eek, first trip to the dealer!

[charmingtrouble]

I finally got a copy of the invoice, anyone wanna tell me how badly I got ripped off? I have no idea

Malfunction indicator light is on, disgnose. remove and replace engine temperature sensor, air flow mass meter, wiring repair for temp. sensor, spark plugs & wires [$575.00]

tempsender: 42.90
seal: 3.11
EA wires: 12.54
4 connectors: 6.93
a air meter: 246.40
spring: 1.48
wire set: 11.00
housing: 28.05
4 aa spark plugs: 16.00
L ignition leads: 87.84

remove and replace engine cooling system thermostat and renew engine coolant [287.50]

thermostat: 42.94
washer: 5.45
coolant ad: 34.10
all for a total of 862.50 for labor, 636.63 for parts

would have been 1499.13 but got a discount so with tax we have

$1404.93




and now [3 days later] it doesn't accelerate as fast as it did before when I step on the pedal after a complete stop...

[HarlequinPixie]

was this for the same problem you mentioned about the water pump?

[charmingtrouble]

when they first called us, they told us they thought something was wrong with the water pump, but it later turned out to be problems with the thermostat and sensor

[Smileybug]

The temp sensor you can buy for $30 and DIY in about 5 minutes.

Since you had a CEL, you could have gone to autozone and got the codes read for free. Then report back to us and we could help you diagnose rather than you go to the dealer and get shafted.

[HarlequinPixie]

Okay... well. I'm not exactly sure what a couple of those wires & connectors are (possibly the ones that hook onto the sensors), but to give you an idea, I just quickly got prices for the main parts from 1 website (germanautoparts.com)...



Coolant temperature sensor 21.45
O-ring 0.85
Clip, sensor or plug 0.49
Spark plug, NGK BKUR6ET-10. 6.15(x4)
Ignition wire set 52.91
Thermostat, 87 deg Celsius. 17.25
O-ring, thermostat sealing 0.85
Thermostat cover flange 8.27
Air mass meter, (aka MAF). 106.45

Total: $233.12
+coolant from dealer <30$


so.. for the most part, yeah, i'd say there was a bit of hosing.

probably could've been done for 300-350$ and an afternoon in the driveway.. none of those items are that difficult to do on one's own (unless those wiring bits are way more complicated than they sound).

might be fun to call up and ask them for an estimate on changing the Plugs, Wires, MAF and Thermostat, just to see how much they tell you.

But yeah. what smileybug said.. if any of your lights turn on, autozone can scan codes for free, and there's lots of info already here, or we can answer new questions.

oh yeah.. and if your temperature light comes on and is red, stop driving immediately! (if it's flashing, that usually means coolant level is low, so stop and check it... solid red is really really bad to keep the engine running)

[CoriBug]

ouch!

Why did you go to the dealer? Any reputable independent dub mechanics in your area?

[Fl_bug]

Any of these places listed near you? Just call ahead and make sure they work on your engine too. They mostly work on the diesel.

[charmingtrouble]

we had to go to the dealer because it was the only place open on saturdays, since it overheated friday night, my dad wanted to have it checked out as soon as possible

the stupid thing was they were packed for the day and needed to keep the car there over the weekend so they could look at it when they got the chance. so my dad decided okay we'll just leave it there, and he drove me home in his car

I didn't get my car back till tuesday anyway

from that list, the closest one would have been 12 miles away from me, the dealer was 6 miles away, and I hopped on the internet after the trip and did some research and came up with 2 places that had pretty great reviews, both like a mile away but closed on the weekends

had I been smarter and got on the internet sooner, we probably would have had to wait the same amount of time, but with more money in our pocket lesson learned.

we're both pretty unfamiliar with my vw beetle... me being the stereotypcial teen girl not knowing a thing about cars , and my dad having driven Nissans and a Mazda all his life.