Am I Being Ripped Off?

[96gstdsm]

I just dropped my eclipse gs-t off at a performance shop to get my clutch and flywheel replaced as well as axle seals and rear main seal. it is a fair price(400) The guy there said that since my car has 142k on it the axles were almost definately seized and would have to be replaced. The car handled and steered find and everything untill i stopped driving it. he has not looked at it yet but says eclipse always need to have their axles replaced once they reach high miles. He said if that is the case it would be another 400 to fix that. Which i dont have the money for nor do i want to do that. If the car was handling and steering fine and all when i last drove it, the axles should be fine right? He said somhting like it could still drive normal but they would be seized and need replacing anyways, something like that. Just seems shady to me. First time at this place so you can never be too cautious.
Does anyone have any input into this? I told him to contact me before do ANYTHING extra.

Seems to me that if it drove fine before the axles would still be fine as well. There are virtually no performance mods done to it and it has not been a track car or anything like that.

----ryan.

 

[vr4play]

Maybe this is only a 2g problem, but my car has sat for 2 years and axles were fine. then sat 3 months, and they were fine. sat another 5 months... fine. sat the last 3 months and still fine. I broke an axle once due to racing with bad struts. changing axles are pretty easy. but usually, anything becomes easier and easier the more you do it. dropping the tranny is like second nature to me now, and after dealing with this timing belt issue I am having, I will be a pro at that. The only way you will learn is to DIY.

 

[Splitpi]

The axles are fine. The issue is that they are rusted onto the knuckle. And that has more to do with the climate and salt than the actual car. His axles were most likely seized to the hub long before his period of sitting.

The issue with the sitting was if the axles themselves were going bad, by sitting they could have rusted solid through lack of movement (though they would have worn out anyways due to being unprotected).

 

[96gstdsm]

I did replace the tob but with the one that came with the act clutch! I heard those are now the mitsu ones anyways right? I also replaced the clutch line with a ss one.
I noticed when i push the clutch in it comes to a stop near the floor and then if i push prety hard it moves slightly more. IS that normal? Or could that be from an improper clutch setting?
I know the car was already fixed and running fine before he told me that i needed to replace the master cylinder. HE called me no more than 1 minute after i said i would just get it towed home. Called back and said "wow it's a dsm miracle, you can drive it home after all, the clutch suddenly got good pressure" hahah. What do you know. He said he replaced the bracket that holds the master but i checked and it is the same one guaranteed! So i am never gonna go there again thats for sure!!!!!
I have been driving the car now for about 300 miles since the clutch job(mostly highway though) Hoping the chatter goes away, but it is not really that bad. Only a little bit when i down shift at low rpm's.


After the whole clutch replacement, the clutch i had in there was perfectly good and fairl new, and i also had a lightweight flywheel(not sure which brand though) in there.
So between parts and install i spent over 1100 when all that was bad was a tob haha. Oh well the clutch feels alot better now with the ACT setup.

 

[96gstdsm]

Do it yourself man. Will take like an hour - two tops - to do both front axles.

Also - since he's replacing the clutch anyway he'll be taking the old axles off. Shouldn't charge ANY more other than the price of the new axles.. He's trying to rip you off.

edit - just read the rest.. Yeah, he was trying to rip you off. Start doing your own work. There's PLENTY of VfAQ's out there - no excuse why you shouldn't tackle these small things yourself. You'll save a LOT of money, gain a LOT of knowledge, and not to mention you'll feel very good about yourself when you're done

Wish i could have done it myself, really didn't have the time or the knowledge at this point. And i really needed it on the road by last weekend so had to get it done by a pro. Figured the 375 i thought i had to dish out would be worth it to be done quick, but spent $580 when all was said and done but i got my car now and i am driving it for like the 10th day ever so very happy about that!!