Ever Wonder How Much an Engine Replacement Costs?

"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck) 01/10/2017 at 14:19 • Filed to: None

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I received a copy of the warranty replacement for the WRX. I’m thankful the last line was “No Charge.”

If you recall, my WRX started tapping/slapping/knocking on my way home from work a few weeks ago. I pulled over as soon as possible, but it was too late. The damage was done. The engine decided to grenade itself in dramatic fashion.

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The dealership determined that it was a warranty issue, despite evidence that they were the cause. Either way, somebody else was going to foot the bill.

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It took long enough to get everything done, but I finally got the WRX back last Saturday. Happy days! Joyous times! Wait, now I have to break in a new engine!?! That sucks.

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Ok, now for what you’ve been waiting for. The big number. The answer to all your questions. The... alright, here it is: $8,770.14. Wow. Let’s break that down into all the gory details.

That’s $6,889.12 in parts, $1,881.02 in labor. You might be wondering about that second labor line. After reassembly, the WRX threw a CEL and it was traced to a “bad or misreading AF sensor.” It’s not clear why they didn’t charge for the part, but the labor was to cover the diagnosis and installation.

If this had happened outside of the warranty, I would have been in a pickle trying to figure out what part of my budget was going to suffer so I could afford a rebuild or replacement. I’m sure we could have found something used in the $2-4k range, but then I would be looking at installation, so the total price would still be in the $4-7k range.

Ouch.

HammerheadFistpunch > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:22

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Thats not even that bad.

EL_ULY > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:24

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not even that bad for parts and labor

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:26

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That’s alot more than it cost to replace my 16v 4AGE with a Blacktop.

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:28

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I believe an engine replacement for my car is in the neighborhood of $29,000, more if you take it to the dealer.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 01/10/2017 at 14:29

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I put a donor motor (100k) in my 03 Odyssey last summer. Total bill was about $3500, from the dealer. It’s a long story, and there was a new radiator that I paid for along the way. But my Honda service rep basically sold me the engine at cost.

Arrivederci > HammerheadFistpunch 01/10/2017 at 14:29

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Sadly I thought the same :(

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HammerheadFistpunch 01/10/2017 at 14:30

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I disagree

LongbowMkII > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches 01/10/2017 at 14:31

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It is three times the engine.

Decay buys too many beaters > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:37

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Wait. They bought a short block and heads and rebuilt in house? Was that really the cheaper/simpler option than just buying a replacement longblock?

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > LongbowMkII 01/10/2017 at 14:38

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Exactly. It makes perfect sense.

DipodomysDeserti > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:38

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You’d be able to do this for a lot cheaper if you were out of warranty. They just replaced and rebuilt your short block, which is a lot more effort than just swapping in a new long block. You have a rebuilt engine either way. You can buy remanufactured EJ255 long blocks for $4k or less. You could swap it in yourself with some buddies over a weekend. They basically pieced together your old engine and replaced the stuff they absolutely had to.

You can get professional built up EJ255 engines (higher compression, forged pistons...) starting at around $5k for a basic performance build. Then you get to play plumber and hook everything up.

Takuro Spirit > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:41

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Retail.... who the hell pays retail???? That said at warranty price we once sent a $15,000 bill to Mazda for an RX-8 engine, trans, and catalytic converter.

Rex Sheldon > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:47

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The biggest problem with all of that is that there needs to be so many lines in parts. Subaru as a rule won’t sell longblocks to dealers even in a warranty situation, so if a WRX or STI blows up (as they tend to do) the dealer needs to build an enginge from the ground up, which is why that list has bare heads + cams + valves and everything else under the sun. It’s an interesting dynamic compared to domestic dealers i.e. GM, Ford, Chrysler who are more than happy to sell crate engines complete to customers every chance they get.

Rex Sheldon > Decay buys too many beaters 01/10/2017 at 14:48

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Not an option with Subaru. They build enough longblocks in house to meet the number of cars produced and that’s it. If you need a complete engine you need to build the sucker yourself. It’s madness.

Decay buys too many beaters > Rex Sheldon 01/10/2017 at 14:53

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ewwww

note to self... buy a spare FA20 long block before I end up needing it.

Mr. Plastics powered by GreyGoose > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:56

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Yeah, not as bad as I thought it might be.

Sucks they’re basically calling it a warranty issue, and passing the bill to Subaru if it was truly their fault. Dealers claim warranty issues all the time trying to get paid from the OEM.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 14:57

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I was wondering myself. My car just got the short block, the heads were not rebuilt like yours. I did not get an itemized reciept with the costs, it just said N/A in the cost colum. Probably in the $5-6k range.

Chasaboo > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 15:11

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My mother had a Toyota Camry 4 cylinder and just as the warranty ended for the car, the bottom of the motor let go.

$6,000 plus and Toyota gave us no help at all.

Toyota makes junk, and all that reliability myth crap can go suck it.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 01/10/2017 at 15:11

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They had to rebuild the heads. The journals were damaged when the metal-tainted oil flowed through and acted like sandpaper, allowing the rotating parts to cut grooves into everything.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches 01/10/2017 at 15:15

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Yes, I hope I never have to make that call with my car either...

B_dol > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/10/2017 at 15:17

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To replace or swap... Once you’re looking down that barrel possibilities are endless!

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 01/10/2017 at 15:19

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The car only had 32k on it when the engine died. The new engine had to be covered under warranty for another 28k miles.

Either way, I feel like $8k is dang expensive.

TheRealBicycleBuck > HammerheadFistpunch 01/10/2017 at 15:19

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You and I have different definitions of “not that bad.”

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 15:20

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Agreed, my situation was different (blown head gasket at 130k miles). Had your car not been under warranty, you might have pursued the donor engine route. It would be interesting to see how much it would have cost.

HammerheadFistpunch > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 15:40

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Just better than I was expecting. Just to replace the fuel system on my tdi was nearly 12 grand (in warrantee)

TheRealBicycleBuck > HammerheadFistpunch 01/10/2017 at 15:42

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ACK!

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 01/10/2017 at 15:43

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I’ll let someone else do that experiment.

PowderHound > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 16:16

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I had a donor engine with 80k miles put in my 03 WRX with new gaskets and stuff as well as clutch and flywheel for just under 6k last year

TheRealBicycleBuck > PowderHound 01/10/2017 at 16:35

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How much of that was labor?

PowderHound > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/10/2017 at 16:57

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I had the receipt outside in my car

DipodomysDeserti > HammerheadFistpunch 01/10/2017 at 17:05

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You can buy rebuilt EJ255 long blocks for $3,500 or have a performace one built for you starting at $5k. It would take you and a buddy a weekend, maybe a day if you’re fast, to install it. Subaru probably saved like $100 by rebuilding around a new short block.

DipodomysDeserti > HammerheadFistpunch 01/10/2017 at 17:07

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That’s Germany for you. The engine in my wife’s BMW is like $10k. You can get an EJ255 for around $5k.

Agrajag > HammerheadFistpunch 01/10/2017 at 22:37

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Hachi machi!

Just looked at the receipt. The engine replacement on my GTI was $7151.49(covered by warranty).

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/11/2017 at 01:28

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That’s cute. Best I’ve seen was ~$95,000. Not that even want to think about posting out of pocket for either end if that spectrum 

uofime-2 > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/11/2017 at 12:56

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Spun bearing and rod knock yes?

8k is pretty standard for a new long block.

If your old block and heads was in good shape you could have had a built motor with forged internals and upgraded head studs and bearings for a similar price, but you can’t beat free.

TheRealBicycleBuck > uofime-2 01/11/2017 at 13:38

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Spun bearing and rod knock, yes.

The old block may have been fine, but the cam journals on the heads were scored. They decided it needed new heads.

uofime-2 > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/11/2017 at 13:41

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Ej25s are gonna Ej25

That is the fun of a spun bearing throwing crap through the whole oil system wrecking all the other bearings.

I’d be halfway worried about the turbo too, hopefully that didn’t catch any shavings in its bearings and got flushed out too.

TheRealBicycleBuck > uofime-2 01/11/2017 at 14:27

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I asked about the turbo. I was told that there is a really fine filter that would prevent any metal from entering the turbo. He confirmed that the filter did have shavings on it and that it would be replaced with a new filter.

uofime-2 > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/11/2017 at 14:39

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...but did the shavings block oil flow to the bearing an wreck them that way? I would guess you get a warranty extension with this rebuild so you’re covered regardless.

TheRealBicycleBuck > uofime-2 01/11/2017 at 14:47

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I don’t get a warranty extension. The normal rebuild warranty would be one year/12k miles. Since that falls within the 5 yr/60k mile powertrain warranty, they said any failures would be covered for the longer period.

No warranty extension for me!

uofime-2 > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/11/2017 at 15:03

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That’s kinda BS, how about another 60k on that engine? That sounds more reasonable to me.

TheRealBicycleBuck > uofime-2 01/11/2017 at 15:07

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Me too!