I tried to tighten up the bolts on the sump and pan, but the oil was spurting out somewhere higher than I could see, so I had the car towed in to a local mechanic. He gave me some estimates for problems he saw - hopefully you can tell me if these are reasonable.
He said the leak was from under the cover over the timing "auxiliary belt and auxilliary shaft." He said the timing belt was soaked, and it was unclear to me exactly what he said had to be fixed/replaced there, but he may have suggested the timing belt be replaced too.
He also said that the water pump was completely disconnected (this explains the leak in my coolant system) and since they were all in the same place, he could replace the water pump and fix the leak and the timing problems, the whole repair there costing $875 parts and labor.
Is this reasonable? The mechanic is AAA certified, I'm inclined to believe that means something in terms of competence and honesty.
He also noted my CV boots were totally shot on both front wheels, which he said "we all dried out" and hence required the entire axle to be replaced, at a cost of $276 per axle. I knew the CV boots were trashed, but I couldn't afford to fix them before, and to be honest I barely drive the car at all. So I don't know how much damage may have been done, even if they were dry rotted through for some time. Is this price reasonable, does that repair sound necessary? Can I get by on them like they are without anything worse happening than already happened?
Finally, he said my front brakes were shot -"down to less than 1 mm." Repair costs, "if machinable" were $515, if the brake rotors were replaced, $675.
I am on a tight budget now - I need to get the car to the smog check for registration, but since I rarely drive it I'm hoping I can either let some of the other repairs sit, get them done elsewhere for cheaper, or even do some of this myself. So what do you think, a lean Christmas for the kids this year or what?
Thanks!
Tuesday, August 25th, 2020 AT 11:52 AM
(Merged)
