM]

If your balljoint is "clunking and clanking" it is probably worn to the point of dangerous.
If price includes alignment, that's not bad at all.

[BennyLava]

Originally Posted by ilikerice

There is a TSB for the lower ball joints. The Toyota time is 5.5 hours. So $300 isn't a bad deal. The TSB is for both sides and I think the shop is quoting you just 1 side. Shops average about $60 per hour.

The TSB # is 0055-11

you can find the TSB here:
http://microimageonline.com/forums/s...TECH-TSB-FILES

scroll down to the bottom of the first post and you will see a link to USA TSB's. Then another window will pop up and scroll towards the bottom. Look for TSB0055-11

It will show you how to replace it, what the new part number is and if your car will fall under the specified repair.

So what are those? IIRC, TSB stands for toyota service bulletin. Thank you for the info, but how can that help me? I'm assuming that its not something that toyota will fix for free. Just trying to understand the meaning of your post.

[IllusionX]

yeah.. a TSB is just for the technicians to know what to look for when some problems occur. It doesn't mean a free fix.

The lower ball joint IS replacable, but nobody likes to do it because you have to spend time to remove it and put the new one back in. Since you have to remove the control arm anyways, might aswell just replace the whole thing. It's more cost effective.

like others said.. 330$ is not a bad price if it includes alignment.

When i had my control arm replaced at Toyota, it was 75$ alignement, 348$ control arm, 1.5hrs work, 127.43$

[ilikerice]

Originally Posted by BennyLava

So what are those? IIRC, TSB stands for toyota service bulletin. Thank you for the info, but how can that help me? I'm assuming that its not something that toyota will fix for free. Just trying to understand the meaning of your post.

Yea, you are correct. It is called a Toyota Service Bulletin. What Illusion said. They are issues that happen often that Toyota has made a standard fix for or a new updated part.

I figured this would have answered all your questions if you had clicked on the link and actually looked at the TSB.

*TSB addresses the complaint
*shows how many hours it takes a mechanic to replace
*What VIN number the change was made
*Old part number and New updated part number
*Then it actually shows you HOW to replace the part yourself if you wanted to try and not pay a shop to do it. It even tells you what size sockets are needed and torque specs

That is if you actually opened up the TSB and read it.

[BennyLava]

I opened it and saw what it was and then saved it on my computer for later. I'll keep that as long as I have the car as its valuable info.

I'm assuming that the toyota dealerships upload all repairs to a database that Toyota can see? That way they know what to make a TSB for.

And I'm also assuming that pretty much all automakers have the same system? So for ford it would be FSB, and Gm would be GMSB? Its nice to know these things.

[7:34pm]

It's called technical service bulletin, the term used for all dealerships in repairing vehicles; it's not a Toyota only acronym

[Exiwolfman]

Originally Posted by ilikerice

Yea, you are correct. It is called a Toyota Service Bulletin. What Illusion said. They are issues that happen often that Toyota has made a standard fix for or a new updated part.



I figured this would have answered all your questions if you had clicked on the link and actually looked at the TSB.



*TSB addresses the complaint

*shows how many hours it takes a mechanic to replace

*What VIN number the change was made

*Old part number and New updated part number

*Then it actually shows you HOW to replace the part yourself if you wanted to try and not pay a shop to do it. It even tells you what size sockets are needed and torque specs



That is if you actually opened up the TSB and read it.

Very well said and true but not to general public you need online access for anything more that the TSB gives in description but yes it will specify exactly how to fix or resolve the issue.
Also keep in mind if we all follow the way it should be done " by the book " we would make no money as flat rate.
There is 3 ways to fix a car
The right way , the flat rate way and the wrong way lol
If the public only really have know how it works they would never take a car into any shop .
In my opinion find a place with guys that are based on hourly pay not flat rate.
I for one hate flat rate!


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