1997 Accord Repair Costs

DSTOOKEY

MEMBER
1997 HONDA ACCORD

I have a 4-cylinder 1997 Honda Accord LX with 80,300 miles, automatic transmission, 2 wheel drive. I bought the car 10 months ago and have only put 3000 miles on it. I took it in to my local Honda dealer to have a dead battery replaced and alternator tested. The Honda service tech said he noticed I had very worn belts in the engine and should be replaced immediately, especially the timing belt. He also said both front outer c-v boots were on the verge of cracking and should be replaced also. He said both these items should be done ASAP to keep costs down in case a belt did fail or a c-v boot did crack and potentially lead to axle replacements. This made sense to me. He also said the oil pan gasket was starting to seep, but was not ciritical to fix immediately.
He quoted me $850.00 to replace the belts, $595.00 to replace the c-v boots, and $395.00 to replace the oil pan gasket. The costs (especially the c-v boot replacement) seemed a bit high. However, if these prices are in line, I would pay for him to do the work. I do love this car and want to keep it a long time, however, I don't want to pay prices that aren't realistic. Do you think these prices for parts and repair are accurate?

1 Reply

BRUCE HUNT

MECHANIC
3,754 POSTS

You are not mechanically inclined?

Find another good mechanic. They are easy to find when you check around. The CV axles are around $80 a piece. A boot is about $15 a piece. They are a pain to take a part because of the clips but the labor to do it isn't much. Replacing the boots with labor should run maybe $200. The belts, cost of the belts is about $90 for all and then you would want to replace the water pump too. Add $25 for pump. There is some labor involved of about 5-6 hours. You do the math on that one. The oil pan seems high as well.

Let's play it is my car. Two scenarios with the first being money is not tight and second tight.

First scenario - I would find the other mechanic to do the timing belt, etc because the broken timing belt is going to cause serious problems. Have him replace the boots and the oil pan seal.

Second scenario - Other mechanic does the belts and water pump. I continue to drive with the CV as they are for probably another couple of thousand miles and then replace the axle's as they go out. Remember - 2 boots $30 plus labor per axle X2 but rebuilt lifetime axle is around $80. The oil pan, I would find a 10mm socket and lightly tighten the oil pan bolts and see if that helps stop or slow the leak.

Your car, your $ and your decision. To me Honda loses every time, because their labor is out of this world.