Below is a list with prices I got from the dealer that needs to be fixed for my car. I am on a budget and wanted to ask if someone can tell me what to get done in order of importance. My car is 04 6MT w/ 74k miles. None of the stuff listed below has ever been done on my car.

Left Lower Transverse Link (broken): Price: $233 Labor: $150

Right Front Strut (RF Strut leaking): Price: $196 Labor: $357

Transmission Fluish: Price: $145 Labor: $115

Coolant Flush: Price: $ 45 Labor: $115

Rear Differential Fluid Change: Price: $45 Labor: $75

Thank you all in advance.

 

First take it to a different shop, the dealership/stealership overcharges you like crazy for simple tasks. Save yourself a ton of money and get a lot more of fixes, if not all, done at once.

 

Those prices are highway robbery. Take it to your local Firestone. Same quality work for much less.

 

Look around maybe you get like a package deal.

 

I've never heard of a mechanic that gives you "package deals".

 

I would definetly take it to another shop. Dealership prices are too much. As far as the work to get done first, I would get the steering/suspension done first. The transverse link and both the front struts not just one. If you are going to do struts, and are thinking of upgrading your suspension to coilovers, then this is a good time to do so. Fluid exchanges could come next. The fluids you have mentioned was actually due at 60k...

 

Thank you all for the responses. I will buy the parts online and take it to a nondealer to get it done. So I guess I will start with getting the suspension stuff fixed.

What kind of struts do you all recommend?

I plan to buy some lowering springs as well. Eibach or Teins. Do I need shocks as well?

 

tokico blues you can get all 4 for around 3-400 just find a vendor on here and see how much they run

 

Are these it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKIC...item1e661536c8

 

sure look like it....id check with one of our vendors and see if they can hook ya up first tho

 

I also found these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TOKIC...item1e661536c8

But I'll check with a vendor here too.

 

And oh these are the springs I was looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pro-P...item588dc9d1dd

 

If you're competent enough to change your motor oil, you can easily do most of those things on the list with very little time and save yourself a bunch of money.

Strut is simple, all you do is unbolt the control arm, the three bolts on your strut tower, get a spring compressor and literally yank it out.

Those fluid changes are cake too.
For 6MT, there is no tranny flush, it's just drain and refill. There are a total of 2 bolts you need to focus on: a drain and fill plug. All you do is loosen the fill plug a little, unscrew the drain plug, grab a beer, come back, screw drain plug back in, take fill plug out, fill until oil just starts coming out, screw fill plug back in, done.

The process for changing your diff oil is EXACTLY the same as the tranny. The only difference is you're working on the other end of the car.

Coolant flush is easy as well as long as you follow proper guidelines in getting air out of the system. There's a really nice step-by-step service manual you can find here with a quick search.

Literally the hardest part about these fluid changes is figuring out which type of fluid to use. The 3 fluids you need shouldn't cost too much more than $100 total, depending on what brands you go with. I went with all OEM (and Amsoil SVG for rear diff) and that ran me like $120 IIRC. You can get much cheaper fluids.

If none of those fluids have been changed during the life of your car, prepare for some serious nastiness. I did a complete fluid change (clutch/brake/tranny/diff/PS/coolant/etcetc) for my 30k and some of those fluids were pretty yucky even then... Do these things yourself and you save hundreds of dollars in labor.

 

This is great advice, Luis you're spot on. The only thing I would add is if you're going to DIY buy a fluid pump for the diff. oil. Trying to re-fill it out of the bottle is nearly impossible. I use Amsoil Severe Gear 75-90 and bought an Amsoil pump. It screws right on the top of the bottle and I can do this by myself. It's easier with 2 peeps, but certainly do-able with just one.

 

All good advice the best one is, "Don't go near the STEALERSHIP!" If you can't do what's needed yourself every neighborhood has a competent independent brake/alignment shop, find yours. You need to fix what's broken first then take care of the maintenance when you can afford it with the exception of your oil/filter change regiment....every 3500 miles.
Gary