Hello everyone, Yesterday while I was driving my car completely died and i’m sure it’s due to my damaged alternator. I called a place that said they could fix it today for $893 due to the cost of the parts and labor, is that too expensive? I have a 2009 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder.
Book time on labor is 1 hour. Depending on brand of alternator, $500-600 would be a good total price
Unless you’re in San Francisco, then $900 is probably reasonable
I just googled and it looks like the alternator is right there on the front next to the manifold. I don’t have access to booktime through alldata but I’d wager it at about an 1.0 assuming nothing is hidden. Labor rates vary but it’s probably sub-$200 for the labor, leaving the Alt at about 600. Looks like local parts stores have them for about $200, so they’d be marked to probably $350-500. If they’re also including a belt that high-sides you at about $800ish.
It’s not a great deal, but its not terrible for a shop that has overhead and a need to make money. This is a good basic/intermediate job IF you have the tools and have done other mechanical work, such as brakes/maintenance before. Doing it yourself would run you nearer to $230 + any tools you don’t have.
That’s high I would get a good used one from LKQ or similar and swap it myself. Probably save 600-700$ bucks