Me being a college student and working full time I cant do it myself. So whats the average price to get it done? I know its the heater core, my windows get condensation all over and I get a pretty big wiff of coolant while driving. So any input will help. Thanks

Mike

 

The shop that quoted me for my body work claimed it would be a 5 hour job, but I don't think it would be quite that long. There is a reason why they are the highest place in town.

I was just entertaining the idea of letting them do mine since it's a pain in the a$$.

 

I would really recomend doing it yourself. The dealers that i checked were going to charge around $1000, and local shops about $700. The core itself only costs about $60. It is a project that a beginner should be able to do. It took me about 4-6 hours my first time. Whether or not you have someone else do it, if it was me Id rather save the money and use it for other things. Especially since your in college.

 

^ dealership wanted 1100 and independent shops wanted 800, when mine went out, i spent 90 bucks on the brass core and followed the DIY and took me the weekend to do, before that i just bypassed it till i had time.

 

I got about 400 in the replacement of the heater core in my girlfriends 98,thats parts and labor including new heater hoses.

 

see, I'd love to do it myself but I'm so tied up with school 14 class hours/homework/ work 30-40 hours and I'd only be able to get to it once in a while. I wouldnt be able to be without a vehicle for that long. So I'm biting a bullet and taking it in. What sucks is I was planning on using my income tax check to fix it but extremely smart people at payroll companies like to change my legal documents so I now owe money to our lovely government.
Sorry end rant. haha
If its around $800ish I guess I can just swipe it and pay it off..

 

Shop around for a better price and look into the smaller garages.

 

Winter is almost over. You can bypass your heater core if you can deal without heat.

 

buy the part yourself, and have someone install it, that will save you maybe 100 bucks, cuz where i used to work, when we ordered parts, we would double it (not my idea)...so lets say we get an 02 sensor from carquest and it costs us 35 bucks, we charge the customer 70 bucks, and we add the labor that alldata calls for...so if it says 2 hours, thats another 140 bucks (70/hr) even if it took 1/2 and hour.......thats how shops get you.....

 

I agree... tackle this summer when the semester is over. Thats when I am planning to do my plenum.