Questions and Answers

Jeep Wrangler Being Taken For A Ride? Q. I have a 1997 Jeep Wrangler 2.5 liter, 60,700 miles. Had to tow in to repair shop- died while driving would crank but not turn over. Shops say crack in exhaust manifold led to melting of wires on the Crankshaft Position Sensor (CPS) which I know is responsible for letting the engine spark, fuel and timing.

Anyway my question is; how do you know what the price for such work is? Is there somewhere to check? Is there a way to lower the bill?

CPS + Labor = $262.00
Manifold gasket + labor = $275.00
60,000 mile service = $195.00
Total $732.00 + tax and whatever other disposal fee or what not they may add on.

I've heard women are frequently over charged at the mechanic shop. Do you have any advice?

Thanks,
Deb

A. The is a standard Time and Labor Guide that is used to estimate and price jobs. The prices are OEM list prices and the times are derived from several technicians doing the actual job and averaging the time it took them to do it. You can find this book at the local public library, in the reference section.

According to my book, assuming an automatic transmissions:

Part:	OEM Part:	Price:	Labor:
CPS	56027868AB	$41.25	0.5 hours
Exhaust Manifold	53008860	$137.00	2.8 hours

So I estimate replacing the CPS to be about $100.00. The exhaust manifold (because you stated it's cracked) and gasket, $335.00. So in my shop doing those two items would run about $435.00 plus tax and fees. They are charging you $537.00 plus tax and fees.

The price of the 60,000 mile service depends on what is included in the service, but $195.00 does not appear to be out of line.

I wrote an article, Finding Honest Repair Shops, that will help you find a shop and what to look out for.