Heater Core Replacement Estimate out of proportions

[profitoral]

Hi,

I live in San Francisco Bay Area and I have a 2006 A6. I need to replace the heater core and I can't do it myself.

I got an estimate from a mechanic: $2500, which I think it's way too much. What would be a normal range to have it replaced ??

Thanks.
Profitoral.

[Greenster]

Not sure what normal would be, but try YourMechanic.com. Just be sure to get a mechanic who has worked on your kind of Audi before. They'll come to your garage and do the work there, too. Good luck!

Sent from my SONY Xperia XA Ultra

[B. Rock]

Depends, does the dash need to come out on these cars? Most every other VAG car I've worked on has required dash removal for heater core replacement.

[profitoral]

Depends, does the dash need to come out on these cars? Most every other VAG car I've worked on has required dash removal for heater core replacement.

I think so.

[B. Rock]

That's not out of the realm of possibilities for CA pricing. Assuming an hourly rate of $150, that's 16 hours + a few bucks for the part.

[superman_006]

I think the $2500 estimate is a "We don't want to do it " quote. Its $1100 at my local Audi dealer including parts.

[profitoral]

I think the $2500 estimate is a "We don't want to do it " quote. Its $1100 at my local Audi dealer including parts.

That is what I was thinking.

[profitoral]

I got two more estimates:

- One from an auto repair in Palo Alto, although they said that they have never done it so the estimate might be off: $1170
- From Audi dealer: $1440

[jamesb]

I got two more estimates:

- One from an auto repair in Palo Alto, although they said that they have never done it so the estimate might be off: $1170
- From Audi dealer: $1440

For the price difference I'd go with the dealer - they won't be learning how to do it on your car.

[2010A6]

For the price difference I'd go with the dealer - they won't be learning how to do it on your car.

Agreed, that's a pretty good price considering its the dealer

[profitoral]

Just a follow up to the story in case somebody is interested:

I took it to the dealership yesterday (long wait for my appt.), obviously they have to diagnose it, so $215 to diagnose it. They took all day tomorrow and still didn't even tell me a thing.

They sent me the report this morning, they priced the heater core replacement at $2295, I was shocked and I asked how was that possible if they gave me a quote by phone of $1441. They said that it looked like I was given Audi's warranty price not the retail price. He said he could apply a discount coupon and bring the price down to $1864.94 if that helps. I feel like I've been beaten up

Aside from that, the report lists a lot of other things (that I don't plan to do), including diagnosis for 3 more items (oil leak, MMI and washer system leak), each of the diagnosis costs $215. That means that only in diagnosis I would be charged more than a $800 (including the one I already paid for the heater core). If somebody is interested I can post the whole report. The total cost is $7200ish without even fixing the 3 other issues.