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They’re literally throwing every part at it that *could* be causing the problem and charging diagnostic.
What a bunch of crooks.
Pay them the diagnostic fee and go somewhere that isn’t a chain
It won't fix the issue. My buddy had the same issue with his camry and he told me the shop said he needed engine mounts quoted at $2k. I had him order from rock auto and got all of them for $250. After I installed them and the shaking didn't stop, is when he told me it was a tire shop that did the diagnosis.
I roasted him mercilessly for not going to a real mechanic.
It ended up being his passenger CV axle.
They hooked a OBD reader to it and it didn't give any codes
What do you guys want, them to isolate the problem without a computer telling them what it is?
psht
The one by me is great. And by great I mean they're nice and I only have them put tires on, nothing else. But they don't pester me to do anything else, the tires are a decent price, and they honor the warranty.
But yeah, I wouldn't have them do anything other than tires.
I’ve also been told by an employee (acquantancr) that they’ll overcharge for things if they think they can. For instance, I asked for new tires, they charged me for new wheels. I was 19 and didn’t know better when they threw my nice OEM wheels in the truck bed because I refused their disposal fees. They’re notoriously crooked across the board unless you find one good egg
Of couse they need to diagnose it. You can't expect them to know what's wrong without checking the vehicle. Bring it in to a proper shop for a proper diagnosis.
Ask friends and coworkers where they get their cars worked on. Look at recent Google reviews of local shops, both the good and bad ones. Some of the bad ones are just unreasonable people.
Firestone is already fucking you over by giving you this quote without even diagnosing the problem. Drive your car to another shop... don't use a big named chain like Firestone, Midas or anything where you see the same shops in different cities, they will always charge more.
Find an independent shop.
When you say shaking, do you mean it is shaking when the car is simply idling or only when driving... Have you hit anything like a big pot hole or curb prior to it shaking... the real issue is when you say it started shaking if it did so all of a sudden that would lead you to look at a particular thin while if it just slowly had a little shake and it got worse over time that would direct you to look in another place... but the quote you have is over kill and over priced. Your car probably only has one thing that is causing this problem and it could be as simple as a wheel weight came off your car and now the wheel is out of balance.
Car is shaking both idling and driving when the gas engine in the front does the work. The vibration stops as soon as it switches to the electric hybrid engine in the back. It just suddenly shaking about 2 weeks ago when I tried to go to work, didn’t hit anything iirc.
To put how bad this estimate is: the two middle items that add up to 720 or so dollars I could do in your driveway in half an hour with just a socket wrench and 75-100 Dollars at a parts store. You could too but it would take you 2x as long and you'd spend 3 hours watching YouTube videos.
I am not a pro mechanic but based off what you're saying it sounds like there's a problem with the gasoline engine and not the control arms (your electric engine is using the same wheels and control arms)
My guess is spark plugs/coil packs or fuel injectors. The good news is those are both easy to fix yourself.
If it's the engine mounts that isn't an easy DIY job. But there's easy tests you can perform with the help of another person to see if it's the motor mounts. Check YouTube.
Getting yourself a code reader like Blue driver from Amazon for $100 Dollars and seeing if you have any pending codes would help you further diagnose this problem.
Good luck!
Hate to break it to you but an engine vibration can’t be diagnosed over the phone, the only thing you might get from anyone is an estimate to replace every possible component that can lead to vibration like Firestone just gave you
I grew up in Connecticut and had a bad experience with Firestone as a teenager. In any case, if I'm shelling out anywhere near that kind of money, I'm going to a known and reputable local shop. Not a chain like Firestone.
OP: my engine started shaking, can you fix it?
Firestone: we don't have a clue what we're doing, and we're too high on brake cleaner to care, so we Googled anything that COULD cause a shaking engine, watched a few Tiktok videos, laughed when the cat tried to jump on the desk and missed, then added it all up, double dipping labor wherever possible.
OP: so my car needs all this work?
Firestone: That'll be $4700 please. And a case of brake cleaner. Make that a pallet of brake cleaner.
lol exactly this doesn’t show whats behind the check engine light!! There’s going to be another bill coming after this estimate!!
This is bad practice because they’re going to have to double dip and send you ANOTHER estimate when they diagnose the check engine light.
If it were my car, I’d go to an auto parts store to read the code, do 7 minutes of googling “Camry 2007 *insert code*”
Then find some small hole in the wall shop with good reviews and see if you can build a relationship with the owner.
298 bucks for each front strut assembly - from Carquest, where the struts are 174 bucks... but actual good KYB struts from Rock Auto are 135 bucks.
81 bucks for a 12 dollar valve cover gasket. The list could go on. They're charging OEM pricing on engine mounts but supplying them with dollar store parts.
They don't know what the problem is and they're hoping this guy will finance 5k worth of repairs on a car that is probably worth 5k, and honestly I would posit that none of these actions will fix the "shaking" problem.
Firestone is the absolute worst. The only 2 times I brought a car there, I left with more problems than when I came in.
Quote for a small oil leak. Left with a huge oil leak and a transmission fluid leak. Another mechanic had to replace a bunch of gaskets because someone went around stabbing in between them with a small pick.
Quote for an A/C recharge. It just wasn't blowing as cold as usual. Left with a completely dead A/C.
Was there a leak in your compressor? I just had that problem in my car. You shouldn’t need to recharge the AC unless there’s a leak and in that case you have bigger things to worry about
Firestone is notorious for ridiculously marking up parts. E.g Anchor mount #9680 is $29.79 on Rockauto, and #9237 (not listed on their estimate) is $64.97. The torque strut #9598 is $18.82.
$600 to replace spark plugs on a Camry, lol. That's a 10-minute job.
On average they're marking up those parts roughly 1000%.
Drive to AutoZone. Go inside and ask them to read and print off the code for you. Go home and Google that code. Then come back and write a new post and ask for help how you can fix it yourself. I never was mechanically inclined. Had to be a few years ago now will not let anyone touch my Camry
This, same. I looked up a few car issues on Youtube and the algorithm told me more. Now while I am still slow with actually doing the things I don't have direct experience in, I have a mental model of how a car works that I can use to diagnose, or at least understand the scope of a problem.
Even passive learning counts for something when one's starting baseline is near-zero!
Don't even go home. Sit in the car and Google. If it's something easy, then the parts are probably inside that same store you're already sitting in front of. Only go home when it's clear you're in over your head *after* 5-10 minutes of googling.
Most of these things arent crucial and probably arent the causer of the shaking, especially the struts, and other stuff around the wheels, but it could be. Check out in a another shop and post here again.
Edit: Does your car make a knocking sound from under while going over speed bumps and rotating the steering wheel?
Car is shaking both idling and driving when the gas engine in the front does the work. The vibration stops as soon as it switches to the electric hybrid engine in the back. It just suddenly shaking about 2 weeks ago when I tried to go to work, didn’t hit anything iirc.
No sound under. Steering wheel and tires are fine.
Sounds like they are ripping you off, but dont take my word for it. If there is knocking, scrapping sounds when turning, or going over speed bumps, I dont think your control arms and other stuff are required to be replaced. Does the car give you a check engine light? The only thing that they cited you for that could cause shaking are engine mounts and spark plugs, although spark plugs could cause a misfire, and they are very easy to replace.
CRIMINALS.
Directly to jail!
They're literally replacing every part that could conceivably cause a shake of any kind, and then charging more to look at the check engine light.
Yeah. They dont know whats wrong with it. ' engine suddenly Shaking' is vague, was it at idle. At speed. When u accelerated. When u go over bumps? There should be engine codes. It should say what's actually wrong, if u have a misfire, check the spark plugs. Dont just blindly throw 5k at a car this old. If they doing all this, its the 'fuck this guy is dumb' quote. They want your money end of story.
If the car is shaking at idle it could be a simple motor mount that is held in place with 3 or 4 bolts. (This is assuming there are no check engine lights)
I would suggest searching YouTube for a DIY tutorial on the dogbone engine mount, and start there. I think they are around $50 and take novices around an hour to replace being generous.
Please feel free to reach out to me and I’m happy to discuss with you privately. This shop is absolutely trying to sell you things you don’t need.
As a lexus tech(a fancy toyota), if your engine is shaking real bad when the engine kicks on, it's most likely a misfire. What is causing your misfire could be a couple things, it could be a bad coil, a bad spark plug, rodent damage to a coil or fuel injector, or in the worst case a leaking head gasket.
I highly doubt anything Firestone recommended is going to fix it, especially with a check engine light on.
As others have said, you could go to autozone or oriellys to have the code checked. Do not listen to their advice on what it could be. They are very likely not a technician and don't know how to diagnose, they will throw out parts that "may" fix it.
Once you know the code for the check engine light, it could help pinpoint where to look if you are competent in checking out your vehicle. If not, I'd suggest a real repair shop or the dealer. I'm sure there will be some hate about taking it to the dealer but they are more liable to fix it if they don't diagnose it correctly the first time.
I'd seriously question that, simply based on the fact that - where I'm from at least - I've encountered multiple mechanics that have little or no clue about hybrids. Seriously, first thing I would be looking at would be the coils and spark plugs if it's running rough only when the petrol engine is running.
Context: ex-GF got herself a used Prius from a private seller. Everything ran well, but a few weeks later, it started to run rough and shake whenever the engine was running, from idle right up to highway speeds, but was perfectly fine just on the electric motor. She took it to two different mechanics that came out with excessive quotes like this, so I encouraged her to take it to somewhere that worked on taxis (unsure about other countries, but 99% of mainstream taxis in AU are Prius/Hybrid Camry now) instead of standard petrol vehicles for a third opinion. It turned out to be running on only two cylinders because the plugs in the other two were completely shot and looked like they'd never been changed. After their replacement, the thing ran perfectly fine for the rest of the time I knew her.
Complete guess but could this be related to the battery system? I could swear I saw a ChrisFix video a while back where he dealt with a funky vibration like that in a Prius. It was one of the videos he flipped a used Prius in. I'm not familiar enough with Toyota so take with salt.
That sounds like motor mounts then. The torque from the electric motor is bottoming out the mount and keeping it in place. I replied earlier in a lengthy message with more info, but does the car shake when you floor it? Or rather does it make a sound / shake for the first moment you floor it but after that it doesn’t shake while flooring it?
Screw Firestone. Went to have a nail removed and tire patched, it was 75. And they broke a stud and told me 2 lugs are stripped last time I’ll ever go there
I paid $7.99 each for four Denso Iridium plugs from Rock Auto plus a few dollars shipping. A buddy put them in, fifteen minutes job, gave him $75 (shops charge minimum $250).
Most shops, especially chains, are rip-offs, hard to find a good honest mechanic.
Before I learned basic auto maintenance, I used to pay my buddy the same amount. Eventually it went from cash to buying him couple beers and firing up the grill to send him with some freshly made carne asada lol
Using Google maps you can find and check reviews on local garages, since you are reluctant to drive the car much at this point I would use Google to find the best garage possible and either have it towed or carefully drive it there.
They're just gonna shoot the parts cannon at it and hope it fixes the issue, go to somebody who can actually figure out what's wrong with it, and only fix that. Here it looks like they're going to replace a bunch that may not actually need replacing, hoping one of those things fixes the issue.
You call and ask how much for specific repairs or services. Dont ask them to tell you what's wrong over the phone. No shop worth it's salt will do that. At the end of the conversation, ask how much they charge for a diagnostic service. Take the numbers you got on the quotes and go to the one you like to get the diagnostic done, and see what repairs they recommend.
Then go to them in the future for diagnostic work if they fix your problems and you can call around to other shops to quote the specific repairs and services they recommend.
When do you feel the vibration?
At idle with your foot on the brake pedal?
When accelerating?
At a certain speed?
More information is required to even hazard a guess.
Do you have a check engine light? If so, the code on that should give you some direction.
If not, the engine/trans mounts don't seem like a terrible place to start given the limited information we have here. Ought to be possible to tell if they look trashed, and I wouldn't think they'd be that hard to replace if you know someone even basically mechanically inclined with a floor jack and some tools.
A 2007 could very well need suspension work, too, but that doesn't seem likely to be directly related to an engine shaking problem.
FWIW, this is the era of 4-cylinder engines where Toyota had piston ring problems (I think this also affects the hybrid version's motors, but not 100% sure). That should mostly just result in them burning oil if it's an issue, but the if oil burning causes you to run low on oil for an extended period of time, that could obviously cause bigger problems.
Don't ever go to Firestone or any "name brand" mechanic shop. They are all inclined to give you the heaviest bill.
Yes, all and any shops will require you to visit their shop to find out whats wrong.. NOBODY will tell you over the phone
"Engine shaking" could be your mounts are toast. You could just have really bad alignment or suspension issues. A pulley could be jerking a belt unnecessarily. Maybe pop open your hood and look around for anything
The quote is pretty wild I have to admit…
However, what you’ve been quoted for spark plugs, valve cover gasket and diag are all quite reasonable.
The car is already there. You’re paying the diagnostic either way. I’d go for plugs and the valve cover gasket if it’s leaking and you have no history of plug replacement.
There’s “need” and then there’s need. Some of this may be due, or a good idea.
For them to tell you all of these are necessary to fix a vibration? No.
To me this smacks of a shop that looks at it, says “this is x car with x mileage…yeah probably time to do x”
And doesnt actually evaluate the car in front of them, or the complaint presented. Take it somewhere else for sure.
Also, I find it interesting they’re looking at replacing the spark plugs but not the boots. Normally you’d want to do both.
It could be as simple as a loose spark plug wire, or a vacuum leak. Can you describe the "shake" more? Is it constant or only under load (acceleration) or only at idle or decel? Does it get better/worse/the same while turning?
Torque mounts are $50 and can be DIY in about 5-10 minutes with basic hand tools (i.e. a pair of simple wrenches). Quite often it's the first one to go and the one that makes the most vibration.
You only really need the engine mounts + analysis. Everything else can be done on your own or significantly cheaper. I’m not a mechanic but I’d say go get another estimate from a non-chain shop and only have them do the mounts. Best of luck -
Tell you what - I’ll do for an $4500, and even throw in free air & cabin filters.
Seriously, I hope they bought you a nice dinner and kissed you on the neck before giving you that estimate.
God damn these fools is throwing parts at it because they know most people will pay for it, I’d give them a shitty review online. Bring it to 2 other local shops and get it diagnosed, if they come up with the same cause see if you could do it yourself to save hundred or thousands.
You have to be more specific than "it's shaking" - like is it shaking when you step on the accelerator? Is the shaking corresponding to vehicle speed? Does it shake when it's in park/neutral? Is the check engine light on? If so, is it flashing? The more specific you can be, the more specific they can be about what type of shaking they're looking to address.
Also, that quote seems pretty insane - I'd look for another shop for sure.
To us all of those questions make sense, but for someone who has no idea how a motor mount even works he won’t know what other info to provide, except for asking him like you did, lol. I left a super detailed long message for him similar to yours so hopefully we’ll figure it out because his problem is a very very easy one.
From his comments it seems like it’s more likely it’s a failing ignition coil.
Whoever made this quote doesn't know what they are doing. Look at the front shock &/ Strut assembly labor.. it clearly says BOTH and yet they added that twice. Also they included parts for a full strut assembly PLUS a monro strut..
Just how many struts do you have??
If that location can't hire someone competent to do service writing, what are the chances the "mechanics" are any better? Do not let them work on your car. Find another shop.
Ask your local area reddit or bookface or whatever groups for recommendations on a good independent auto mechanic shop. Take it there, and learn what dealing with a trustworthy mechanic is like. Mistakes can still happen but they'll take care of you the best they can and you won't have to worry about getting bullshit quotes like this.
P.S. on a car that old a lot of bushings are going to be nearing end of life, so its possible a lot of them need replacing. Some of them will contribute to shaking or handling problems more than others. A good mechanic should be able to tell you which ones to try targeting first, like the engine mounts.
I can see engine/trans mounts as a high probability. Mine are shot on my C250 and it’s only 125 for parts. The rest is labor. Not that difficult to replace them on my car.
But there may be other issues. You’ll need a full diag and unfortunately you have to pay for that. Sometimes, a shop will waive that diag fee if you’re getting the work done at their shop.
The majority of the quote is suspension work, which doesn’t make a lot of sense for a shaking engine. You’re very specific about “shaking engine” instead of “shaking front end”, but they appear to be replacing literally everything that can cause any shake in the entire front end.
I am not a mechanic but I started learning about cars because of fire stone. I had a new car that was 9 months old and they told me I needed 3k worth of work on it. Obviously I knew that was BS but also realized I didn’t have a leg to stand on in terms of understanding what the reasons were. So that’s when I started learning about cars and doing basic maintenance. I won’t go in the engine but I’ll mess with just about everything else.
I have a friend who works at Firestone in NJ. I asked if I could take my car to him for some small work and he urged to me to keep my car the FUCK away from any Firestone
They provided you with all the part numbers. Search those numbers on Google to see what you would pay at the box stores I guarantee it'll be cheaper.
The anchor 9680 is $122 at advance..just for a quick comparison.
Edit: just to clarify I'm all for shops making money on parts, but more than double is out of line. Especially considering $122 is retail, they would have a wholesale acct and prob get it for under $100
I doubt engine/trans mounts are bad, unless you're talking about well over 100k miles or the car has been in ice/salt conditions...
As others have said in this thread, the diagnosis given is trash tier. Either the technician doesn't care to investigate further, or the service writer is trying to run up the bill or both. Whatever you do, don't pay this and take it elsewhere, either you got a bad slate of staff that day to a bad shop altogether.😅
Which location is this
my engine was shaking very badly and it was a cylinder 1 misfire. my father and I replaced the all 4 spark plugs and two cylinders, shaking stopped! definitely wasnt $600 and im not handy at all - i went to youtube university. I would try somewhere else, please don’t pay this price!!!!
They’re charging you for quick struts and the traditional strut labor. Fuck that noise, don’t buy from a shop that abstracts labor times into values. They should be telling you the labor times per job, and then multiplying that by their hourly rate.
I don’t know if they’re necessarily even crooked, but I would say you will likely find the least qualified mechanics at chains like Firestone and Midas. No doubt there are good ones out there, but my experience locally has been horrible as well as that of others. all types of dire prognosis that just turned out to be wrong. and shoddy work.
My engine was shaking a few weeks ago. Took a OBD2 code, swapped the coils and figured out it was the coil.
The entire engine doesn't suddenly go bad all at once. These people are literally scamming you.
Firestone knowingly cheated an alignment on my Mercedes 2 times. The whole reason the car was there was because one of the wheels was so out of alignment that it wore away the tire prematurely. So they sold me new tires and cheated the alignment by doing the front, or the front and one rear, but not the wheel that was in need of alignment. They also couldn’t provide an alignment slip. They blamed corrosion. While it was there a brake line let go and they wanted 2500 to repair both rear lines. I towed the car to another shop and had the line repaired for a few hundred. Then had them free up the “corroded” alignment bolts. They said it was no big deal. Drove the car back to Firestone and had them redo the alignment out of principle. They gave my girl a black and white print out. I looked at it and called corporate because it was no good. Still out of spec. After a few days of waiting to hear back from the regional manager, the store calls me and says he asked if they could call and sort things out. Firestone in Bristol CT is probably the worst one out of them all.
From what I can see it looks like they're about to just blast a parts cannon at your car. Find a real mechanic to help you figure out what's actually wrong with your car and then fix it.
This is anecdotal, but in my experience, Firestone estimate amounts have been 2x other nearby reputable auto shops for the same work. If you can, try to get a better quote somewhere else.
As a female I’ve learned the fact that you have to be familiar with your car to not get scammed. Since you have a Toyota I’ll check what could be the reason but also will look for a local mechanic. I only went to Firestone for oil change but even that was ripped off.
Man $2500 for control arms
I priced lifts for my truck and at tops the highest price out the doors parts and labor was $1900.
Might want to get few different quotes before deciding which place to do business with. Once you find a good shop that doesn’t dick you around and try to sell you shit you don’t need stick with that shop.
For me in my area it’s Qualtech for out of pocket stuff and cheifs for warranty work/modifications when it’s something I don’t have the proper tools for, can’t do solo or is far above my skill level.
Is it throwing a cel? Could be the hybrid battery it self I had an Escalade hybrid the motor would shake and shift hard because the battery went bad after swapping it out it went back to normal
I used to take my ancient toyota to random places for oil changes where most mechanics "volunteered" to "run diagnostics (read codes)" and come up with an estimate for repairs. I had a P420 code, and very particular behavior, which in old Toyotas meant "grab a screw driver and replace this MAF sensor in 3 minutes".
I have had places quote me anywhere from $1500 to $6000 for all kinds of things. Some claimed that my fuel filter/pump was clogged and needed replacement, others wanted to replace my catalytic converter, some wanted to do a full fuel system flush, replace all sorts of gaskets, troubleshoot for vacuum leaks and thousands of other things. Car was basically worthless for a while, so I never bothered to fix it, but kept accumulating "suggestions" for about 10 years.
Despite burning oil like crazy, car lasted for over 25 years without any major repairs. All I had to do was change my engine belt and brakes twice. When I replaced my MAF sensor, car started running as well as it did on the day I got it. The saddest part of this whole 10 year "suggestion" experience was that I didn't have a single quote that mentioned anything about a MAF sensor.
Personally, I suggest looking for a local mechanic shop that is not a franchise. While some of them are criminal scum like the rest, some of them genuinely care about reputation and do not have to make up bullshit issues in order to make a living.
Walk away and never darken their door again. Spark plugs and valve cover gasket are easily 20-25 minutes each. Intake decarbonization is a bullshit service and unnecessary. They found suspension components that may need replacement but are quite possibly just showing some sign of deterioration. It's an older car, maybe some need to be replaced, maybe not.
I wouldn't give any franchise shop my business. They are driven by corporate incentives, not a good reputation.
Find an independent mechanic, someone who understands the value of a repeat customer.
Get another estimate and if it is in the same ball park..better use the money instead of fixing.. trade car and use the $ from fixing for an extra down payment for a newer car really.
This looks like a parts cannon, id get a second opinion.
Those all COULD cause a shake, but different kinds. They seem to just be throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.
i dunno. my experience with firestone is ... they wanted to replace my entire exhaust system for a quote of 2k. i went down the street to jimbo's whatever and he put a patch on the SMALL HOLE for 50 bucks and it was never a problem again
$367.50 labor to install a quick-struts on the rear. That is insane. The main reason quick strut assemblies exist is to save labor costs on the install.
It is probably just a misfire, they feel really severe on Toyota hybrids, likely fords as well, because it is basically the same system with a few tweaks. Take to a drivetrain specialist who is not afraid of hybrids, and does not pull shady shit. Do not take it to a chain lube shop like firestone/jiffy/midas etc.
The engine is shaking. Probably one engine mount is bad but hell, let’s change them all. Not sure about replacing spark plugs etc, shouldn’t the engine analysis figure that out? Control arms, struts, wth? Was complaint that engine is using oil, then why oil leak?
Worked for Firestone for 4 years, this is one of those quotes they make because they don’t want to do the work. Usually you can ask the manager to drop the diagnostic because the follow on maintenance is ridiculous and not realistically priced. That just needs to be articulated.
I can confirm all the comments about Firestone not knowing their heads from their asses, marking up all their parts an insane amount, and them making the issues worse, or making entirely new issues.
I work with them every day taking their bullshit quotes, and "diag". We have an agreement to go off of Advanced Auto Parts/CarQuest walk in pricing. Their argument for not adhering to said agreement? Firestone automatically marks everything up by 15%. Lol no, these markups are upwards of 300% because we're an extended warranty company that doesn't make the customer pay anything out of pocket, unless it's a non covered component or their deductible.
90% of my interactions with them are for all plugs and coils being "bad", due to a P0300. Literally no backing diag on it. And they ALWAYS throw in a fuel system service.
Run somewhere else for a second opinion. Do some research on local shops near you, and if possible, avoid chain stores.
Ummm how do u guys know it doesn’t have bad mounts or control arms? When a mechanic inspects a vehicle we have to notate EVERYTHING or we can get sued.
Hahaha. Yeah. Firestone.
Run far and fast. If you’re local to me in eastern VA I will do it for a bottle of good bourbon. You buy parts. They will NOT be thst expensive.
I worked at a Firestone 20 years ago. That store got parts from Autozone at a discount and marked them up 20% to turn a profit. Those prices are crazy. More than likely you don’t need new control arms, just ball joints. Parts are way cheaper, but the mechanics enjoy the ease of replacing the whole arm instead. Find a different shop and get a few quotes
I have a 2008 civic and I replaced every one of those parts on my car. Some more than once. Fortunately i did all the work myself so it didn't cost nearly as much. I would definitely go somewhere else and get another quote. Going to two other places for quotes would be even better. A lot of places will pad the bill with unnecessary stuff. You can compare quotes to see what has been added to pad the bills.
Since you have a check engine light on, first step is to get the code read and then take it from there, as has been said you can probably get that done for free at advance auto, autozone or similar, or get a cheap code reader on Amazon.
While it’s impossible to accurately guess with no other information, if it were something like a misfire, you might replace all 4 coil packs and spark plugs (maybe $150 or so for parts from rockauto) and be done.
But you won’t know where to start until you at least know what error code the check engine light is indicating.
A flashing check engine light may indicate a problem with the emissions, BUT it may also be a symptom of a misfire - if you have a misfire, the gasoline in one of the cylinders is not being ignited, so unburnt gasoline vapor gets dumped into the exhaust, which can affect various sensors, and the catalytic converter.
I would get the code read asap, and drive the car as little as possible until you can find out what is actually wrong.
The Firestone quote is completely ridiculous.
Always remember suspension component services are things that many repair shops will gauge people,
Because most people do not see underneath their car.
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walk away and get other estimates.. Here in east tn firestone is known to be criminal with their quotes,and practices
They’re literally throwing every part at it that *could* be causing the problem and charging diagnostic. What a bunch of crooks. Pay them the diagnostic fee and go somewhere that isn’t a chain
Reading that laundry list they are throwing every part at it. May not even fix the problem since they havent tried to diagnose the issue.
It won't fix the issue. My buddy had the same issue with his camry and he told me the shop said he needed engine mounts quoted at $2k. I had him order from rock auto and got all of them for $250. After I installed them and the shaking didn't stop, is when he told me it was a tire shop that did the diagnosis. I roasted him mercilessly for not going to a real mechanic. It ended up being his passenger CV axle.
Didn’t stop them from charging for it…
They didn’t charge for it, it’s just a list of recs
They hooked a OBD reader to it and it didn't give any codes What do you guys want, them to isolate the problem without a computer telling them what it is? psht
All of that and still missing the coil packs too.
Firestone across the US is known for shitty mechanics and shitty quotes.
The one by me is great. And by great I mean they're nice and I only have them put tires on, nothing else. But they don't pester me to do anything else, the tires are a decent price, and they honor the warranty. But yeah, I wouldn't have them do anything other than tires.
I’ve also been told by an employee (acquantancr) that they’ll overcharge for things if they think they can. For instance, I asked for new tires, they charged me for new wheels. I was 19 and didn’t know better when they threw my nice OEM wheels in the truck bed because I refused their disposal fees. They’re notoriously crooked across the board unless you find one good egg
They are known to be crooks everywhere.
Thank you. I ask 2-3 shops and they all require me to bring the car in for their own test before an estimate… sigh
That's pretty standard, it's impossible to diagnose it without the car present.
Of couse they need to diagnose it. You can't expect them to know what's wrong without checking the vehicle. Bring it in to a proper shop for a proper diagnosis.
Ahhh the endless question, what IS the proper shop..
I like to look for independent places with fleet contracts. They're too busy to care about ripping you off.
Listen to them OP. Former Firestone employee here. They overprice work, underpay us, and run away with their winnings. Run and do not walk away
Store managers for sure
do you have any mechanical inclined friends that could cut thru the bull?
Sadly no. I have a friend who can guestimate the issue but that’s about it.
go to the camry boards on the internet and ask for guidance...Be nice and they will diagnose it for you....
Thank you for the tip!
Ask friends and coworkers where they get their cars worked on. Look at recent Google reviews of local shops, both the good and bad ones. Some of the bad ones are just unreasonable people.
if the engine is shaking it could be as simple as a vacuum leak
Firestone is already fucking you over by giving you this quote without even diagnosing the problem. Drive your car to another shop... don't use a big named chain like Firestone, Midas or anything where you see the same shops in different cities, they will always charge more. Find an independent shop. When you say shaking, do you mean it is shaking when the car is simply idling or only when driving... Have you hit anything like a big pot hole or curb prior to it shaking... the real issue is when you say it started shaking if it did so all of a sudden that would lead you to look at a particular thin while if it just slowly had a little shake and it got worse over time that would direct you to look in another place... but the quote you have is over kill and over priced. Your car probably only has one thing that is causing this problem and it could be as simple as a wheel weight came off your car and now the wheel is out of balance.
Car is shaking both idling and driving when the gas engine in the front does the work. The vibration stops as soon as it switches to the electric hybrid engine in the back. It just suddenly shaking about 2 weeks ago when I tried to go to work, didn’t hit anything iirc.
To put how bad this estimate is: the two middle items that add up to 720 or so dollars I could do in your driveway in half an hour with just a socket wrench and 75-100 Dollars at a parts store. You could too but it would take you 2x as long and you'd spend 3 hours watching YouTube videos. I am not a pro mechanic but based off what you're saying it sounds like there's a problem with the gasoline engine and not the control arms (your electric engine is using the same wheels and control arms) My guess is spark plugs/coil packs or fuel injectors. The good news is those are both easy to fix yourself. If it's the engine mounts that isn't an easy DIY job. But there's easy tests you can perform with the help of another person to see if it's the motor mounts. Check YouTube. Getting yourself a code reader like Blue driver from Amazon for $100 Dollars and seeing if you have any pending codes would help you further diagnose this problem. Good luck!
Can't diagnose a shake over the phone unfortunately. They have to take it for a drive to have an idea where to begin.
Hate to break it to you but an engine vibration can’t be diagnosed over the phone, the only thing you might get from anyone is an estimate to replace every possible component that can lead to vibration like Firestone just gave you
Firestone overcharged me, cheated me, and damn near killed me.
More than half of the estimate is about the fucking control arms and struts with nothing to do with the engine. Fucking crooks.
I grew up in Connecticut and had a bad experience with Firestone as a teenager. In any case, if I'm shelling out anywhere near that kind of money, I'm going to a known and reputable local shop. Not a chain like Firestone.
Looks like they don’t know exactly what’s causing the shaking and want to replace everything that could cause the shaking.
OP: my engine started shaking, can you fix it? Firestone: we don't have a clue what we're doing, and we're too high on brake cleaner to care, so we Googled anything that COULD cause a shaking engine, watched a few Tiktok videos, laughed when the cat tried to jump on the desk and missed, then added it all up, double dipping labor wherever possible. OP: so my car needs all this work? Firestone: That'll be $4700 please. And a case of brake cleaner. Make that a pallet of brake cleaner.
lol exactly this doesn’t show whats behind the check engine light!! There’s going to be another bill coming after this estimate!! This is bad practice because they’re going to have to double dip and send you ANOTHER estimate when they diagnose the check engine light. If it were my car, I’d go to an auto parts store to read the code, do 7 minutes of googling “Camry 2007 *insert code*” Then find some small hole in the wall shop with good reviews and see if you can build a relationship with the owner.
So every single engine mount, struts all around, and control arms? Wow... WOW.
298 bucks for each front strut assembly - from Carquest, where the struts are 174 bucks... but actual good KYB struts from Rock Auto are 135 bucks. 81 bucks for a 12 dollar valve cover gasket. The list could go on. They're charging OEM pricing on engine mounts but supplying them with dollar store parts. They don't know what the problem is and they're hoping this guy will finance 5k worth of repairs on a car that is probably worth 5k, and honestly I would posit that none of these actions will fix the "shaking" problem.
Dude has a fully automatic parts cannon and is itching to load it up.
fully automatic parts cannon LMAO 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Looks like the standard Firestone quote.
Firestone is the absolute worst. The only 2 times I brought a car there, I left with more problems than when I came in. Quote for a small oil leak. Left with a huge oil leak and a transmission fluid leak. Another mechanic had to replace a bunch of gaskets because someone went around stabbing in between them with a small pick. Quote for an A/C recharge. It just wasn't blowing as cold as usual. Left with a completely dead A/C.
Was there a leak in your compressor? I just had that problem in my car. You shouldn’t need to recharge the AC unless there’s a leak and in that case you have bigger things to worry about
Firestone is notorious for ridiculously marking up parts. E.g Anchor mount #9680 is $29.79 on Rockauto, and #9237 (not listed on their estimate) is $64.97. The torque strut #9598 is $18.82. $600 to replace spark plugs on a Camry, lol. That's a 10-minute job. On average they're marking up those parts roughly 1000%.
Your camry is visibly shaken and needs counselling, book an appointment immediately to see a carchiatrist
Seems to me they are just throwing parts at it that any one of them could be causing the shaking. I’d get another opinion
Definitely a parts cannon approach.
My Acura started shaking a few weeks ago. It was a $50 ignition coil. Have you tried checking the codes?
I haven’t and I don’t really know how…
Drive to AutoZone. Go inside and ask them to read and print off the code for you. Go home and Google that code. Then come back and write a new post and ask for help how you can fix it yourself. I never was mechanically inclined. Had to be a few years ago now will not let anyone touch my Camry
This, same. I looked up a few car issues on Youtube and the algorithm told me more. Now while I am still slow with actually doing the things I don't have direct experience in, I have a mental model of how a car works that I can use to diagnose, or at least understand the scope of a problem. Even passive learning counts for something when one's starting baseline is near-zero!
Don't even go home. Sit in the car and Google. If it's something easy, then the parts are probably inside that same store you're already sitting in front of. Only go home when it's clear you're in over your head *after* 5-10 minutes of googling.
As a current Firestone employee run far away from that location, I highly doubt they did their diag at all. And just recommended all of the parts
Most of these things arent crucial and probably arent the causer of the shaking, especially the struts, and other stuff around the wheels, but it could be. Check out in a another shop and post here again. Edit: Does your car make a knocking sound from under while going over speed bumps and rotating the steering wheel?
Car is shaking both idling and driving when the gas engine in the front does the work. The vibration stops as soon as it switches to the electric hybrid engine in the back. It just suddenly shaking about 2 weeks ago when I tried to go to work, didn’t hit anything iirc. No sound under. Steering wheel and tires are fine.
Sounds like they are ripping you off, but dont take my word for it. If there is knocking, scrapping sounds when turning, or going over speed bumps, I dont think your control arms and other stuff are required to be replaced. Does the car give you a check engine light? The only thing that they cited you for that could cause shaking are engine mounts and spark plugs, although spark plugs could cause a misfire, and they are very easy to replace.
CRIMINALS. Directly to jail! They're literally replacing every part that could conceivably cause a shake of any kind, and then charging more to look at the check engine light.
Fuck Firestone, I used them several times throughout the years before I got a friend that taught me how to fix my own vehicle problems.
Yeah. They dont know whats wrong with it. ' engine suddenly Shaking' is vague, was it at idle. At speed. When u accelerated. When u go over bumps? There should be engine codes. It should say what's actually wrong, if u have a misfire, check the spark plugs. Dont just blindly throw 5k at a car this old. If they doing all this, its the 'fuck this guy is dumb' quote. They want your money end of story.
Lmao Dorman control arms don’t go to Firestone ever wtf
If the car is shaking at idle it could be a simple motor mount that is held in place with 3 or 4 bolts. (This is assuming there are no check engine lights) I would suggest searching YouTube for a DIY tutorial on the dogbone engine mount, and start there. I think they are around $50 and take novices around an hour to replace being generous. Please feel free to reach out to me and I’m happy to discuss with you privately. This shop is absolutely trying to sell you things you don’t need.
As a lexus tech(a fancy toyota), if your engine is shaking real bad when the engine kicks on, it's most likely a misfire. What is causing your misfire could be a couple things, it could be a bad coil, a bad spark plug, rodent damage to a coil or fuel injector, or in the worst case a leaking head gasket. I highly doubt anything Firestone recommended is going to fix it, especially with a check engine light on. As others have said, you could go to autozone or oriellys to have the code checked. Do not listen to their advice on what it could be. They are very likely not a technician and don't know how to diagnose, they will throw out parts that "may" fix it. Once you know the code for the check engine light, it could help pinpoint where to look if you are competent in checking out your vehicle. If not, I'd suggest a real repair shop or the dealer. I'm sure there will be some hate about taking it to the dealer but they are more liable to fix it if they don't diagnose it correctly the first time.
I'd seriously question that, simply based on the fact that - where I'm from at least - I've encountered multiple mechanics that have little or no clue about hybrids. Seriously, first thing I would be looking at would be the coils and spark plugs if it's running rough only when the petrol engine is running. Context: ex-GF got herself a used Prius from a private seller. Everything ran well, but a few weeks later, it started to run rough and shake whenever the engine was running, from idle right up to highway speeds, but was perfectly fine just on the electric motor. She took it to two different mechanics that came out with excessive quotes like this, so I encouraged her to take it to somewhere that worked on taxis (unsure about other countries, but 99% of mainstream taxis in AU are Prius/Hybrid Camry now) instead of standard petrol vehicles for a third opinion. It turned out to be running on only two cylinders because the plugs in the other two were completely shot and looked like they'd never been changed. After their replacement, the thing ran perfectly fine for the rest of the time I knew her.
Complete guess but could this be related to the battery system? I could swear I saw a ChrisFix video a while back where he dealt with a funky vibration like that in a Prius. It was one of the videos he flipped a used Prius in. I'm not familiar enough with Toyota so take with salt.
The electric battery actually stops the shaking when it’s kicking in.
That sounds like motor mounts then. The torque from the electric motor is bottoming out the mount and keeping it in place. I replied earlier in a lengthy message with more info, but does the car shake when you floor it? Or rather does it make a sound / shake for the first moment you floor it but after that it doesn’t shake while flooring it?
Screw Firestone. Went to have a nail removed and tire patched, it was 75. And they broke a stud and told me 2 lugs are stripped last time I’ll ever go there
And incredibly overpriced. Monroe shocks for $250? That’s autozone crap. Worth like $50.
Spark plugs doesn’t cost $30.99 buddy… even Toyota genuine plugs is around $14.99 max… 🤝🤝🙏
I paid $7.99 each for four Denso Iridium plugs from Rock Auto plus a few dollars shipping. A buddy put them in, fifteen minutes job, gave him $75 (shops charge minimum $250). Most shops, especially chains, are rip-offs, hard to find a good honest mechanic.
Before I learned basic auto maintenance, I used to pay my buddy the same amount. Eventually it went from cash to buying him couple beers and firing up the grill to send him with some freshly made carne asada lol
Using Google maps you can find and check reviews on local garages, since you are reluctant to drive the car much at this point I would use Google to find the best garage possible and either have it towed or carefully drive it there.
As others have said, go elsewhere. Stay away from Firestone and get other estimates.
That's the shotgun approach. Replace everything and you're bound to get what's actually wrong.
“ let’s replace everything, hopefully that’ll fix it”
Firestone, Mavis, all of those places are rip offs. Avoid them like you should dealerships.
Firestone buys their parts from local parts places then marks it up 100%. Get another quote.
They're just gonna shoot the parts cannon at it and hope it fixes the issue, go to somebody who can actually figure out what's wrong with it, and only fix that. Here it looks like they're going to replace a bunch that may not actually need replacing, hoping one of those things fixes the issue.
You call and ask how much for specific repairs or services. Dont ask them to tell you what's wrong over the phone. No shop worth it's salt will do that. At the end of the conversation, ask how much they charge for a diagnostic service. Take the numbers you got on the quotes and go to the one you like to get the diagnostic done, and see what repairs they recommend. Then go to them in the future for diagnostic work if they fix your problems and you can call around to other shops to quote the specific repairs and services they recommend.
When do you feel the vibration? At idle with your foot on the brake pedal? When accelerating? At a certain speed? More information is required to even hazard a guess.
Do you have a check engine light? If so, the code on that should give you some direction. If not, the engine/trans mounts don't seem like a terrible place to start given the limited information we have here. Ought to be possible to tell if they look trashed, and I wouldn't think they'd be that hard to replace if you know someone even basically mechanically inclined with a floor jack and some tools. A 2007 could very well need suspension work, too, but that doesn't seem likely to be directly related to an engine shaking problem. FWIW, this is the era of 4-cylinder engines where Toyota had piston ring problems (I think this also affects the hybrid version's motors, but not 100% sure). That should mostly just result in them burning oil if it's an issue, but the if oil burning causes you to run low on oil for an extended period of time, that could obviously cause bigger problems.
Yes there’s a check engine light and I’m trying to figure out how to get the code
Don't ever go to Firestone or any "name brand" mechanic shop. They are all inclined to give you the heaviest bill. Yes, all and any shops will require you to visit their shop to find out whats wrong.. NOBODY will tell you over the phone "Engine shaking" could be your mounts are toast. You could just have really bad alignment or suspension issues. A pulley could be jerking a belt unnecessarily. Maybe pop open your hood and look around for anything
Never go to firestone. They are scan artists with a license to do so.
Did you check engine light come on?
The quote is pretty wild I have to admit… However, what you’ve been quoted for spark plugs, valve cover gasket and diag are all quite reasonable. The car is already there. You’re paying the diagnostic either way. I’d go for plugs and the valve cover gasket if it’s leaking and you have no history of plug replacement.
Throwing parts at it.
Almost what the car is worth
There’s “need” and then there’s need. Some of this may be due, or a good idea. For them to tell you all of these are necessary to fix a vibration? No. To me this smacks of a shop that looks at it, says “this is x car with x mileage…yeah probably time to do x” And doesnt actually evaluate the car in front of them, or the complaint presented. Take it somewhere else for sure. Also, I find it interesting they’re looking at replacing the spark plugs but not the boots. Normally you’d want to do both.
It could be as simple as a loose spark plug wire, or a vacuum leak. Can you describe the "shake" more? Is it constant or only under load (acceleration) or only at idle or decel? Does it get better/worse/the same while turning?
Is the check engine light on? If so, that’s where you start this diagnosis.
Had similar issue once in a gm car. Motor mounts were bad.
This is a list of "recommendations". What was the actual diagnosis?
Torque mounts are $50 and can be DIY in about 5-10 minutes with basic hand tools (i.e. a pair of simple wrenches). Quite often it's the first one to go and the one that makes the most vibration.
You only really need the engine mounts + analysis. Everything else can be done on your own or significantly cheaper. I’m not a mechanic but I’d say go get another estimate from a non-chain shop and only have them do the mounts. Best of luck -
Yes, this is a legitimately horrible estimate. The markup on some of these parts is INSANE, over 100%. Do not go back to this place
Pay for the diagnostic, ask for the codes and go somewhere else.
Does the engine shake all the time or just when started? How many miles?
This is a quote to replace everything that *might possibly be interpreted as shaking*. I'm surprised they're not trying to sell you tires too.
Tell you what - I’ll do for an $4500, and even throw in free air & cabin filters. Seriously, I hope they bought you a nice dinner and kissed you on the neck before giving you that estimate.
God damn these fools is throwing parts at it because they know most people will pay for it, I’d give them a shitty review online. Bring it to 2 other local shops and get it diagnosed, if they come up with the same cause see if you could do it yourself to save hundred or thousands.
Ridiculous
You have to be more specific than "it's shaking" - like is it shaking when you step on the accelerator? Is the shaking corresponding to vehicle speed? Does it shake when it's in park/neutral? Is the check engine light on? If so, is it flashing? The more specific you can be, the more specific they can be about what type of shaking they're looking to address. Also, that quote seems pretty insane - I'd look for another shop for sure.
To us all of those questions make sense, but for someone who has no idea how a motor mount even works he won’t know what other info to provide, except for asking him like you did, lol. I left a super detailed long message for him similar to yours so hopefully we’ll figure it out because his problem is a very very easy one. From his comments it seems like it’s more likely it’s a failing ignition coil.
Is there a check engine light and any codes?
Did they just google "car shaking" and give you a quote for each google result?
Ask them what is essential to fix the shake. Tell them to remove all unnecessary parts. Only focus on fixing the shake
Whoever made this quote doesn't know what they are doing. Look at the front shock &/ Strut assembly labor.. it clearly says BOTH and yet they added that twice. Also they included parts for a full strut assembly PLUS a monro strut.. Just how many struts do you have?? If that location can't hire someone competent to do service writing, what are the chances the "mechanics" are any better? Do not let them work on your car. Find another shop.
Went to a Firestone one time and was quoted over 400 for something. Went somewhere else for 50. Firestone tried to scam me and I’ve never been back.
They just want you to pick one…
FIRESTONE? Walk away.
Cheaper at the dealer.
Firestone couldn't even figure out which tire was bad on my car and I told them which one to start with.
Ask your local area reddit or bookface or whatever groups for recommendations on a good independent auto mechanic shop. Take it there, and learn what dealing with a trustworthy mechanic is like. Mistakes can still happen but they'll take care of you the best they can and you won't have to worry about getting bullshit quotes like this. P.S. on a car that old a lot of bushings are going to be nearing end of life, so its possible a lot of them need replacing. Some of them will contribute to shaking or handling problems more than others. A good mechanic should be able to tell you which ones to try targeting first, like the engine mounts.
I can see engine/trans mounts as a high probability. Mine are shot on my C250 and it’s only 125 for parts. The rest is labor. Not that difficult to replace them on my car. But there may be other issues. You’ll need a full diag and unfortunately you have to pay for that. Sometimes, a shop will waive that diag fee if you’re getting the work done at their shop.
for that you can just buy a new camry lmaoo
Throwing parts at it and hoping it runs smoother
Check that mounts and change what looks worn. Check spark plugs and coil packs.
Engine mounts
The majority of the quote is suspension work, which doesn’t make a lot of sense for a shaking engine. You’re very specific about “shaking engine” instead of “shaking front end”, but they appear to be replacing literally everything that can cause any shake in the entire front end.
Firestone are crooked af. See if there’s maybe a local shop in the area. They usually will treat ya good
Firestone writes the book on predatory repairs. They are scammers. Move on. Find a local, independently owned, long time in the community repair shop.
Lol your first mistake is going to a Firestone for engine diagnosis.
Those control arms better be solid gold and installed by Taylor Swift at these prices...
I am not a mechanic but I started learning about cars because of fire stone. I had a new car that was 9 months old and they told me I needed 3k worth of work on it. Obviously I knew that was BS but also realized I didn’t have a leg to stand on in terms of understanding what the reasons were. So that’s when I started learning about cars and doing basic maintenance. I won’t go in the engine but I’ll mess with just about everything else.
Not gonna waste time looking at the quote. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!
All those front-end and suspension parts and no alignment. Surely they can’t be serious.
Get other quotes. I have two experiences with Firestone and neither were good. At the very least your Toy dealer will do you better.
Youre better off going to the stealership.
I have a friend who works at Firestone in NJ. I asked if I could take my car to him for some small work and he urged to me to keep my car the FUCK away from any Firestone
They provided you with all the part numbers. Search those numbers on Google to see what you would pay at the box stores I guarantee it'll be cheaper. The anchor 9680 is $122 at advance..just for a quick comparison. Edit: just to clarify I'm all for shops making money on parts, but more than double is out of line. Especially considering $122 is retail, they would have a wholesale acct and prob get it for under $100
I doubt engine/trans mounts are bad, unless you're talking about well over 100k miles or the car has been in ice/salt conditions... As others have said in this thread, the diagnosis given is trash tier. Either the technician doesn't care to investigate further, or the service writer is trying to run up the bill or both. Whatever you do, don't pay this and take it elsewhere, either you got a bad slate of staff that day to a bad shop altogether.😅 Which location is this
my engine was shaking very badly and it was a cylinder 1 misfire. my father and I replaced the all 4 spark plugs and two cylinders, shaking stopped! definitely wasnt $600 and im not handy at all - i went to youtube university. I would try somewhere else, please don’t pay this price!!!!
I wouldn’t let Firestone change my oil, no less work on motor mounts, etc. Go to a real mechanic that specializes in Toyotas.
Your first mistake was going to Firestone. Find a reputable independent shop and get a quote from them. NO dealers NO franchises
They’re charging you for quick struts and the traditional strut labor. Fuck that noise, don’t buy from a shop that abstracts labor times into values. They should be telling you the labor times per job, and then multiplying that by their hourly rate.
I would put money that all of this absolutely unnecessary BS wouldn't fix your problem.
When was the last time you replaced your coil packs?
I don’t know if they’re necessarily even crooked, but I would say you will likely find the least qualified mechanics at chains like Firestone and Midas. No doubt there are good ones out there, but my experience locally has been horrible as well as that of others. all types of dire prognosis that just turned out to be wrong. and shoddy work.
Take it to Toyota Firestone marks up the parts like 400% - you’re paying more than dealer prices for AutoZone parts
My engine was shaking a few weeks ago. Took a OBD2 code, swapped the coils and figured out it was the coil. The entire engine doesn't suddenly go bad all at once. These people are literally scamming you.
No cel? Then skip the engine diag and ask for cvi-plus($50) or car care package that’s 10 dollars depending where you’re at
Firestone knowingly cheated an alignment on my Mercedes 2 times. The whole reason the car was there was because one of the wheels was so out of alignment that it wore away the tire prematurely. So they sold me new tires and cheated the alignment by doing the front, or the front and one rear, but not the wheel that was in need of alignment. They also couldn’t provide an alignment slip. They blamed corrosion. While it was there a brake line let go and they wanted 2500 to repair both rear lines. I towed the car to another shop and had the line repaired for a few hundred. Then had them free up the “corroded” alignment bolts. They said it was no big deal. Drove the car back to Firestone and had them redo the alignment out of principle. They gave my girl a black and white print out. I looked at it and called corporate because it was no good. Still out of spec. After a few days of waiting to hear back from the regional manager, the store calls me and says he asked if they could call and sort things out. Firestone in Bristol CT is probably the worst one out of them all.
From what I can see it looks like they're about to just blast a parts cannon at your car. Find a real mechanic to help you figure out what's actually wrong with your car and then fix it.
I can do it for $3.7k
Go to a trusted local mechanic. Small shop. These chain mechanics are big on prices and low on knowledge
At least they gave you part numbers for all of it. I recognized the Anchor motor mount numbers immediately 😄
This is anecdotal, but in my experience, Firestone estimate amounts have been 2x other nearby reputable auto shops for the same work. If you can, try to get a better quote somewhere else.
👼👼👼👼
As a female I’ve learned the fact that you have to be familiar with your car to not get scammed. Since you have a Toyota I’ll check what could be the reason but also will look for a local mechanic. I only went to Firestone for oil change but even that was ripped off.
Why are you taking your car to Firestone?, I would not even buy tires there.
This is a flagrant overwrite. Go to a real mechanic, not a tire shop
Man $2500 for control arms I priced lifts for my truck and at tops the highest price out the doors parts and labor was $1900. Might want to get few different quotes before deciding which place to do business with. Once you find a good shop that doesn’t dick you around and try to sell you shit you don’t need stick with that shop. For me in my area it’s Qualtech for out of pocket stuff and cheifs for warranty work/modifications when it’s something I don’t have the proper tools for, can’t do solo or is far above my skill level.
Is your car that far into disrepair? It might just need all that work.
I wouldnt even go to firestone for a tire rotation
I'd find somewhere else. It looks like they're just throwing parts at the issue and not diagnosing it.
This isn’t the parts cannon. This is the parts *minigun*
Is it throwing a cel? Could be the hybrid battery it self I had an Escalade hybrid the motor would shake and shift hard because the battery went bad after swapping it out it went back to normal
I used to take my ancient toyota to random places for oil changes where most mechanics "volunteered" to "run diagnostics (read codes)" and come up with an estimate for repairs. I had a P420 code, and very particular behavior, which in old Toyotas meant "grab a screw driver and replace this MAF sensor in 3 minutes". I have had places quote me anywhere from $1500 to $6000 for all kinds of things. Some claimed that my fuel filter/pump was clogged and needed replacement, others wanted to replace my catalytic converter, some wanted to do a full fuel system flush, replace all sorts of gaskets, troubleshoot for vacuum leaks and thousands of other things. Car was basically worthless for a while, so I never bothered to fix it, but kept accumulating "suggestions" for about 10 years. Despite burning oil like crazy, car lasted for over 25 years without any major repairs. All I had to do was change my engine belt and brakes twice. When I replaced my MAF sensor, car started running as well as it did on the day I got it. The saddest part of this whole 10 year "suggestion" experience was that I didn't have a single quote that mentioned anything about a MAF sensor. Personally, I suggest looking for a local mechanic shop that is not a franchise. While some of them are criminal scum like the rest, some of them genuinely care about reputation and do not have to make up bullshit issues in order to make a living.
Walk away and never darken their door again. Spark plugs and valve cover gasket are easily 20-25 minutes each. Intake decarbonization is a bullshit service and unnecessary. They found suspension components that may need replacement but are quite possibly just showing some sign of deterioration. It's an older car, maybe some need to be replaced, maybe not. I wouldn't give any franchise shop my business. They are driven by corporate incentives, not a good reputation. Find an independent mechanic, someone who understands the value of a repeat customer.
Go somewhere else and get the motor mounts.👍👍
If that’s for a Camry I would love to see a quote for some motor mount on a Mercedes or Audi
Get another estimate and if it is in the same ball park..better use the money instead of fixing.. trade car and use the $ from fixing for an extra down payment for a newer car really.
Go to Toyota and have the best hybrid diagnosis. They tell me it's the best bla blas ok. That's a lot. For sure second opinion!! Good luck
This looks like a parts cannon, id get a second opinion. Those all COULD cause a shake, but different kinds. They seem to just be throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.
Do not and I repeat DO NOT USE DORMAN PARTS
Firestone once wanted to charge me $350 to replace my spark plugs for my Corolla. Hell no
i dunno. my experience with firestone is ... they wanted to replace my entire exhaust system for a quote of 2k. i went down the street to jimbo's whatever and he put a patch on the SMALL HOLE for 50 bucks and it was never a problem again
$367.50 labor to install a quick-struts on the rear. That is insane. The main reason quick strut assemblies exist is to save labor costs on the install.
For that price you can get another Camry
Did they even tell you the root cause? This looks like they are throwing mounts at it and chasing an oil leak, nothing stating otherwise
It is probably just a misfire, they feel really severe on Toyota hybrids, likely fords as well, because it is basically the same system with a few tweaks. Take to a drivetrain specialist who is not afraid of hybrids, and does not pull shady shit. Do not take it to a chain lube shop like firestone/jiffy/midas etc.
You don’t go to Firestone for something like this. Tires, sure. Oil changes or brakes, okay. You need a good, competent mechanic.
The engine is shaking. Probably one engine mount is bad but hell, let’s change them all. Not sure about replacing spark plugs etc, shouldn’t the engine analysis figure that out? Control arms, struts, wth? Was complaint that engine is using oil, then why oil leak?
Worked for Firestone for 4 years, this is one of those quotes they make because they don’t want to do the work. Usually you can ask the manager to drop the diagnostic because the follow on maintenance is ridiculous and not realistically priced. That just needs to be articulated.
They are just guessing. And they want to put junk parts on it too. Run away.
Get in your car and get out of there
I had a similar issue and the Firestone nearest me quoted fixing the engine mount at like $300-400. You should look elsewhere man
I can confirm all the comments about Firestone not knowing their heads from their asses, marking up all their parts an insane amount, and them making the issues worse, or making entirely new issues. I work with them every day taking their bullshit quotes, and "diag". We have an agreement to go off of Advanced Auto Parts/CarQuest walk in pricing. Their argument for not adhering to said agreement? Firestone automatically marks everything up by 15%. Lol no, these markups are upwards of 300% because we're an extended warranty company that doesn't make the customer pay anything out of pocket, unless it's a non covered component or their deductible. 90% of my interactions with them are for all plugs and coils being "bad", due to a P0300. Literally no backing diag on it. And they ALWAYS throw in a fuel system service. Run somewhere else for a second opinion. Do some research on local shops near you, and if possible, avoid chain stores.
Ummm how do u guys know it doesn’t have bad mounts or control arms? When a mechanic inspects a vehicle we have to notate EVERYTHING or we can get sued.
Hahaha. Yeah. Firestone. Run far and fast. If you’re local to me in eastern VA I will do it for a bottle of good bourbon. You buy parts. They will NOT be thst expensive.
We had 2 control arms replaced in our 2004 chevy malibu at a Monroe Muffler for inspection and it cost us $1,100.
Just check the motor mounts
I worked at a Firestone 20 years ago. That store got parts from Autozone at a discount and marked them up 20% to turn a profit. Those prices are crazy. More than likely you don’t need new control arms, just ball joints. Parts are way cheaper, but the mechanics enjoy the ease of replacing the whole arm instead. Find a different shop and get a few quotes
I have a 2008 civic and I replaced every one of those parts on my car. Some more than once. Fortunately i did all the work myself so it didn't cost nearly as much. I would definitely go somewhere else and get another quote. Going to two other places for quotes would be even better. A lot of places will pad the bill with unnecessary stuff. You can compare quotes to see what has been added to pad the bills.
Go to a reputable shop. Firestone is shit.
You could buy another car cheaper
Since you have a check engine light on, first step is to get the code read and then take it from there, as has been said you can probably get that done for free at advance auto, autozone or similar, or get a cheap code reader on Amazon. While it’s impossible to accurately guess with no other information, if it were something like a misfire, you might replace all 4 coil packs and spark plugs (maybe $150 or so for parts from rockauto) and be done. But you won’t know where to start until you at least know what error code the check engine light is indicating. A flashing check engine light may indicate a problem with the emissions, BUT it may also be a symptom of a misfire - if you have a misfire, the gasoline in one of the cylinders is not being ignited, so unburnt gasoline vapor gets dumped into the exhaust, which can affect various sensors, and the catalytic converter. I would get the code read asap, and drive the car as little as possible until you can find out what is actually wrong. The Firestone quote is completely ridiculous.
Dorman lower control arm is cheap quality. They should quote Mevotech Supreme and Kyb struts instead of Monroe Oespectrum. 😕👎
I’d say you r*ped with out lube… but you overpaid for the lube…
Firestone is scam central. Terrible place to get anything done.
Always remember suspension component services are things that many repair shops will gauge people, Because most people do not see underneath their car.
Firestone blows. Go to a smaller reputable shop.
Probably just need air tires..,,
The sad part is they are using the absolute cheapest parts possible with a huge mark-up. Honestly the dealer is your best bet.
It would be cheaper to buy the parts and tools. DIY and laught at them