Hi all,

Just wondering whether anyone can recommend a decent mechanic in the Sydney area to replace the timing belt on a 3.5l TJ at the 200k mark? I was quoted $850 by my local mechanic (incl. tensioner, new water pump) and that seems a bit steep.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

In all honesty thats a good price. Mitsu charge more and do less!!!

You would be better off getting the parts, belts, water pump, plugs, leads, caps, oil/trans filters, any gaskets ect from the USA and then getting a price to install.

You would be better off getting the parts, belts, water pump, plugs, leads, caps, oil/trans filters, any gaskets ect from the USA and then getting a price to install.

The only problem I can see with that is I don't think you will find a mechanic that will warranty their work if they are not supplying parts, catch 22 but understandable you can see :)

The only problem I can see with that is I don't think you will find a mechanic that will warranty their work if they are not supplying parts, catch 22 but understandable you can see :)

Quite understandable. That sort of thing really cuts into their profit margin and should not be encouraged!
(I landed a complete belt/pump kit for $220 from rockauto.com - as a DIY exercise the 200K service is quite cheap.)

I have someone coming to do my mother in laws tf Magna (was originally mine), timing belt and water pump etc for $600 cash, not to bad at all :)

Take the 850 and just get it done, 850 is not worth what it used to be.

Take the 850 and just get it done, 850 is not worth what it used to be.

What? Now he tells me! I was hoping to pick up a Magna Wagon for that sort of money!

But, yeah, some figures quoted in the past have been much higher than this, sounds ok for a non-DIY Magna owner.

What? Now he tells me! I was hoping to pick up a Magna Wagon for that sort of money!

But, yeah, some figures quoted in the past have been much higher than this, sounds ok for a non-DIY Magna owner.

Not like a bottom of the range, old magna wagon is worth much lol

I know a mobile mechanic who can do it for $240 in labour. Source the parts from rockauto for $200 and that's $440 for the whole lot.

Either splash the cash or do it yourself, otherwise you will have sleepless nights thinking 'did they actually change my timing belt or just make it seem like they did??...' I personally wouldn't trust anything for under $500 labor for this particular job.

Either splash the cash or do it yourself, otherwise you will have sleepless nights thinking 'did they actually change my timing belt or just make it seem like they did??...' I personally wouldn't trust anything for under $500 labor for this particular job.

I'm in favour of DIY. But if you get a mechanic to do it, always ask for the old parts back. That way you can see what they have replaced.

Either splash the cash or do it yourself, otherwise you will have sleepless nights thinking 'did they actually change my timing belt or just make it seem like they did??...' I personally wouldn't trust anything for under $500 labor for this particular job.

Well you can watch him take the belt off and replace it. 4 hours labour @ $60 per hour. Sounds very fair to me.

I've had this f
done for under 300 labor at my local...

I know a mobile mechanic who can do it for $240 in labour. Source the parts from rockauto for $200 and that's $440 for the whole lot.


where might this be? Sorry to hijack the thread slightly!

He is a mobile mechanic. Send me a pm if you want his number and he will come to you anywhere in Sydney

My car is under dealer warranty. Car has oil pressure issues and they will be removing the pump so i am asking them to replace the timing belt and pullies and seals while there in there. $160 kit

Do it yourself its not hard, I just changed my belt and tensioner for $300.

Do it yourself its not hard, I just changed my belt and tensioner for $300.

I can trump that! $229 for water pump, belt, both idlers and hydraulic tensioner. Kit is sitting in the cupboard until i score a cheap third gen Magna wagon at about 200,000 km. lol

(I must stop gloating about how cheap parts from rockauto.com are, no GST in them either! lol )

I can trump that! $229 for water pump, belt, both idlers and hydraulic tensioner. Kit is sitting in the cupboard until i score a cheap third gen Magna wagon at about 200,000 km. lol

(I must stop gloating about how cheap parts from rockauto.com are, no GST in them either! lol )


That's cheap, was going to buy my stuff from rockauto but i changed my mind and bought local.

That's cheap, was going to buy my stuff from rockauto but i changed my mind and bought local.

Kit is currently listed at AU $246 (including postage), so if you got the full kit locally for $300 that's quite good.

K-mart auto did mine and I was happy with the price and their service. Do they have K-mart in Sydney?

K-mart auto did mine and I was happy with the price and their service. Do they have K-mart in Sydney?

They do, and they are mostly shit.castle hill branch told my girlfriend her 6 month old tyres needed replacing. They backtracked very quickly when i showed up asking why

Either splash the cash or do it yourself, otherwise you will have sleepless nights thinking 'did they actually change my timing belt or just make it seem like they did??...' I personally wouldn't trust anything for under $500 labor for this particular job.

That is interesting, I better close down shop then as I charge $350 for labour, sounds like I can not be trusted.......oh well, time to put my prices up

There is nothing wrong with DIY BUT be careful, I have had 2 people in the last 3 weeks claim issues with kits, one stated the belt was melting, was overtightened on the vehicle. Other claimed the oil seals were wrong and then tried to claim a complete kit, the seals were pinched when installed

Also did a Triton last week on Tuesday, had a Rockauto kit installed complete with pre tensioner, the pre tensioner was only 15k old and was hammering like a bastard. He supplied the kit the first time so had to pay labour again thus at the end of the day he ended up paying far more than if I had suppled the kit (147.50) plus a GENUINE pre tensioner ($224.00)

Quite understandable. That sort of thing really cuts into their profit margin and should not be encouraged!
(I landed a complete belt/pump kit for $220 from rockauto.com - as a DIY exercise the 200K service is quite cheap.)

Are you totally delusional Max, cuts into profit marging and should not be encouraged..........

Why should anyone warrant the parts they do not supply. Why should somone like me **** around for hours because of poor quality or wrong parts being supplied. The triton in the above post was a mate of mine, I did the work a little cheaper but was an exception to me fitting parts supplied by a customer, I pre warned him and he understands fine. Most would not.

It is mainly because of the poor attitude of people these days that the trade will generally not fit supplied parts as douche bags expect the workshop to then refit replacement parts for free eventhough the workshop can not request labour from his supplier......so has nothing to do with profit margins, again you try and run a workshop and see how much it costs.....

(I must stop gloating about how cheap parts from rockauto.com are, no GST in them either! lol )

Why?
The parts are the same and are cheaper, I saved a fortune getting the parts for a major service and they were delivered to my home in about 2 working days.

But I understood if there is an issue with the part I'd have to do the leg work with Rockauto rather than the mechanic.

They do, and they are mostly shit.castle hill branch told my girlfriend her 6 month old tyres needed replacing. They backtracked very quickly when i showed up asking why

If you go in there and tell them what you want and how you want it done then they will comply. If you go in there and say "service my car" then they will rip you a new one. Not at all saying that your girlfriend doesn't know what she is doing, but I know a lot of places that will prey on ladies due to the common perception that they don't know what they are talking about. The fools probably thought that she was an idiot and a good target (very wrong indeed).

You don't go into Kmart service and expect the absolute best advice, you go there because it is cheap and guaranteed to an extent. As well as them being a large chain with certain policies and procedures in place to ensure customer satisfaction.

Why?
The parts are the same and are cheaper, I saved a fortune getting the parts for a major service and they were delivered to my home in about 2 working days.

But I understood if there is an issue with the part I'd have to do the leg work with Rockauto rather than the mechanic.

I must stop gloating about rockauto.com prices because it upsets Mal. Simple really.

If you want the timing belt done without hastles or problems, get a good mechanic to supply the parts and do the job. That way, you are covered if something goes wrong.

I'm prepared to take the risk on a timing belt/water pump/hydraulic tensioner job using cheap parts (and possibly of questionable quality) from rockauto.com, as I have spare vehicles and don't need the one car for daily transport. Most (reasonable) people would not want to take the risk of paying a mechanic twice and having their one and only car off the road again.

So are we to assume that Mexican made Service products available to Americans are inferior to Chinese made Service products used by Aussie MECHANICS? Or are we saying that nearly 300 Million Americans are getting ripped off but dont know it? Maybe we should let them in on the scam??????

I must stop gloating about rockauto.com prices because it upsets Mal. Simple really.

If you want the timing belt done without hastles or problems, get a good mechanic to supply the parts and do the job. That way, you are covered if something goes wrong.

I'm prepared to take the risk on a timing belt/water pump/hydraulic tensioner job using cheap parts (and possibly of questionable quality) from rockauto.com, as I have spare vehicles and don't need the one car for daily transport. Most (reasonable) people would not want to take the risk of paying a mechanic twice and having their one and only car off the road again.


So are we to assume that Mexican made Service products available to Americans are inferior to Chinese made Service products used by Aussie MECHANICS? Or are we saying that nearly 300 Million Americans are getting ripped off but dont know it? Maybe we should let them in on the scam??????

Wow the maturity in this thread really shines through

I dont give a flying rats ass if you guys want to avoid boosting the Australian Economy, risk wrecking your motor and save a few $$ comparted to the cost of getting BETTER quality JAPANESE made parts here in Australia. Rockauto do sell some good parts however I have seen some of the belts people have purchased and simply refused to fit them, one recently had some of the Kevlar hanging out of the belt when it arrived FFS

Veradaralliart, for starters can I ask what the hell is a Verada Ralliart, is it a model we have not heard of here, perhaps one of those quality Mexican models we missed out on. Also, who is to assume that Australian Mechanicls use Chinese made parts (as is is usually only when some cheap ass wants to save 10 bucks on a part and insists that a cheap part be fitted they have them selves supplied) and also clearly you are not in the auto industry or you would not make such a stupid comment as some of the "chinese" made products coming into Australia these days are better than the locally made products. For the record the kits I make up here and sell are Japanese made and even run the same brand bearing and seal as the OEM mits kits.

So, by all means, get your parts where ever you want but dont come on here claiming you know the quality of the parts that are being sold in Australia, which are keeping Australian employed (I personally employ 2 people) and try to come across the expert when your knowledge is based on a couple of threads in a car forum

The other issue with a mechanic is they do make money off parts as well as labour, so you most likely wont get a good rate. The price quoted is good, the mobile mechanic deal above would also be worthwhile but sometimes you get what you pay for.

The other issue with a mechanic is they do make money off parts as well as labour, so you most likely wont get a good rate. The price quoted is good, the mobile mechanic deal above would also be worthwhile but sometimes you get what you pay for.

That is because they have overhads, wages, rent, insurance, bank fees, tax etc etc to pay before they even think of taking home an income to pay for the family to live on.

Have you ever purchased a pair of jeans, the big stores have 300 + % mark up and no one cares about that, a workshop makes a few $$ keeping your car safe for you and your family and it is the end of the world

Have you ever purchased a pair of jeans, the big stores have 300 + % mark up and no one cares about that, a workshop makes a few $$ keeping your car safe for you and your family and it is the end of the world

Not the end of the world at all, most people want a reliable car to get from one place to the other, but don't want to pay any attention to how it does it. They gladly pay a mechanic for the convenience of not needing to know.

Some people want to get into the workings of a car, out of curiosity, not to save a few dollars. That is just a by product.

There are people though, who want a reliable car, don't show any interest in keeping it running well themselves, but then complain about servicing costs. Well, you can't have it both ways! These are the people who whine and whinge about such things. They need to harden up, either grab a manual and start learning, or pay a workshop to do the work.

That is because they have overhads, wages, rent, insurance, bank fees, tax etc etc to pay before they even think of taking home an income to pay for the family to live on.

Have you ever purchased a pair of jeans, the big stores have 300 + % mark up and no one cares about that, a workshop makes a few $$ keeping your car safe for you and your family and it is the end of the world

Fully aware of that, just explaining how if someone is buying the bits and expecting the same cost for labour to do the job as if the mechanic supplied them, then it will be vary rare it will happen as they are losing money. I wouldnt expect to..

If I am supplying the parts I'd expect the labor to be priced a little more than the labor price if the shop was supplying the parts.
The shops buy the parts at wholesale/trade prices but "sell" them to us at retail as part of their business income structure so it's only fair.

That is interesting, I better close down shop then as I charge $350 for labour, sounds like I can not be trusted.......oh well, time to put my prices up

There is nothing wrong with DIY BUT be careful, I have had 2 people in the last 3 weeks claim issues with kits, one stated the belt was melting, was overtightened on the vehicle. Other claimed the oil seals were wrong and then tried to claim a complete kit, the seals were pinched when installed

Also did a Triton last week on Tuesday, had a Rockauto kit installed complete with pre tensioner, the pre tensioner was only 15k old and was hammering like a bastard. He supplied the kit the first time so had to pay labour again thus at the end of the day he ended up paying far more than if I had suppled the kit (147.50) plus a GENUINE pre tensioner ($224.00)

Im a very DIY person - so my opinion on the matter is probably biased.. but $350? including parts? that sounds fairly cheap to me given the amount of work to get to the magna timing belt! Im interested, how many hours does it take you from start to end?

And I completely agree with the risks / expensive learning experiences with doing your own services!! my most stupid mistake was dropping a bolt under the timing belt covers... yeah wasnt pretty.. $350 would have definitely been much cheaper!!!

Im a very DIY person - so my opinion on the matter is probably biased.. but $350? including parts? that sounds fairly cheap to me given the amount of work to get to the magna timing belt! Im interested, how many hours does it take you from start to end?

And I completely agree with the risks / expensive learning experiences with doing your own services!! my most stupid mistake was dropping a bolt under the timing belt covers... yeah wasnt pretty.. $350 would have definitely been much cheaper!!!

He mentions that it is just labour.