I am in desperate need of some advice. My '02 Camry needs engine mounts and one mechanic gave me a price of $585. Due to other unexpected expenses within a short period of time, it's taking me a couple of weeks to come up with that much money.

My question is, it this a fair price and how long can I drive the car in this condition?

Help please and thanks in advance.

babynoz said:

I am in desperate need of some advice. My '02 Camry needs engine mounts and one mechanic gave me a price of $585. Due to other unexpected expenses within a short period of time, it's taking me a couple of weeks to come up with that much money.

My question is, it this a fair price and how long can I drive the car in this condition?

Help please and thanks in advance.

I would shop around before taking it to that one mechanic.

I saw ur question on the venting thread...

...I have a buddy that knows about cars. I'll ask him his opinion later.

Just doing a very quick search I came up with numbers from $300-550. You certainly should call around. The dealership will charge premium. One guy said he drove around for a couple of years that way, although that might be terrible advice.

that's fair. the mounts themselves don't cost a lot. Lifting the engine to get them on is where the money is spent, it's pretty involved.

The parts are dirt cheap.......the labor is not.

That sounds about right. But u can drive around with bad ones for a while.

I don't know why u would want 2, but u should be ok unless those are completely shot.

Thanks a million for the advice guys. I wanted to make sure I was getting a fair price. I intend to get this done within the next few days but I don't like to use credit unless absolutely necessary.

I'm just so frustrated because every damned time I manage to pay off my debt and get a little cabbage saved, a series of unexpected expenses crops up all at once and I'm back where I started...

You could save a little on labor shopping it around, it is not a delicate job so any mechanic should be able to do it.

Definitely shop around... I see the mounts online for between $25 and $250 but it appears that is either piece by piece or for the whole set.

Do you have a car geek friend or relative? It could be just 1 mount that needs replacing and you could have them crawl around and take a look.

I've done this type of work on my '99 Volvo and it's of medium difficulty. I'd ask lots of questions and surf the forums a bit before committing... Basically you unbolt the engine and lift it with a jack just enough to slide the old mounts out and put new ones in. Then you drop the motor and secure it again.

The mounts themselves are made of rubber or silicone and they isolate the motors vibration so the car feels smoother and the engine doesn't shake itself to pieces over time. If you can, get silicone mounts, they tend to last longer because they don't break down from the heat as much.

RenHoek said:

Definitely shop around... I see the mounts online for between $25 and $250 but it appears that is either piece by piece or for the whole set.

Do you have a car geek friend or relative? It could be just 1 mount that needs replacing and you could have them crawl around and take a look.

I've done this type of work on my '99 Vulva and it's of medium difficulty. I'd ask lots of questions and surf the forums a bit before committing... Basically you unbolt the engine and lift it with a jack just enough to slide the old mounts out and put new ones in. Then you drop the motor and secure it again.

The mounts themselves are made of rubber or silicone and they isolate the motors vibration so the car feels smoother and the engine doesn't shake itself to pieces over time. If you can, get silicone mounts, they tend to last longer because they don't break down from the heat as much.

This whole post just reeked of sexual innuendo...

Thanks again orgers for encouraging me to shop around. A friend recommended a former toyota mechanic who says I need to replace all three mounts, but he will do it for $350 so that's way better than the original quote.

Stoppit Tinaz...you are provoking Ren and being a bad girl!

babynoz said:

I am in desperate need of some advice. My '02 Camry needs engine mounts and one mechanic gave me a price of $585. Due to other unexpected expenses within a short period of time, it's taking me a couple of weeks to come up with that much money.

My question is, it this a fair price and how long can I drive the car in this condition?

Help please and thanks in advance.

^avoid the whole nasty mess and buy yourself a nice little hovercraft

XxAxX said:

babynoz said:

I am in desperate need of some advice. My '02 Camry needs engine mounts and one mechanic gave me a price of $585. Due to other unexpected expenses within a short period of time, it's taking me a couple of weeks to come up with that much money.

My question is, it this a fair price and how long can I drive the car in this condition?

Help please and thanks in advance.

^take the engine apart, then put it back together...throw out any extra parts left over..

Dear, just where did you study auto repair???!?

BlackAdder7 said:

XxAxX said:

^take the engine apart, then put it back together...throw out any extra parts left over..

That's silly. everyone knows you're supposed to tape the leftover parts to the underside of the hood with duct tape.

right you are what could possibly go wrong?

XxAxX said:

BlackAdder7 said:

That's silly. everyone knows you're supposed to tape the leftover parts to the underside of the hood with duct tape.

right you are what could possibly go wrong?

Lawd, I don't know who to smack first...

In regards to how long you can keep driving I was going to say it depends on what kind of car you have, which one(s) is out and how bad off it is. I drove with one bad one for over a year once. But if the wrong combination of them goes out and you hit the right kind of stress on your motor (big bump or unexpected sharp turn at a high speed) you can do serious (and I mean SERIOUS) damage to your car.

Seems like you've received a lot of good advice already. All I would add to is it with some cars, if you have the right kind of jack and a tools, they really aren't that hard to replace yourself. So if you have any friends you consider mechanically inclined who happen to owe you some favors, you might be able to just order the parts and get it done that way. It really does depend on what kind of car (make/model/year/motor) you're dealing with, though.

tinaz said:

RenHoek said:

Definitely shop around... I see the mounts online for between $25 and $250 but it appears that is either piece by piece or for the whole set.

Do you have a car geek friend or relative? It could be just 1 mount that needs replacing and you could have them crawl around and take a look.

I've done this type of work on my '99 Vulva and it's of medium difficulty. I'd ask lots of questions and surf the forums a bit before committing... Basically you unbolt the engine and lift it with a jack just enough to slide the old mounts out and put new ones in. Then you drop the motor and secure it again.

The mounts themselves are made of rubber or silicone and they isolate the motors vibration so the car feels smoother and the engine doesn't shake itself to pieces over time. If you can, get silicone mounts, they tend to last longer because they don't break down from the heat as much.

This whole post just reeked of sexual innuendo...

but only when you say it...

babynoz said:

XxAxX said:

right you are what could possibly go wrong?

Lawd, I don't know who to smack first...

sorry! please smack me first. it's my fault.

for real: i don't know enough about cars to argue pricing and necessity, so if the mechanic tells me it's necessary i nod, smile (pained, sometimes), pay them and they do it. imo, having a working vehicle, is a safety first kind of thing. i hope this works out for you easily and inexpensively.

This is a site of Prince experts (?!) not car experts, so I wouldn't even risk asking people here!

TheFreakerFantastic said:

This is a site of Prince experts (?!) not car experts, so I wouldn't even risk asking people here!

as always, your posts provide a lot of help.

XxAxX said:

babynoz said:

Lawd, I don't know who to smack first...

sorry! please smack me first. it's my fault.

for real: i don't know enough about cars to argue pricing and necessity, so if the mechanic tells me it's necessary i nod, smile (pained, sometimes), pay them and they do it. imo, having a working vehicle, is a safety first kind of thing. i hope this works out for you easily and inexpensively.

No smack...just kidding,

Usually being a lady and going anywhere near a mechanic spells big $$ so I always ask around about this stuff. I'd much rather be shoe shopping or something.

TheFreakerFantastic said:

This is a site of Prince experts (?!) not car experts, so I wouldn't even risk asking people here!

You do realize that we have people here with all types of professions unrelated to Prince, right? Some of them may even own cars that needed repairs,

It's no different than asking a co-worker. I have asked around a few other places too and gotten good advice both here and elsewhere.

^ LOL

All i know is that if you have to resort to asking people here then the answer is, it's screwed!

Are there some men in the family you can ask, or someone with a hot rod or something, those guys know about cars!!

[Edited 12/4/11 15:16pm]

RenHoek said:

Definitely shop around... I see the mounts online for between $25 and $250 but it appears that is either piece by piece or for the whole set.

Do you have a car geek friend or relative? It could be just 1 mount that needs replacing and you could have them crawl around and take a look.

I've done this type of work on my '99 Volvo and it's of medium difficulty. I'd ask lots of questions and surf the forums a bit before committing... Basically you unbolt the engine and lift it with a jack just enough to slide the old mounts out and put new ones in. Then you drop the motor and secure it again.

The mounts themselves are made of rubber or silicone and they isolate the motors vibration so the car feels smoother and the engine doesn't shake itself to pieces over time. If you can, get silicone mounts, they tend to last longer because they don't break down from the heat as much.

Yeah I have seen this kind of operation done on youtube (I was considering buying a car and it needed engine mounts)

It looks like it is not too difficult, but there is potentially a pretty big risk involved for a novice like me

As far as the cost, it sounds pretty comparable to what the mechanic quoted me ($500 for three mounts) though it was not a Camry

tinaz said:

RenHoek said:

Definitely shop around... I see the mounts online for between $25 and $250 but it appears that is either piece by piece or for the whole set.

Do you have a car geek friend or relative? It could be just 1 mount that needs replacing and you could have them crawl around and take a look.

I've done this type of work on my '99 Vulva and it's of medium difficulty. I'd ask lots of questions and surf the forums a bit before committing... Basically you unbolt the engine and lift it with a jack just enough to slide the old mounts out and put new ones in. Then you drop the motor and secure it again.

The mounts themselves are made of rubber or silicone and they isolate the motors vibration so the car feels smoother and the engine doesn't shake itself to pieces over time. If you can, get silicone mounts, they tend to last longer because they don't break down from the heat as much.

This whole post just reeked of sexual innuendo...

TRUE thread for the Org!!!!

My advice is buy a little red corvette or borrow your daddy's thunderbird