Defrost Actuator Replacement

Tiny
JAYWALKING_
  • MEMBER
  • 2014 TOYOTA COROLLA
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 50,000 MILES
I recently took my Corolla into the shop because of a huge issue with my defrost, and I was told that the problem required putting in a new actuator (8710602220) or an entirely new assembly (8713002670). The price I was quoted for the repair was around $1200 and $1400, respectively. Does that sound reasonable? I have little knowledge with car repairs, but from what I could find on this website for similar repairs (https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor) it doesn't seem like this job warrants 1000 dollars in labor costs. I would appreciate any advice, and a thank you to those who put in the time to run this website.
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019 AT 7:39 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
JAYWALKING_
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
According to this website (https://repairpal.com/estimator/toyota/corolla/hvac-blend-door-actuator-replacement-cost), a blend door actuator replacement is supposed to between $200-250 for a Corolla? Am I missing something here, where does the price discrepancy between this and what I was quoted come from?
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019 AT 8:25 PM
Tiny
HARRY P
  • MECHANIC
  • 2,295 POSTS
Well the breakdown works as follows: Book time (which is a statement of how much a mechanic should charge for the job) shows over 7 hours for the job. Combine that with the relatively lengthy procedure that Toyota has laid out for doing the job and yes, you could easily get into the 1,000's in labor costs.

Personally, I would suggest shopping the job around a bit. I'd bet you could find a smaller shop to do the job for 30% less. You can also poke around online and get the part for the job on your own, which will save you from paying the marked up price commonly known as "list price."

Hope this information clears things up for you.

_ Harry
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019 AT 8:38 PM
Tiny
HARRY P
  • MECHANIC
  • 2,295 POSTS
What you're looking at there is the generic estimate of what a blend door actuator costs to replace. The job that Toyota is quoting is for the recirculation door actuator, which appears to be a more involved job. Also, sites like repair pal use numbers that aren't necessarily just from dealerships. Also, dealerships do tend to charge considerably more than small private shops.
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019 AT 8:44 PM
Tiny
JAYWALKING_
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Hi Harry, I really appreciate your response. Thanks for clarifying, that makes sense. I had a feeling that the website wasn't accurate, but I have to say, the contrast between what the website suggested the price was for a somewhat similar job and the price I got from the dealership is pretty shocking, I mean, just not close at all.

I was in fact thinking about buying the part for myself and shopping around locally, so thank you for the input there. Can I ask you where you get the information on the book time? Is that something you can search for on google, or is it in some kind of database only mechanics can access?
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019 AT 9:08 PM
Tiny
DANNY L
  • MECHANIC
  • 5,648 POSTS
Hello, I'm Danny
Here is a tutorial we attach to our responses giving you an idea as to what is involved in a blend door actuator remove/replace.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor

Hope this helps and thanks again for using 2CarPros.
Danny-
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Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019 AT 3:26 AM
Tiny
HARRY P
  • MECHANIC
  • 2,295 POSTS
Hmmm you can probably Google that information, or just call the dealership service department and they'll tell you. We get it from Prodemand and AllData, which are fairly expensive subscription services for mechanics that give us a ridiculous amount of data and useful information on cars and their various systems.
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Thursday, January 24th, 2019 AT 3:50 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 54,144 POSTS
Here are diagrams to show the location of the blend door actuators. Check out the diagrams (Below). Please let us know what happens.
Images (Click to make bigger)
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Friday, January 25th, 2019 AT 12:41 PM

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