I just need a second opinion (or more). My car is currently in a shop being worked on. I was told it needs new spark plugs, coils, and a starter. It wad quoted at $1100. Is this reasonable?
Also. I'm a female and i don't know anything about cars :'(

 

What year is the car and how many KM's or miles?

Likely for sure needs plugs and coils ... just because they always seem too...
Starter ... well not so much, depends on year of car.

If you are unable to do the work yourself or have a "BoyFriend" do it ... ya it's going to cost you some money
Depending on where you live ... 1100 ??? wot goats? chickens? seeds? Maybe reasonable.

Really in USD that's a lot of cash but if you can't do the work yourself and you want a dealer to do it, then yes that's about right.
Those parts are rather pricey, buying them from the dealership is the biggest cost.
You can get reasonable priced quality parts from vendors on this forum.
Just have a look around
(Blackhaloracing, Mazmart and Raceroots have never done me wrong)

 

It's a 2008, its got 120,xxx miles.
The starter has already been replaced. I was told it definitely needed a new one.

 

Well another starter is to me frankly very surprising.
I can't believe it needs a new starter ... again.

What the problems you are having?
Hard starts when the engine is hot?

 

Not again. This was the first time the starter was replaced.
The car wont start at all. I had it running one day, put it in reverse and it died. It wouldn't start after that. It would turn over but that's it.

 

Have you tried deflooding it?

Before it stopped starting did it have trouble starting when hot?

 

Where are you located?
Ignition and a starter are not hard to do.
Almost anyone with some mechanical aptitude following the DIYs here can do it.
It's possible you could find a member in your area that would be willing to help you.
You could probably cut that to less than $500.
You can get an estimate on parts online from Advance Auto, they even have discount online coupons that can save you a ton.

 

++ ^^

Had the car been running long when you put it in reverse and it died? Had you just started it?

 

The engine isn't flooded. I've had that happen several times before.
The car had been running for at least 20 min before it shut off and wouldn't start again. This had happened a few weeks prior, but after trying to start it a few times, it started up. This time it wouldn't. I had driven home from work earlier that day, and while driving it made a loud sound, sort of sounded like metal grinding, but it kept running. I'm not sure if that has something to do with the problem
I hadn't had issues with it starting before.

 

Post your location.
My thoughts are if you have had problems with flooding you probably do need new coils and plugs, and a set of wires would be a good idea.

Bad ignition (coils & plugs) can damage catalytic converters.
Have you had any CELs? (Check Engine Light)
A bad cat can break up clogging the exhaust and preventing it from starting, possibly the loud metallic sound you heard.
The cat should be dropped and inspected.
It's possible the starter is not a problem, just bad ignition, possibly a bad cat.

 

Im in ohio.
They've already replaced the starter, they said it was definitely bad.
But still won't start

 

Ask them to drop your cat and inspect it, I assume you still have one.
If they have already charged you for a new starter, politely insist that they do it free as a courtesy to you.
Be sure they let you see it if they say it is bad.
Do not let them sell you a new one if it is, there are cheap, temporary alternatives to replacement.

 

Did you have this shop recommended to you, do you know them?

I have no idea if the shop you are dealing with has experience with rotary engines you might want to ask them.

I have some experience as a mechanic many years ago, some shops guess and change parts.

I also worked for an unethical owner who tried to rip people off.

I'm not saying this to alarm you, but to make you aware you can't always believe everything a 'mechanic' tells you.

 

Did you have any CELs?
Did you get an OBD scan?

 

Sounds like a shitty mechanic, the rotary is tough for most mechanics to grasp. Is your car and automatic? And when you say won't start, do you mean it cranks but won't fire or it just does nothing when you turn the key?

 

the price seems reasonable for a mazda dealer. it sucks if you can't do the work yourself. Not an impossibly hard job, but it does need to be done. Esp. with the quirckyness of the rotary

 

If your going to end up doing the plugs/wires/coils, just go buy all those at an auto parts store and take it to a regular mechanjc shop, not a dealership because they will charge you around 5-600$ labor when at a regular shop it will be in the 70-100$ range.

 

This isn't a dealership. The mechanic was recommended to me. I have taken my car there before when i flooded the engine and had no problems with them. This time they took two weeks to even look at my car and i feel like I'm being way overcharged. Was really just wanting to know if i should buy the parts and have someone else do it. Or pay the 1100 and have the mechanic that currently has my car fix it

 

I don't know what CELs are or what a OBD scan is...

 

See my earlier post, CEL is "Check Engine Light".
It's a warning light that looks like an engine in the lower center of your speedometer.

OBD is "On Board Diagnostic".
It's used to scan for any trouble codes, past or pending that can sometimes alert you to problems with your car.
There's a port under your dash near the hood release button that can be hooked up to a scan tool.
Many times that is done before anything else to check for potential problems.
Many auto parts stores will do it for free.

 

Personally, I think it's too much, but I do my own work, so I'm not familiar with what the going rate is.
If he's had it 2 weeks already, I think he doesn't know what's really wrong with it.
A good shop wouldn't jerk someone around that long.
Time is money, get em in, get em out.
I suggest you start a new thread with something like "I need help fixing my 8 in "City", Ohio."
Just a suggestion.

 

Yeah well that mechanics prices suck to be honest. He's quoting you just as much as a dealership. I had a local mechanic put coils/wires/plugs in for 80$, and that was all 4 coils and plugs too. I called a couple other places and none of the labor ran over 130$, so his price is garbage in my opinion.

 

They've already replaced the starter, which they said was $200, so including labor, I'm guessing it will be around $350. I called advanced auto parts and had the price for the coils and plugs quoted at around 250 for everything. So i think I'm just going to buy the parts myself and have someone else put them in. Save myself about $500.

 

Sounds good.
If you haven't ordered the parts yet, go online & get the discount coupon code, you can save quite a bit of money with those.

 

Another thought is to let people know where you are and someone here may be able to help. Teh work is not that hard. save some money. meet new friends with the RX8 bug.