Spark plugs, timing belts, and being taken for a ride

[dasvision]

I think these questions have been covered in varying ways, but I just wanted to get a feel for whether I should be paying what I'm being asked to pay for my service. I don't have a place that I can do work on my car (live in an apartment with a parking garage), so I am pretty much stuck taking it into the garage, even for spark plugs, etc.

2002 Subie WRX/turbo. 130k miles.

So, I think I'm going to hold on to my car for a while, and as such I called around to get an estimate on a timing belt and spark plug replacement, neither of which have ever been done.

So, I was shocked to hear an estimate of $1100 from my local guy for timing and all other belts, water pump, and seals. They've always done good work at a low price, and I definitely trust them. 5 stars from over 50 people on Yelp, which is a strong vote of confidence in my book. . Also quoting me almost $300 bucks for spark plug repair, and mentiond that often when they change the plug they find other problems in the spot. A lot of the estimate comes from the turbo and associated difficulty getting to belts off, accessing plugs.

I don't think the garage is trying to rip me off, but does this just mean they're not great at doing WRXs, so takes them longer? Is it worth taking it to the dealer? Price is similar there (I live in NoVa, high labor prices)

Is this price a rip off?

[silverautorex]

the local dealer near me (north jersey) wants $450 parts and labor just for plugs. i have no clue what the price for a timing belt replacement is. to save a little money your better off buying your own parts and then bringing it to a shop. definitely check out the gates timing belt kit. comes with everything u need for around $300 minus the plugs

[SD_GR]

The turbo does not interfere with either the belts or the spark plugs.

The timing belt price is not unheard of if everything else is done because of the labour and the cost of factory parts.

Consider the Gates kit but with dealer-Subaru seals, water pump gasket, and thermostat gasket. Shop around.

[MainFrame]

$1000 is a normal price for the belts, tensoner, water pump, camseals, etc.



I've seen places charge as much as $220 to replace spark plugs, which I think is outrageous because it only takes ~15 minutes to do it on my car. I've watched my tuner pull my plugs probably a dozen times for various reasons and he never charged me a dime because it was so quick and easy.

[UEDan]

I've seen places charge as much as $220 to replace spark plugs, which I think is outrageous because it only takes ~15 minutes to do it on my car. I've watched my tuner pull my plugs probably a dozen times for various reasons and he never charged me a dime because it was so quick and easy.

Damn, I just did my spark plugs, it took me a little more than 1 hour to do everything.
But definitely not worth the hundreds places charge. Do it at home.

[MainFrame]

I guess I should have noted that my car doesn't have all the BS in the way like most cars. All you have to do to get to mine is unscrew the washer reservoir and pop off the SRI on the other side. No brackets of death on my car.