Hey guys!

So this car is at 125k miles now, and a couple of things have arisen.

I took the car to the dealer and got back a diagnostic, I just wanna confirm if this is fair/sounds right.

"The recommendations for resolution are to replace carbon canister and perform fuel injection cleaning. The repairs come to $ 1650.00 (PART/LABOR/ TAX).
On the multi point inspection the technician noted the engine air filter is dirty, the engine drive belt has small fractures, and lastly the brake booster vacuum pump is leaking oil.
The prices for these items come to :
Air filter- $132.00
Engine drive belt- $266.00
Brake booster vacuum pump - $1025.00"


They also mentioned some carbon canister located in the rear. The part is not that expensive, but the labor requires to remove basically the lower back end to access the part.

I worked on my '00 van, and my '13 passat, and have never heard of a carbon canister.

So what I'm really here for is to ask if I'm getting ripped off on this? Better to take it my trusted indy mechanic and order parts my self? With an older car I had the dealership said it needs carbon cleaning for $2k, while 2 other mechanics said the timing tensioners needed to be replaced.

My biggest fear is paying $2k+ for a belt and an air filter, and the carbon canister + the fuel injector "cleaning" is something they just say they'll do, but really not do it.

Thank you!

 

Regarding the brake booster vacuum pump oil leak, there is a seal ($15) where the pump mounts to the engine which could be the source of the leak so I'd check that first but even if you need a new pump you can pick up a genuine one or around $350. The pump is mounted to the front of the engine at the very bottom. You need to take off the lower engine cover, drain the engine oil, and then remove the pump - 2 bolts and a connection to the vacuum line.

Genuine air filters are around $45 for the pair and take around 10 minutes to change both. The serpentine belt can be found for around $50 (genuine).

It's definitively worth shopping around for an independent to do this work, especially if you supply the parts. Or get hold of a manual ($10 to download from the internet) and do it yourself. Neither the belt or the pump look particularly difficult to do.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

So are you having any issues with the car - the way it's driving, performance, CEL, codes, etc.?

 

Thanks for the replies guys.
This is actually my mother's car, I was just trying to convince her not to go through the dealer.
Mostly because of their overpriced labor/part charges, and because sometimes they might say a car has a problem, charge for it, but in reality not repair anything.


Their diagnostic fee was $349, which would be included in their price. After shopping around a little bit, the savings would've been about $200-300 considering we were going to pay the dealer $349 for the diagnostic. We talked to the dealership again and they gave us a few discounts. They finally reduced the price to $2485.47 all included (tax, labor, parts).


The work done was
Carbon canister plus misc parts - $385
Belts - $75
Air Filters - $49.95
C2Z15037 Filter - $75.24
Vacuum Pump - $346

Labor for belts - $159
Labor for pump $561
Labor for Canister ~$950
Labor for Fuel injectors cleaned out $62

Followed by a bunch of discounts totaling $768


The car did not feel off or drive any different before. Just a check engine light, that wouldn't let us pass inspection coming up.


I mean all in all, my mother enjoys this car as it is her dream car.

I love this car, because of how lucky we got in terms of repairs. I mean besides the radiator fan blowing cracking and almost blowing up at about 50k miles, this is the only major repair.

So, that was my experience with that problem.
at 120k miles, and still going strong!

 

Wow, you definitely got ripped off on the vacuum pump.

Mine was leaking, and the solution was to tighten the 2 mounting bolts. That was free in parts, and about an hour of my time.

Yours probably just needed tightening, and with a lift, it would never take $561 in labor even if you had to replace the pump. It's 2 bolts!

I haven't looked into the canister replacement, but a $1000 is a lot.

At 125K miles, you probably need to have the intake valves cleaned, and the injector cleaning doesn't do that. They really have to take the intake manifold off to clean them because it's a hard tar like substance that builds up on them.

 

The carbon canister is listed in the manual. It's a 5 hour job because you have to remove the rear differential to get to it. That works out to a $200/hr labor rate, which sounds high.

Parts Information OEM Part # Price
Evaporative Emission Control Canister Vapor Canister C2D40532 $301.00

Labor Information Skill Level Mfg. Warranty
Standard Evaporative Emission Control Canister Replace B 0.0 5.0