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I have a 2000 Dodge Neon that I have been doing work to for a while now and just when I thought it was about ready for the road, I went to service the brakes and found that the front subframe/K-frame has some serious rot. The rest of the car is not as bad but the rot on the subframe is clearly a safety issue that I need to address. However, although I like to do stuff myself as we all do to save money, with this fix I need to take it to a shop because I do not have the tools or space or knowledge to replace this subframe and I am wondering roughly how much might a shop charge to replace the subframe and would it be less if I provided the new part. I Thank you so much for any information you may be able to provide for me.
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[quote=”tim96″ post=157612]I have a 2000 Dodge Neon that I have been doing work to for a while now and just when I thought it was about ready for the road, I went to service the brakes and found that the front subframe/K-frame has some serious rot. The rest of the car is not as bad but the rot on the subframe is clearly a safety issue that I need to address. However, although I like to do stuff myself as we all do to save money, with this fix I need to take it to a shop because I do not have the tools or space or knowledge to replace this subframe and I am wondering roughly how much might a shop charge to replace the subframe and would it be less if I provided the new part. I Thank you so much for any information you may be able to provide for me.
[/quote]They aren’t too hard to replace on those cars if you have two jacks.
Forgot to mention: you need to support the engine while you take it out.Here’s an idea: go to the junkyard near you and find a 2000-2005 neon, same transmission as your car, and try the job on that car. If you are successful, you will have BOTH the experience on what to do, AND a non-rusty sub-frame ready to install.
Thank you for the response! However, I understand how the process goes and how it is done but the car is currently parked on a hill in a friends parking lot and its winter here with lots of snow and cold weather and I am not confident in repairing this myself. So my essential question is how much would a shop charge to do this repair and would providing them with a used part save me money? Thanks!
Providing a used part would save you a certain amount of money, which could be quite a lot if you left it to a shop and they sourced a brand-new subframe (if they are even still available), but it obviously won’t affect the labour cost.
As to how much a shop would charge, have you tried asking some reputable local shops? Ask three or four and see if they’re all roughly in the same ballpark. Consider too that dealing with rusty fasteners and any other unforeseen stuff could add a lot of extra billable hours over and above any estimates.
Book time on that is 4.1 hours, severe. That means if fasteners are rusty, etc. Hopefully most shops will go by that estimate and bill accordingly. You will have to just talk to them and get estimates. As for using a used part, clean it up yourself, maybe even a coat of paint and then they wont be trying to bill you even more for dealing with any problems.
Oh thank you! 4 hours doesn’t seem bad but how much does this labor typically cost? I understand it varies between shops but am I looking at like 60. an hour or closer to 100.? I am waiting to hear back from one at the moment.
That depends a whole lot on your location. In my neck of the woods, most shops are at 55-65 an hour. Some larger cities I have seen 135.00. You may want to see if they will just quote you a fixed price or they may want it by the hour in case they run into a lot of rusted bolts and end up torching etc.
I would also do a serious check of the unibody that the K member has to attach to. Get a screwdriver and see if it’s easy to poke a hile in the steel. If you cannot, then its safe to fix. If it’s easy, then you should start looking for a new car. Also, before you take it in and since your going to do this test anyway, get some serious penetrating fluid and be liberal with its application on, around and near the bolt locations. This may make the shop spend less time and lower your cost.
There is a reason I say get a new car if the unibody is fitted where it comes together. The unibody has multiple layers of thinner sheet.metal that are sandwiched together. Fixing that mess will cost more in labor than the car is worth. In that case, I would find another car or at least a less rusty car that needs your engine, then toss the remains.
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