Timing Belt Replacement 99 Accord Ex 4 cyl AT (93,000 miles)

The Dealer quoted me a price of $782 (in Texas) to replace the timing
belt, balancer belt, water pump, "and a couple of oil seals".

This seems high to me, but then everything seems high these days. I
have a couple of questions for the group.

1. Are they ripping me off?

2. If I can save one or two hundred dollars would it be advisable to
go to a local (non-dealer) garage where I have had good work done
before on other cars?

3. If I go with the local shop, should I buy the parts from Honda
instead of letting them buy generic parts from their supplier?

3. What oil seals is the dealer referring to that he said should be
replaced?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Sid

 

Also, what parts would the local garage need besides the obvious.

Timing belt
balancer belt
water pump

I already have the serpentine belt and alternator belt onhand, I just
need to replace them.

I am looking at this parts list
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/prddisplay.jsp?inputstate=5&catcgry1=ACCORD&catcgry2=1999&catcgry3=4DR+EX&catcgry4=KA4AT&catcgry5=CAMSHAFT-TIMING+BELT

and I am not sure which seals, washers, etc are reusable and which
ones I should buy.

 

YOu Texans have no problem pointing out to the rest of your country
that "Things are bigger in Texas", now you are complaining. Why is that?
{;^)

 

Yes. A local garage would probably only charge about $500. It's an short
job in terms of time, two hours of actual labor at the most, though if
they're using shop rates then they're probably charging you 4 hours of
labor because they're pricing the water pump and belt as separate jobs.

The local shops I use are happy to use genuine Honda parts if you
request them and are willing to pay the difference. The local shop will
charge you the retail price for the parts even though they get them from
the Honda dealer at a discount.

Sometimes they don't mind if you bring the parts because it saves them
time ordering the parts and waiting for delivery or picking them up.
Sometimes they don't like it because they lose that bit of profit.

I guess you should ask the dealer that.

 

Sid , go to E-Bay and buy the whole kit and take it to a shop you
trust. Save a bucket of money.

 

You need to go to someone other than the dealer. I have a quote of
$850 for a timing belt, water pump, tensioner, etc., for my Audi A4
1.8T from my local (trusted) garage. By way of comparison, to change
the TB in many Audis, you need to remove the front bumper and
radiator, so the time involved is more significant than for a
transversely-engined car like your Accord.

Dan D
'07 Ody EX
Central NJ USA