6G Celicas Forums

Ok so here is the story...

I took my car to meineke for the "free brake inspection", i just did this because i wanted to have my tires rotated and i didnt want to do it myself. Anyway, turns out that my car has got some major problems. Only thing is, I am not sure if this guy just wanted me to cough up some funds, or if he was legit.

Problem #1

The guy brought me over with my car on the lift and my front left CV joint was busted. All the grease poured out into the inside of my rim. So the joint is not being lubricated at all right now. The guy told me that he would have to replace the whole axel and total it would be 255.00 out the door. Do I need a new axel? Can the joint be replaced by itself? and is this a legit price?

Problem #2

The guy told me that the joint went bad because all four of my struts are bad and need to be replaced. So he said that he can do all four struts for $1,062. YIKES!!! That seems a little high to me??? So could this be a cause of my joint going out? and do all four need to be replaced?

Problem #3

This isn't really a BIG concern of mine, of course it needs to be fixed, it just does not have top priority. Turns out my rear brake rotors are bad, and my pads are just about to be bare metal. So I need new rotors and pads, he quoted me $260. This is probably something that I would end up doing though...Plus it gives me an excuse to buy drilled rotors

Problem #4

Guy told me that I was leaking oil. He said that he would need to replace the Valve cover gasket. As far as I know the car isn't leaking from there. Seems like if it were I would be able to see it dripping? If he needs to replace this, what could it possible be? He also said that I need a new oil pressure sending unit? I don't see why I would need one? Everytime I start my car the little oil light turns on, then shuts off in like 3 seconds. He quoted me $185 for this...

Grand total for everything on my car from this guy was $1,800 out the door. Seems like this is a little much to me? AND on top of this....the guy that put my rims back on over tightend the caps on the rims and I lost one. Im gonna go down there tommorrow, already called him, he said to come down and well see what we can do...

By the way, my car is a 1996 GT Hatch with 150,000 miles. Any help or insight would be great. I'm thinking of doing everything myself, just worried that something will go wrong, it always does...

1: u can buy an axle for cheaper, n if ur auto saavy n read some of our how to's, u can try to do it yourself. u can fix the knuckle if thats whats messed up as well as replace the boot, but that involves getting another axle anyways. u can usually get an axle from Rockauto.com for a good price.

2: u can get KYB OEM replacement shocks for your GT for a better price n can get them installd for cheaper at someplace besides meineke..i duno about how they affect the axle, but unnecessary bobbing of the car can cause stress on both sides of the car and (i guess) lead to axle problems..thats just a guess.

3: ur rotors may just need to be resurfaced rather than replaced, get a second opinion. the pads u can do urself if u have some ratchets n a lil time, we have how-to's on the site.

4: have another shop look at the leak (if there is one)

lots of times places like this overkill the situation. ur rotors may need resurfacing, but why do that when u can replace and get brand new rotors? (their mentality)

for example, my gf got a coupon in the mail for an $18.95 oil change at EZLube. when i got there, she said that the total was $30 something. i asked, n they said they were running some stuff thru the engine to clean out the gunk b4 replacing the oil. i thot okay, i coulda done this on my own, but the price for oil (they were using Mobil) is more if i had to do this all on my own. then, the guy asks my gf to come to the back, n he pulls all kinds of BS on her saying that she needs to replace her tranny fluid, she has leaks here n there (we just put her car in the shop cuz it was bought used n we wantd everything checkd n it was all good), n that she needs to bleed her brake lines for some stupid reason. all came out to $400 for parts n labor..from $18.95 oil change to $400 BS.

i'd get a second opinion if i were u..try mom n pops shops around ur place or ask friends or relatives that may have auto hook ups.

This post has been edited by xs94st: Oct 12, 2007 - 10:36 PM

1) axles cost about 100, labor cant be that much
2) struts are 50 each, 200 total plus installation
3) rotors and pads are 150 if u go xdrilled and ceramic
4) valve cover gasket is 20 bux

valve cover gasket 88 at toyota dealer. parts and labor

1. if the axle isnt clicking when you turn, the boot can be replaced. it is a complicated process since you have to disassemble the axle. the boot kit runs about $15, but the extra labor involved might not be worth it. most people just replace the axle since its fairly cheap.

2. worn shocks/struts will not cause the axle boot to tear. time and turning the steering wheel will. if the car doesnt feel bouncy and you dont hear all kinds of noise, your struts are probably ok. bounce the car at each corner. when you let go, if the car settles fairly quickly, the struts are ok. also you can check the cup area where the spring sits, if there is oily residue that means the strut is leaking and needs replacement.

3. unless the rotors are really rusty, or the guy busted out a rotor micrometer and measured the rotors, they can be resurfaced. even so, brembo oem replacement rotors are very cheap and good quality.

4. unless you got oil pouring out and have to constantly maintain it, i woudlent worry about fixing any leaks. chances are more than just the valve cover is leaking, and it will end up costing you more once they tear into it.

i think your gettin suckered. The thing about places like Minakie, MR lube, etc. is they work on upsales. They find one thing wrong, or somethin thats gonna go wrong, and tell u it needs to be replaced.

like the other people said, if your CV isnt clicking yet, just replace the boot and grease. Aftermarket boots cost like $20 at most and take maybe 40 min to install depending on how good your mechanic is.

Shocks and sturts shouldnt be bad because of a CV shaft. They really dont rely on eachother. Easiest thing to do is just bounce your car by pushing down on the fenders or on the 1/4 pannels and see if its easy to push down, or not. If you find your self pushing down and feeling the car lower alot, then they are probably shot, if you push down and feel some pretty good resistance and the shock rebounds right away, they are probably fine. I would say go get it inspected at a better garage though.

Brakes are important, if they are gone, replace em. No question about it.

And as for the valve cover, oil pressure sensor. If your leaking from the valve cover, then replace the gasket. Its only like $30 for parts including the silicone you need, maybe $40 labour depending on the shop you go to. The oil pressure sensor, you shouldnt need to replace that. If you have some oil leaking around the sensor, you should take the sender out and put some thread selant tape on it. It should stop the leak. The only way you can see if the sensor is faulty or not is if you actually test it using a DVOM or a scan tool and im almost 99% sure that they wouldnt test that when you come in for a brake inspection.

meineke=rip-off those are way over priced. i just paid 200 parts and labor for all four rotors to be resurfaced and new brakepads (i was charged 90 for labor the rest was parts) and thats just cause I don't have time to do it myself. Shocks??? thats not hard to do either but most shops will charge you 50 dollars in labor per shock. Tien coilovers are about 1000 bucks so why pay 1000 for oem??? I don't know about the rest of the stuff though, ask others.

Here's my take on it:


•CV joint: unfortunately, I've shopped around to have this job quoted too, that sounds about right. I never had it done, sold the car the quote was for, but am about to have it done for my celi, will probably do it myself though to save on the labor. Cost: about $100 parts. You can get the kit, but you have to get the axle off anyway, might as well replace it if you're gonna go that far.

•I got a quote from Brake Team for labor on all 4 shocks/struts: $60. I'm gonna buy KYB GR-2s off eBay; total estimated cost for parts: $160. Total job: about $220

•Get a second opinion on the rear rotors. If they're out of spec then they can't be turned any more; you'll have to replace them. Unfortunately brake jobs are SPENDY, so that sounds about right for parts/labor. Go somewhere else though, these guys are already trying to rip you off and it sounds like their technicians aren't so great.

•Get 2nd opinion on valve cover gasket too. If your CV boots are torn, they're spraying grease everywhere. Could LOOK like it's coming from the engine when in fact it's actually from your CV joint. Same thing happened to me. Get the engine steam cleaned if need be, that'll be a sure-fire way to identify the source of your oil leak. If it IS your valve cover, shop around. $185 sounds EXCEEDINGLY high for this job, it's not a difficult one. You could do it yourself if you're handy.


Good luck and keep us posted on what happens.

This post has been edited by GriffGirl: Oct 15, 2007 - 6:29 PM