Water pump replacement? How much does it normally cost?

I live in Phoenix, AZ and just had mine replaced in my 2007 Prius yesterday. It was $450 at the dealership.

 

Both those prices sound way too high! Do more research with word searches on here.

 

1. I noticed the invoice shows $55 for an oil change which supposedly included five quarts of recycled oil. Your GF needs to find a better place to have the Prius oil changed, one that 1) uses no more than 3.8 quarts of new (not recycled) oil and 2) costs less. She also should check the engine oil level on the dipstick to make sure the engine oil was not overfilled.

2. It is possible that the engine coolant pump might be leaking. Your GF should look at the inside of the coolant pump pulley for a pinkish residue which would be evidence that the pump bearing is beginning to leak. As the leak gets worse, some of this residue will accumulate on the air conditioner compressor housing which is below the coolant pump. She also should look at the radiator overflow reservoir to see whether the fluid level is dropping down below the full mark.

If there is no evidence of the pinkish residue then the pump probably is fine. In addition, the quoted repair price is quite high.

 

Call several dealers in the area. They will all have different prices. Always get the name of the person who gave you the price. Not uncommon to show up and be given a higher price. To give you an idea. I charge $220 total for new OEM pump, Toyota SLLC and new OEM belt.

 

In general, no matter where you go, mechanics or specially dealerships, will jack up prices. I recently paid $466 to replace my serpentine belt and water pump. The pump had broken and the serpentine belt had come lose and off; got the Read Exclamation sign of death on the dashboard but was able to drive a few miles home; that was a bad idea because I could have damaged the engine. Now the car runs great again. I agreed to the price because I needed the car; i looked at the bill and got overcharged for the parts. I'd visited this mechanic before because of fair prices and good work but won't be going there again. I failed to research this time, mostly because I needed the car fixed asap.

Here is what those OEM parts really cost:
Water Pump: $50-$65.
Serpentine Belt: $12-$20.
Long life pink coolant: $20

It is very simple to change belt and pump, specially if you take the right front tire off in order to take the panel which gives u full visibility of the tensioner pulley; there are lots of videos on how to get this done in YouTube. I needed to fix right away so had no choice. The job for an expert mechanic should take no longer than 2 hours (they can easily do in an hour), so I would say a reasonable price would be $300-$350.
Dare and just try it yourself. If anything fails you can always take it to the mechanic.

 

Pretty much the old question of how much would you pay for a bucket of water if your head was on fire?

 

I'm getting ready to find out how much, My car's water pump just took a dump.

 

Yeah, pretty much!