I took my 1997 4Runner to a repair shop to run a diagnostic bc I was experiencing a high idle in park. (2RPM) long story short, I was told the IAC needed to be replaced. Total repair is at almost $900 bucks. I am to pick up my vehicle tomorrow and wanted to see if anyone could tell me if this is an average cost for this type of repair. The Repair shop purchased the IAC from Toyota dealer "at cost". When I google cost of this part, it averages at $150 - $180. So, I became concerned about being charged $900 for total repair. Any comments or thoughts out there on this matter?
Is $900 average cost to replace the IAC on 1997 4Runner?
- Thread starter Seri
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Dinabox- I have zero mechanic skills! Plus, if this shop has done the work, aren't I obligated to pay or can I tell them to put my old one back on and find another repair shop to do work at a reasonable cost? I appreciate any guidance you can give this girl lost in repairland!
Yoter
New member
Sorry to hear this, but dont let them take advantage of you.
I think it would be more than reasonable to contact your nearest dealership obtain a quote in writing from them and demand that this shop lower their price to match the dealers.
900 is crazy expensive!
Good luck.
Brian757
New member
I teach my girlfriend how to perform maintenance and she also gives me a hand while I work under the 4Runner. She used to hate when I would work on my truck, but now that she knows a thing or two, she really enjoys being out in the garage with me, wrenching away.
The point: I say to take challenges and do it yourself [MENTION=94935]Seri[/MENTION]. It would save you so much money in the beginning and you will want to perform all of your own work eventually. You have no clue how much money is actually spent in labor costs. A $1200 "stealership" Timing belt/water pump, etc. job, done by myself, turned into a $280 job. You have to start somewhere right? You have the aid of T4R to guide you through all types of work. I would honestly say your getting taken advantage of at $900. I'm not quite sure I would be able to hold a straight face to the shop manager if they gave me that price.
I wish you the best. If you decide to go get it done, do like an above poster and compete between shops for price.
The point: I say to take challenges and do it yourself [MENTION=94935]Seri[/MENTION]. It would save you so much money in the beginning and you will want to perform all of your own work eventually. You have no clue how much money is actually spent in labor costs. A $1200 "stealership" Timing belt/water pump, etc. job, done by myself, turned into a $280 job. You have to start somewhere right? You have the aid of T4R to guide you through all types of work. I would honestly say your getting taken advantage of at $900. I'm not quite sure I would be able to hold a straight face to the shop manager if they gave me that price.
I wish you the best. If you decide to go get it done, do like an above poster and compete between shops for price.
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98OzarksRunner
New member
It sounds like you were taken advantage of because of your, er, height! I would suggest that you take a large male friend in with you and ask them to put it all back the way it was and tell them you'd be willing to pay a $50 diagnostic fee but nothing more. Then take it somewhere else. Either they are dumber than rocks and spent all day trying to diagnose a simple problem or they are charging you way to much to install a $150 part (that takes about 20 minutes to do). It might not hurt to get an estimate from the dealer for replacing the IAC and tell them what the dealer charges (which is likely to be more than what anyone else charges anyway).
Nelsonmd
New member
Yeah, definitely get a quote from a dealership or other shop, take it in with you (and yes, it will help if you have someone with you that appears to know what they are talking about), and demand a breakdown of where they get the $900 bill. They need to break it down into cost of parts, and cost of labor (which should be X number of hours at $XX/hour). If the dealership will tell you the standard book time for that fix, then you could potentially challenge their time estimate too.
Compare their quote to the dealership, and if they are way off, then demand a reduction. I don't know if there is really much you can do if they stand their ground and have already done the worked (and you authorized them to do the work at that price). If they didn't give you the price up front, then you have cause to demand reasonable rates.
the great him
Elite Member
did they do any other work, or is it just the IAC, that they diagnosed and replaced? i ask because if they have done other things like a tune up as well, like new plugs and wires ect or changed other parts while trying to chase down this issue then yeah the cost could be up there(gotta think labor time and parts...) -really though a good shop should not just throw parts at a vehicle in "hopes" that that will fix the issue, thats how you lose business and go under as a shop. if they did a couple of hours of diagnostics and then found out that the IAC was the culprit then you should be paying no more than $300-400. -two hours of labor at shop rate -$60-90p/hr, the part -$100-130 their cost, mark up takes that to the $150-180... you should pay no more than 2hrs labor total. if it took them two hours to diagnose that as the issue, then they are gonna eat the labor time for instal. diagnosing this issue is not that complicated and really should not take more than like a half hour, same with swapping out the part, the total job should be an hour or under. but lets just say for sake of "playing fair" that the tech was hitting a lot of "challenges" in this particular repair, so we will give him an extra hour to stare at your truck, scratch his head(and nuts) go to the bathroom and think on it some more then grab a snack and finally turn a couple of wrenches and do the dang job, there two hours and your good as new...
DO NOT PAY $900 IF ALL THEY DID WAS CHANGE YOUR IAC
DO NOT PAY $900 IF ALL THEY DID WAS CHANGE YOUR IAC
BrianSD_42
New member
I bought a full throttle body (includes the IAC) from a wreck yard listing on eBay.
* 6 month full refund return policy
* came off a Tacoma auto
* only 88k miles on the TB
* cost about $120 shipped
Paid a shop in San Diego $100 to clean out and install it.
Total cost: $220
* 6 month full refund return policy
* came off a Tacoma auto
* only 88k miles on the TB
* cost about $120 shipped
Paid a shop in San Diego $100 to clean out and install it.
Total cost: $220
98OzarksRunner, yeah, it definitely felt like I was being taken advantage of due to being a woman. I did a bit of research so I knew a few things about what an IAC does, etc. But I didn't research too much the cost of an actual repair until after this guy said it would be $900. Actually, before I gave him permission to order the part from Toyota, he said it would run around $650 for the total repair. THIS is why I was floored when I called to see if the truck was ready to be picked up and he gave me a total of $900. More on this in a later thread....
But thanks for your support and words of wisdom...
But thanks for your support and words of wisdom...
Yeah, I got a breakdown and detail this in below thread....
There was other work done, but as detailed below....it was not discussed before work was done on my truck. THAT was upsetting and unacceptable to me.
If you agreed to the price before he did the work then you should pay it and keep that in mind next time you need work done. Sounds to me like you agreed to 650, that's what I'd pay. Still too much IMO, but if you gave them the go ahead you can't change your mind after the fact.
Outcome of the $900 IAC Ordeal
Ok, I am overwhelmed by the response I received about my question regarding this $900 IAC repair. I joined this forum last night about 11:30PM after I had worked a 3-11 shift and was dead beat but thought I would put it out there to see if I got any feedback.
Well, I did and how grateful I was to get support for what I knew in my gut was a bad deal. I wished I had taken a look at the forum prior to picking up my truck this morning, but not all was lost for I did stand my ground on a few things with this repair shop as you will read below.
Yesterday when I dropped my truck off at this shop, I was told the diagnostic fee was $90 and would NOT be applied to the cost of the repair. I tried to bargain with him bc I was going to do the repair at their shop and also pay cash but he would not budge on this. I knew the IAC was the problem bc a guy had looked at it before and tried to use a refurbished IAC but it made matters worse. He tried to find a new part but claimed he was unable to, so this is what lead me to the current repair shop.
So, when I drive up to this shop, I discuss the diagnostic with the mechanic and I agree to the $90 fee and say go ahead and do the diagnostic. He pulls my vehicle into the bay area and I walked into the bay area with the mechanic bc I wanted to see what the computer would show and if it would throw up any codes. This did not happen, so the mechanic said he would have to diagnose the old fashion way (not sure what that meant) and said the owner of the shop just arrived and I could discuss the diagnostic fee with him. So I went inside to the office and spoke to the "owner", "Mikey", about the $90 diagnostic fee. I explained how I found his shop (tried to install a refurbished IAC and new part was not located by a previous mechanic plus a neighbor of my sister referred this shop to her and my sister passed this info on to me) and wanted to know if he would reconsider applying the diagnostic fee to the cost of the repair. He refused. Said he had not ever done business that way and was not about to start now. First of many clues I was dealing with an ass.
I explained I had called another repair place, RMS, who wanted $120 for the diagnostic fee but WOULD apply this to any repairs they performed. He said he was not familiar with RMS and I reiterated I was going to pay cash for the repairs and hoped he could give me a break on the diagnostic fee. He didn't budge. He begins typing into his computer and I think he is typing up a quote but he says, come around here I want to show you something. He shows me the search results for Better Business Bureau on a business called RMS Auto Repair and he asked if the address was the same as the RMS I had contacted. I did not know where RMS was located, I just called them bc my sister had repairs done on her previous Nissan there and felt they were "honest but pricey." The search results showed a few unfavorable reviews by former customers of RMS. He said that it seemed from the reviews they were known for taking advantage of people and inflating their repair prices. He said that is not what we do here. I found it interesting he actually looked this business up on the internet and wanted to prove to me this place I contacted for a quote was not on the up and up. Who does this with a customer??? I should have left with my vehicle right then.
Anyway, he said it would take over an hour to run diagnostics and I said I would wait for the results. I went back out into the bay area to see what the mechanic had found, and he pointed out I had an oil leak and showed me where it was leaking onto the manifold. This was news to me and he said it wasn't a bad leak, but wanted to make me aware of it. I walked out and back into the office to find a restroom and the "owner" barked out to me that NO ONE was allowed in the bay area and there were "HUGE" signs everywhere saying the bay area is for employees only. I was taken aback by his loud tone and said I was unaware and the mechanic did not seem to mind me being there and he promptly said in return, "It's not his responsibility to point that out." Whatever, I thought. Another clue of a dick brain.
Thirty minutes go by and I am sitting outside and I hear my name being called over the loud speaker to come into the office. Now let me remind you, my truck is the ONLY truck being worked on at this shop. There are no other vehicles in this shop. The shop is small, it has four bays. There is only ONE mechanic and the owner in this shop. I was sitting 5 feet from the door to the office and yet he calls for me over a loud speaker. WTF?
Anyhow, "Mikey" informs me I need to replace the IAC which I already knew but wanted to make certain that was the real issue with my high idle. He explained he could call Toyota to get the part and he would most likely need to replace a couple of hoses and the seal of the IAC. This would run around $650. I asked if I would be able to pick up the truck before 3pm (it was 9am at the time I asked) and he said it would depend on when the part could be delivered. He said most likely it would be ready before he closed but after 3pm, so I said I would have to pick up first thing in the morning. I stayed to hear him order the IAC, the hoses and the seal over the phone with the Toyota dealership. After ordering the part, he says that one thing to consider is that the computer could have been damaged from the high idle issue. He claimed the engine's computer would react each time the high idle occurred and not reset itself. Is that true? Anyway, he said they would not know until they installed the new IAC, and if that did not do the trick, the computer may have to be replaced. I asked how much additional cost would that entail, and his words were "It's really expensive."
He said he would let me know if that was the issue in advance. So, I left with the quote of $650 but nothing in writing, only a verbal quote and my agreement for him to order the above said parts. I also was not quoted any price for labor per hour. I should have asked for a written quote and to be honest, I am not sure why I left without one. Anyhow, it probably worked to my advantage I did not. I informed Mickey I would call him around 1pm to check on status of repair and he said not to worry, that he would give me a "courtesy call" by then with information about the repair status.
Time goes by and I realize at 2:45 I had not heard from him, so I call and he tells me the car is just about ready and could be picked up by 4 or 4:30. He said the IAC did not arrive until noon and I asked the status of the suspected computer damage and he said "Everything is fine." I asked again, so the computer is not damaged? His response in a firm voice, "I said, everything is fine." Again, clues of an ass hole.
I reminded him it was not possible for pick up now and would have to wait until first thing in morning. I asked for the estimate cost at this point and he said just like I told you this morning, $875 and that includes the diagnostic fee. I said WHAT??? I said I did not agree to this cost and would see him in the morning to discuss.
I go to shop at 8:30 this morning and look at the invoice and notice it cost $256.46 for the IAC. I called a Toyota dealer myself yesterday and was quoted a range of $100-$150 for an IAC. I asked why his part cost so much if he got his at "cost" from the dealer? He immediately wanted to know what dealer I called and honestly, I just googled "Toyota dealer Houston TX" and called the first one listed in the search results and did not pay much attention to the name. He said there is no way a new IAC would cost that. He said you were here when I ordered the part, and I said yes, I was but I did not hear a price quoted, only that you ordered it. I figured it would be similar to what I researched in cost.
Next, I knew the hoses to be replaced were not much of a cost but here is where it got interesting. He had charged me $150 for a throttle body cleaning kit (inducting clean kit is how it's listed on invoice) and $47.50 for the labor of this. I asked what that was for and he said it was necessary bc the throttle body was very dirty with gunk and needed to be cleaned...he said "It is part of the install of an IAC." I argued this was never discussed yesterday and he kept saying, it is a given part of the repair. I said it may be a given part of the repair to HIM but I argued that I was not made aware of this and if he had handed me this invoice yesterday as a quote, I would have not agreed to the repairs. Long story short, he took off the cost of the throttle cleaning kit and took half off the diagnostic fee. This came to a grand total of $675. I accepted that and left with a printed invoice and 1 year warranty on the IAC. I felt that was a good as it was going to get at that point.
My NEW question is this, should I return and ask for the labor cost of the Induction Clean kit be returned to me since he removed the cost of this part from the original invoice. If he is not going to charge me for the part, then why pay $47.50 labor for it? Plus I didn't agree to that work to be done. I should have really looked this invoice over before leaving, but I was so pissed, I missed this labor cost connection to the cleaning kit.
Sorry for the long ranting, but it felt good to write this all out...
Ok, I am overwhelmed by the response I received about my question regarding this $900 IAC repair. I joined this forum last night about 11:30PM after I had worked a 3-11 shift and was dead beat but thought I would put it out there to see if I got any feedback.
Well, I did and how grateful I was to get support for what I knew in my gut was a bad deal. I wished I had taken a look at the forum prior to picking up my truck this morning, but not all was lost for I did stand my ground on a few things with this repair shop as you will read below.
Yesterday when I dropped my truck off at this shop, I was told the diagnostic fee was $90 and would NOT be applied to the cost of the repair. I tried to bargain with him bc I was going to do the repair at their shop and also pay cash but he would not budge on this. I knew the IAC was the problem bc a guy had looked at it before and tried to use a refurbished IAC but it made matters worse. He tried to find a new part but claimed he was unable to, so this is what lead me to the current repair shop.
So, when I drive up to this shop, I discuss the diagnostic with the mechanic and I agree to the $90 fee and say go ahead and do the diagnostic. He pulls my vehicle into the bay area and I walked into the bay area with the mechanic bc I wanted to see what the computer would show and if it would throw up any codes. This did not happen, so the mechanic said he would have to diagnose the old fashion way (not sure what that meant) and said the owner of the shop just arrived and I could discuss the diagnostic fee with him. So I went inside to the office and spoke to the "owner", "Mikey", about the $90 diagnostic fee. I explained how I found his shop (tried to install a refurbished IAC and new part was not located by a previous mechanic plus a neighbor of my sister referred this shop to her and my sister passed this info on to me) and wanted to know if he would reconsider applying the diagnostic fee to the cost of the repair. He refused. Said he had not ever done business that way and was not about to start now. First of many clues I was dealing with an ass.
I explained I had called another repair place, RMS, who wanted $120 for the diagnostic fee but WOULD apply this to any repairs they performed. He said he was not familiar with RMS and I reiterated I was going to pay cash for the repairs and hoped he could give me a break on the diagnostic fee. He didn't budge. He begins typing into his computer and I think he is typing up a quote but he says, come around here I want to show you something. He shows me the search results for Better Business Bureau on a business called RMS Auto Repair and he asked if the address was the same as the RMS I had contacted. I did not know where RMS was located, I just called them bc my sister had repairs done on her previous Nissan there and felt they were "honest but pricey." The search results showed a few unfavorable reviews by former customers of RMS. He said that it seemed from the reviews they were known for taking advantage of people and inflating their repair prices. He said that is not what we do here. I found it interesting he actually looked this business up on the internet and wanted to prove to me this place I contacted for a quote was not on the up and up. Who does this with a customer??? I should have left with my vehicle right then.
Anyway, he said it would take over an hour to run diagnostics and I said I would wait for the results. I went back out into the bay area to see what the mechanic had found, and he pointed out I had an oil leak and showed me where it was leaking onto the manifold. This was news to me and he said it wasn't a bad leak, but wanted to make me aware of it. I walked out and back into the office to find a restroom and the "owner" barked out to me that NO ONE was allowed in the bay area and there were "HUGE" signs everywhere saying the bay area is for employees only. I was taken aback by his loud tone and said I was unaware and the mechanic did not seem to mind me being there and he promptly said in return, "It's not his responsibility to point that out." Whatever, I thought. Another clue of a dick brain.
Thirty minutes go by and I am sitting outside and I hear my name being called over the loud speaker to come into the office. Now let me remind you, my truck is the ONLY truck being worked on at this shop. There are no other vehicles in this shop. The shop is small, it has four bays. There is only ONE mechanic and the owner in this shop. I was sitting 5 feet from the door to the office and yet he calls for me over a loud speaker. WTF?
Anyhow, "Mikey" informs me I need to replace the IAC which I already knew but wanted to make certain that was the real issue with my high idle. He explained he could call Toyota to get the part and he would most likely need to replace a couple of hoses and the seal of the IAC. This would run around $650. I asked if I would be able to pick up the truck before 3pm (it was 9am at the time I asked) and he said it would depend on when the part could be delivered. He said most likely it would be ready before he closed but after 3pm, so I said I would have to pick up first thing in the morning. I stayed to hear him order the IAC, the hoses and the seal over the phone with the Toyota dealership. After ordering the part, he says that one thing to consider is that the computer could have been damaged from the high idle issue. He claimed the engine's computer would react each time the high idle occurred and not reset itself. Is that true? Anyway, he said they would not know until they installed the new IAC, and if that did not do the trick, the computer may have to be replaced. I asked how much additional cost would that entail, and his words were "It's really expensive."
He said he would let me know if that was the issue in advance. So, I left with the quote of $650 but nothing in writing, only a verbal quote and my agreement for him to order the above said parts. I also was not quoted any price for labor per hour. I should have asked for a written quote and to be honest, I am not sure why I left without one. Anyhow, it probably worked to my advantage I did not. I informed Mickey I would call him around 1pm to check on status of repair and he said not to worry, that he would give me a "courtesy call" by then with information about the repair status.
Time goes by and I realize at 2:45 I had not heard from him, so I call and he tells me the car is just about ready and could be picked up by 4 or 4:30. He said the IAC did not arrive until noon and I asked the status of the suspected computer damage and he said "Everything is fine." I asked again, so the computer is not damaged? His response in a firm voice, "I said, everything is fine." Again, clues of an ass hole.
I reminded him it was not possible for pick up now and would have to wait until first thing in morning. I asked for the estimate cost at this point and he said just like I told you this morning, $875 and that includes the diagnostic fee. I said WHAT??? I said I did not agree to this cost and would see him in the morning to discuss.
I go to shop at 8:30 this morning and look at the invoice and notice it cost $256.46 for the IAC. I called a Toyota dealer myself yesterday and was quoted a range of $100-$150 for an IAC. I asked why his part cost so much if he got his at "cost" from the dealer? He immediately wanted to know what dealer I called and honestly, I just googled "Toyota dealer Houston TX" and called the first one listed in the search results and did not pay much attention to the name. He said there is no way a new IAC would cost that. He said you were here when I ordered the part, and I said yes, I was but I did not hear a price quoted, only that you ordered it. I figured it would be similar to what I researched in cost.
Next, I knew the hoses to be replaced were not much of a cost but here is where it got interesting. He had charged me $150 for a throttle body cleaning kit (inducting clean kit is how it's listed on invoice) and $47.50 for the labor of this. I asked what that was for and he said it was necessary bc the throttle body was very dirty with gunk and needed to be cleaned...he said "It is part of the install of an IAC." I argued this was never discussed yesterday and he kept saying, it is a given part of the repair. I said it may be a given part of the repair to HIM but I argued that I was not made aware of this and if he had handed me this invoice yesterday as a quote, I would have not agreed to the repairs. Long story short, he took off the cost of the throttle cleaning kit and took half off the diagnostic fee. This came to a grand total of $675. I accepted that and left with a printed invoice and 1 year warranty on the IAC. I felt that was a good as it was going to get at that point.
My NEW question is this, should I return and ask for the labor cost of the Induction Clean kit be returned to me since he removed the cost of this part from the original invoice. If he is not going to charge me for the part, then why pay $47.50 labor for it? Plus I didn't agree to that work to be done. I should have really looked this invoice over before leaving, but I was so pissed, I missed this labor cost connection to the cleaning kit.
Sorry for the long ranting, but it felt good to write this all out...
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