Hey guys,
I don't know that much about cars so thought I would ask for some help on this one.
I had my car serviced today and the mechanic has advised that the seals in the spark plug tubes are gone and there is a fair bit of oil in there. He only checked the front 3 but believes the back are likely to be the same, He has said because the coil packs have been in the oil for some time they are going to need replacing.

So he's given me a nice little quote of $1962.15
and he broken it down for me so I wanted to know if it all seems legit(can't blame some who doesn't know that much for wanting to check)






Parts Labor
Air Filter 61.58 31.77
Spark Plugs 154.44 91.50
Drive Belt 63.78 76.25
Gasket Set - Valve cover 97.36 95.32
Coil Pack x6 1080.00 31.77

does that all seem about right?or should I get some other quotes? Major ones being the coil packs, I haven't really been able to find much to compare the price to but have just found second hand ones on ebay from mitsfix http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mitsubishi-380-Ignition-Coil-/191300553159?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c8a66c9c7
$67ish each sounds a bit better that $180 each.
Now as said I don't know that much but my brother has a ok knowledge, So how difficult would it be for us to do this ourselves, or get the seals and spark plugs done and replace the coils our self? As watching him today the front 3 looked easy, don't know about the back 3.

Any help/advice welcome :)

Mate,
That price is a bit OTT, I think he's having a bit of a lend of you.
Yes, 380 plug tube seals often start to leak a bit after 120,000k or thereabouts.
They go a bit brittle with age and the constant heat cycle.
I'm not aware of leaking plug tube seals stuffing up the coil packs, but Mal (Madmagna) can chime in and comment on this.
I suspect there is nothing wrong with your coil packs and you don't need to spend $1,000+ on replacing them.
It's not that hard a job to renew the plug tube seals yourself and replace the spark plugs while you are at it, I did it myself on my old 380 a couple of years ago and I'm only a little bit handy with the spanners.
You will need new rocker cover gaskets at the same time, as you need to remove the rocker covers to replace the plug seals and if the plug tube seals are leaking then the rocker cover gaskets are sure to be hard, brittle, stuck and need replacing. And once you take the rocker covers off you can't re-use the old gaskets unless they are new or near new anyway.
Mal (Mitsfix) sells good quality rocker cover gasket sets which include new plug tube seals for a reasonable price.
You can get 6 good quality NGK spark plugs for a lot less than you have been quoted, eBay is your friend, and the time/labour to install them is almost nothing if you're already replacing the rocker cover gaskets and spark plug tube seals.
Same with an air filter, and it's a cinch to install yourself.
Replacing the drive belt (I'm assuming he's not talking about the cam belt as that would cost a helluva lot more than he has quoted) is something I don't know much about.
Lots of threads on this forum about replacing/renewing 380 spark plugs, rocker cover gaskets and plug tube seals, so do some searching.

Mate, stop here and get a NEW mechanic

Rocker cover gaskets are $75 for a PAIR including shipping
Coil packs, IF they are damaged (I highly doubt it) I can do for $400 for used ones (All 6)
Belts, alt and Power Steering are around the $30 EACH not $70 each
Spark plugs are the same front and rear on a 380, there is no such thing as front and rear bank, all up for 6 NGK Iriduim plugs $138, not sure what he has quoted on
$31 to change an air filter, is he serious, I can again do good quality filters for around the $35 mark
AND he is charging labour to change the coil packs when they have to be removed to get to the plugs anyway.

Thanks Guys, Iv been caught out previously with a mechanic quoting something and it been completely over the top. Iv ordered the gasket sets from mits-fix, just checking for the sparkplugs, according to NGK website the recommend one are BKR5EIX-11 right? are http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-NGK-IRIDIUM-IX-Spark-Plug-BKR5EIX-11-stock-5464-Made-in-Japan-/160941878199?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2578e22bb7&_uhb=1 the right ones or am I looking for something different? I have searched the forum and I think they are but could be wrong.

Thanks again guys.

Yep, they are the correct NGK plugs for a 380.
They are really the 'top shelf' long-life iridium ones for the rear bank, you can get cheaper platinum or even copper ones for the front bank.
But to save replacing plugs every 50,000k or so on the rear bank you might as well get a full set of six of the iridiums.
Try here for a decent price for a box of six: http://www.ebay.com/itm/6pc-NGK-Iridium-IX-Spark-Plug-Set-BKR5EIX-Power-Mileage-VW-Saturn-More-/160798926213?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item25705ce585&vxp=mtr