Alternator replacement quotes??? (1 Viewer)

[Lush]

Hello!

I have a 2010 with about 120k. Last week on way home from beach the battery light came on. It’s about a 3 hour drive and the light went off after about 30 minutes on highway.

Didn’t do anything, and didn’t think about it (dumb, I know) until this week when it came on again.

About 10 minutes later every light on the dash came on, lost power steering, nav, radio, a/c, and all power. Dead on side of road.

Battery was only about 6 months old, so I’m assuming it’s the alternator unless there are any other ideas?

Quotes to get the alternator replaced are wide ranging, and the Toyota dealer came back lowest?!? $1000 from dealer vs $1500 - $1800 from local shops.

Am I missing something? Why would the dealer be so much lower than the local guys by my house?

Any feedback appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[doru]

Local guy may not be familiar with the truck and wants to make sure he bills extra time to cover. Toyota dealer is probably just using the system that already have the hours set.

 

[TeCKis300]

Just went through this doing my own repair. In the midst of a road trip no less.

Take the Toyota option. At that price, you're not going to do better and with better quality.

The alternator is a very pricey OEM part, $450-$750 depending on discount level.

I believe book hours are minimum of 3.5hrs. Labor rates commonly ~$110 - $175 . Depending on the skill level of the tech, could be up to 8 hrs. It's a PITA of an install, and I'll say near up there with the starter which is another known PITA.

In the best case for Toyota and you, and hoping they didn't underestimate the task equating it to an easier Tundra install, $1k is very fair.

 

[tbisaacs]

+1. I paid about $1100 in Seattle for an Indy mechanic to put in an OEM Denso alternator.

 

[32cls6speedmt]

@Lush Toyota dealership. FYI some dealerships provide 15 percent of service to Costco members. I prefer independents but Toyota dealership will provide one year 12k mile warranty.

 

[99toylc]

I did it myself and would gladly pay someone else to do it next time lol

 

[Tex68w]

What's the suggested mileage/age interval to replace these?

 

[bloc]

What's the suggested mileage/age interval to replace these?

IMO this would be really hard to nail down. The demands on an alternator can vary dramatically based on the job it is expected to do. Always towing? Possibly twice the total revolutions. Always charging power hungry equipment? Brushes wear much faster.

Does the owner crawl malls 100% of the time or head out to the wilderness most of the time? (Greatly changing the risk/cost of one going out.)

To me it would come down to “reasonable and prudent” based on use case.