I just took my car to the Nissan dealer around me for some repairs and they told me that I had leaking valve cover gaskets and a leaking drivers side axle seal for starters. I was told that the gaskets would cost ~420 and the axle seal about 200 including labor. Is this price reasonable? I would do these myself, but am currently way too busy w/ grad school.

Also, how much would it cost to have the steering rack bushings replaced, b/c that is why I went there in the first place? Thanks

 

i would have never have paid that

 

Just go to some small shops, make sure you watch them at all times when they work on your car though.

 

Thats true!! some of these guys are just freaking nuts. One time i left my car for some fluid flushes and the guy tried telling me that it took him about 5hrs do do a tranny, oil and radiator fluid flush so he was going to charge me extra( i was in class so i coudnt wait for the car). I then proceeded to tell him . Needless to say i picked up my car cheaper than what was originally intended.

 

Go some place else, f*ck the dealership.

 

is the valve cover gasket near the firewall or radiator?

 

ill personally drive to florida and if you pay that price...... do it yourself or go to a small shop i hate dealerships they RAPE you for prices i hate even buying cars there the ba$terds....

 

I'll bet 20$ that the dealership didn't take a tourqe wrench and make sure the valve cover bolts were snugged to spec....

 

dealer tried to charge me 400 dollars labors for spark plugs.

 

Well that sounds good except for two things:

A: The valve cover bolts are the shoulder type, meaning once they were tightened to spec initially there is no provision to tighten them any further.

B: The VC gasket that usually leaks first is under the upper intake manifold, with absolutely no access to tighten the already tight shoulder bolts.

Face it, high mileage VQ engines leak oil. Just like all the rest.

 

Dealer charges labor out the rear and parts are way more expensive..every1 who knows a little about working on a car knows this..(im not saying you dont) If money is no thing to you..and you trust whoever is working on your car..its your call. I would make friends with a mechanic FTW!!

 

Everyone, I know that you all wouldn't pay that much money, but you aren't me. I didn't want to pay that much either, but I have taken the car to various little mechanic shops over the last 5 years, and every time they screw something up. I took my car to a shop called Palm Beach Performance and it is the 350Z leg of teh Nissan Dealer. They are independent of the normal mechanics,and they do super careful and exacting work.
I have probably put over 500 hours of labor into the car myself, but I am working on my Masters degree right now, and have absoultely no time. I went in to have the rack bushings replaced, and this leak was the reason why the bushings went bad.

 

WTF!!!....please tell me that you're kidding

 

That is so ****N BULL****.... valve cover gasket for an Mk4 TT cost no where even near that, and ur telling me a maxima na cost 420...

Dont trust Dealers for anything

 

Steering rack bushings really are a lot of labor. It's half of the labor needed to change the rack, so you're talking a few hours.

As for the price you paid, that sounds like a dealer price. Not ridiculous, certainly not cheap, but dealer price.

Watch that leaky seal. In many cases, 5speeds have their tranny bearings go bad, and with loose bearings the oil will leak out of a perfectly good seal. In other words, it's can be a symptom of needing a tranny rebuild.

Dave