1998 ls400 - cambelt change

[cornershop]

Gents, received the following quote from a local garage via autobutler.co.uk - does it sound reasonable?

 

"Thank you for your enquiry.

Prices are subject to damages/defects that can only be seen after disassembly.
If damage/defects are found during the work, you will receive a phone call to get your acceptance of any repairs.

All parts that are replaced are kept in case you wish to see them when picking up the car.
All prices include VAT and labour costs. 

Here is the specification of the requested quote:

Work: 
Replacement of the timing belt complete.
Replacement of the water pump, complete.
Replacement of the drive belt.
Test drive after completion of the work.

Parts:
Cam belt kit, complete.
Water pump
Coolant approved for your engine.
Fan/driving belt."

 

 

Parts/Materials	OEM-approved parts
Guarantee on parts	18 months
Guarantee on workmanship	18 months

Quote
Labour – 3 hours at 66.00 198.00 Spare parts, materials and accessories 294.00 Total GBP 492.00 Included VAT 82.00

 

Cheers

[Scribe]

Shirish, when I had my cambelt and water pump replaced last year the garage also changed some pulleys (?) which someone else on here might be able to advise about.  I think I paid about £600 for the whole job.

[ambermarine]

Shirish

I got my mark 4 done for the 10 year life expiry as the car at the time I bought it had only 20k. It was done at Lexus Glasgow for £350 but that was just the cambelt .

Your quote looks very fair but as scribe as mentioned you would be well advised to get the belt tensioners replaced whilst the front of the engine is exposed, they can get noisy when worn and replacing them later will involve exposing the front end just to access them,a lot of labour time.

The extra cost will probably add 15% to your quote.

 

[cornershop]

Thanks scribe, Phil 

It makes sense to tackle any other parts/jobs whilst its apart, so will seek their recommendation.

This was the original scope of the quote that the garage would have received via autobutler so will confirm 100% if tensioner included -  "I would like a complete change of timing belt, including water pump, belt tensioners, jockey pulleys and topping up of anti-freeze" 

[Malc]

wow, 3 hrs is amazing and probably follows Lexus " book " time guidelines.....................  an indy might naturally take much longer to complete the job, my Mk2 took about 6 hrs or more many years ago.

I'm expecting my indy to charge me about £500 plus Waterpump cost and starter motor attention.....  he's said he will want the car for a whole day.

The starter motor is also in that challenging area too !

see this !

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aisin-TKT-001-Complete-Water-Kit-Timing/dp/B00AFYE6B0

 

Malc

[Tinonline]

Price looks fair and I'd agree other pulleys are best replaced along with the tensioner pulley and tensioner bolt type tensioner.

That will be more £'s but not much on the labour if anything. Give you a long-term gain though. At 70-90k some pulleys are very tired with definite bearing noise and movement whilst others are tired but good for longer. I would also do it as you know it's done.

[ISJason]

I've got an RX 400 and Lexus Birmingham only want to charge me £299 I know it's not an LS but I was just comparing the prices. Also is it a cam belt? Some people say it's a timing chain.. so I'm not sure what it is actually.

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[steve2006]

That looks like a very good quote although completing the job in 3 hours is a bit optimistic, I would double that. I wonder if they used Autodata for the time quote as this is the same time my local garage quoted which ended up being over a day once started.

For the London area the labour rate including VAT is also good.

The quote mentions a "cam belt kit" so this normally includes the idler and tensioner pulleys, the tensioner itself rarely fails so can be recompressed and reused after checking.

OEM parts are normally Aisin so would be interested in what they use however 18 months warranty is OK.

Once they discover the true time of doing the job I hope they don't invoke the "we've found more problems" clause to push up the price.

 

[dendonc]

I have been quoted 569 quid by Grove garage brighton for, belt, tensioners, pulleys, water pump &* coolant change, this includes VAT.

Just the belt itself & coolant change they quoted 274 inc Vat.

.

[dendonc]

Malc

The starter motor is also in that challenging area too

dendonc

I had to have it changed 2 or 3 years ago on my '95 & it was right at between bottom manifold & body, he had to take manifold off, big job

 

[cornershop]

Another quote, this time from JEM on Edgware Road (not the Jemca group main dealer)......

"To replace the timing belt with the tensioner and idler pulleys and the water pump with changing the engine coolant will cost £743.00 inclusive of parts,

labour & VAT.

[Malc]

21 minutes ago, dendonc said:

Malc

The starter motor is also in that challenging area too

dendonc

I had to have it changed 2 or 3 years ago on my '95 & it was right at between bottom manifold & body, he had to take manifold off, big job

 

hi, shame you hadn't joined the forum earlier times. I mentioned a while back that the 1995 Ls400 starter motor was the subject of an official recall and if your's hadn't been attended to under that scheme you might have had it done for freeeeee 

Never mind, too late now eh !

Malc

[dendonc]

wow...how long ago was it recalled malc?

[Malc]

mid to late 90's i think ( probably ) but not everyone had it fixed !  ... and it's never too late with a recall ............ it's a safety issue usually

I've just had an official recall from Mazda on my 1994 323f and the ignition switch was replaced just before Xmas ... free of course.

Malc

[dendonc]

wow...how long ago was it recalled malc?

[cornershop]

Lexus (MainDealer) Edgware Road quoting £757 for belt, pump and pulleys.

[ambermarine]

Hi Shirish

Looks like I was a bit wide of the mark with my 15% but mine was done four years ago and was not done by an independant which is were you got your first quote, the last quote from Lexus main dealer is about the rate for main dealership work and the guarantee it will be right is paramount when the prices are compared.

I had some issues with mine when the techy marred the plastic engine covers negligently,the whole lot were replaced by Lexus at a cost of £600 to them and I also got a lot of freebies in the car care range.

[cornershop]

Thanks, I'm tempted to get it booked in with Lexus. Just got car home and pretty sure I can hear noisy pulleys. I hear a whine which rises with revs when i blip the throttle at idle?

[cornershop]

Another quote, this time from JEM on Edgware Road (not the Jemca group main dealer)......

"To replace the timing belt with the tensioner and idler pulleys and the water pump with changing the engine coolant will cost £743.00 inclusive of parts,

labour & VAT.

Updated with breakdown:

"The Autodata book time to replace the water pump is 3 hours (timing belt removed).

I have quoted you for genuine Lexus parts and the breakdown is below.

Labour £270.00

Tensioner £92.35

Idler Pulley £93.68

Timing Belt £51.14

Water pump £92.83

Coolant £20.00

VAT £124.00

Total £744.00"

[ISJason]

Is this expensive for an old car?

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[cornershop]

Lexus (MainDealer) Edgware Road quoting £757 for belt, pump and pulleys.

Confirmed that this price also includes the tensioner. Thing is, I can't get an engine oil change without paying for their basic service which is £199 for the LS!

[MLW]

Lexus Cambridge did my LS430 for £307 incl vat. It was before I bought it and was only the belt. Your price looks good. Are the parts Lexus or top notch?

[cornershop]

Is this expensive for an old car?

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Yes! Considering I didn't pay much more for the car itself!

[cornershop]

Lexus Cambridge did my LS430 for £307 incl vat. It was before I bought it and was only the belt. Your price looks good. Are the parts Lexus or top notch?

Lexus Edgware Road I'd assume use Lexus parts; JEM nearby also use genuine Lexus parts but are only £12 cheaper than Lexus.

[Tinonline]

My parts came to £245 including VAT & carriage from the US.

I used a Gates kit. (there was a substantial offer on with Rock Auto that I took advantage of).

The main pulleys were same marque as Lexus although rest were replacement parts. All pulleys (aux belt too) were replaced apart from cooling fan bracket.

I didn't need/do an oil change at this stage but coolant cost me £17.00 Distilled water only cost me £1.00 for 5ltrs as Halfords were dumping stock at the time.

Labour was mine...I did have to add to my tool set though and this added £60 ish.

Still all adds up and it's not a zero spend exercise!