Timing belt / water pump replacement cost in Toronto

It is time to replace timing belt on my Integra. I called around and the
best quote I got was $509+tax for belt+waterpump+labour from Markham
Acura.

Google search shows that other people have posted lower costs in this
newsgroup before but didn't say where their quote was from. Can someone
share recent experiences of getting this work done in the GTA. Any
other relevant information is appreciated of course.

Regards,

 

Still looks excessive to me. I am not in GTA, though. I was quoted
318$+txs (no seals or waterpump) by Honda of Sherbrooke and 464$CAD
(waterpumps, seals, coolant & 15% taxes incl) by an independant specialized
in imports. I had to insist to get quoted with an OEM timing belt..

You may want to check that the crank and camshaft seals are changed at the
same occasion.

 

I'm not in the GTA, but my experience has been that if you go to a Honda
dealer rather than Acura, you can significantly reduce the price of most
parts and services.

 

Generally that is the case in my experience too, but for t-belt work it
seems to be the opposite. Just got a quote for $720+tax for
tbelt+w.pump+cam/crank seals + engine coolant + valve cover gasket from
a Honda dealership.

Regards,

 

I can't give you an address, but I can tell you what to look for.
Don't go to a dealer, or any outfit that has to pay union wages to
mechanics. In other words any of those outfits with a smiling
front-office man and a dozen work bays in the back. Don't go to a
corner service station that sells gas either. What you want is a shop
that specializes in Honda-Accura with a factory trained mechanic who
also owns the business. Look for a clean, well equipped shop in an
obscure location in one of those industrial ghettos that lease
premises to businesses. Markham has plenty. You want a place that gets
no walk-in business at all because nobody knows its there. Such places
have to do good work because they depend completely on word-of-mouth
recommendations from satisfied customers.

Where to hear such recommendations? Check with local car clubs, they
know. And if the guy you're doing business with doesn't have to wipe
the grease off his hands before shaking hands with you, look
elsewhwere.

But always use OEM parts.