It's about that time to get the S ready for summer. The following is what I had on the agenda and was planning on doing myself.
1. Change Oil - Amsoil 10w30 full synthetic
2. Change Brake Pads - OEM AP1 Pads (Front - 45022-S2A-000 / Rear - 43022-S2A-000)
3. Install Stainless Lines – Challenger CHL-SBL-2000-HND Lines (already purchased, arriving tomorrow)
4. Bleed Brakes – DOT3
5. Bleed Clutch Fluid – DOT3
6. Clean slave cylinder / regrease (clutch pedal is squeaking)
7. Change transmission oil - Honda MTF
8. Change differential oil - Amsoil 75W140However, I just realized I'm in desperate need of tires, therefore, I need to send it to a shop anyway. Figured I would get a quote on having them perform these tasks to save me the trouble of putting the car on jack stands and doing it myself.
The quote I received is as follows:


~ $750 for mounted, balanced, and installed Bridgestone S04s or Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 tires ( 225/45-17s for the front and 255/40-17s for the rear )
$380 for installing provided pads and rotors, stainless lines, and bleeding the brakes - 4 hours labor (although I probably don't need rotors so this should drop some)
$60 for Oil change
$90 for Transmission Oil change ( "accounts for 3 quarts because it takes about 2.3 or so. Plus labor, plus drain plug washer, disposal etc" )
$80 for Diff Oil Change ( "takes just over 1 quart, but I cant buy a fraction of a quart. So same deal. Plus labor, drain plug washer, disposal, etc.." )
$95 for Slave removal, grinding/polishing pushrod, and regressing as well as clutch bleed
I'm going to provide the fluids myself as I have some oil left over from the last fluid change. In addition, they are going to do it all at once to save on overlapping labor.
So the total for all of the above items should be around $1400 - $1500

Seem like a good/reasonable deal? Thoughts?

 

OMG. Firstly, there are few shops I would trust my S to. Those prices for fluids are outrageous. $90 for fluid??? Hoe much more is the labor?

The S04 is a decent tire for these cars for street use. The DWS is way too soft of sidewall. Its a great tire for other cars, but horrible on the S.

I just bought a set of S04. Bought from tirerack, shipped to local TR distributor for pickup so now shipping, then installed at local Firestone. Total with current $70 rebate, mounting, balancing, taxes, all, $535.

I would see if there is a local TR distribution center, and go through them, then do the maintenance stuff yourself.

 

Fortunately this is a shop that was recommended here. I used them to do my valve adjustment and they are very good. However, yes that was my first reaction with the fluid prices...
Granted, he said that each of those prices were assuming only that individual fluid was being changed. He also made a note about how they buy +1 quart more than what is truly required. Those prices were factoring in labor already.
I'm figuring if I provide the fluid myself, 1 hour of labor ($95) will be sufficient to change the engine, tranny, and diff oil.

Damn, that is cheap. No idea how you got that deal...
I just looked on tire rack and a set of S04s are going for $690 (after rebate) + the ~$80 installation fee. Thus I figured $750 is pretty good.

 

I can't speak for fluids as I've done most of those with the help from local members and such here in Chicago.

As far as tires, I have had zero issues with my DWS tires and the only reason I got them was when I purchased MY04, shy of 5 years ago, it had only 7000 on the tires (originals) but I didn't want to run the risk of any issues so I swapped them out eventually for the DWS given that I drove the car in rain and cold cold weather as well (no snow/salt but could be light flurries). Again, zero issues. Nowadays though, the S sits only for those 'perfect' and sunny days so once the DWS' wear down, I'll be more inclined to purchase something along the lines of the Michelin PSS.

 

DO. IT. YOURSELF.

darcy

 

You probably need to answer this question. What's your time worth to you? This stuff could be knocked off in an afternoon and provide some "bonding" time with your S but as working professional with 2 kids I get that there's a limit to ones time. I take a bit of satisfaction knowing things are done right so prefer to do as much as I can myself.

This coming from a guy who mowed his lawn for years and just signed up for lawn maintenance today. I determined that paying someone $30/hour to mow lawn freed me up to do more of my own S2000 labor which goes for $100/hour so it's a profit.

 

I've been looking to baseline my fluids, so I've been doing some shopping. Those are actually fairly good prices.

 

If you dont wana do it, those prices are actually pretty good. Everything is pretty reasonable, your gonna pay for convince regardless so I dont understand people when there like "it cost me 35 bucks for an oil change but they want double".

Personally I do all my own maintenance just because of scammers out there. There's always lazy mf's out there.

dealeships will cheat you and fk you on the price too. I personally only went to import shops with good reputations where they actually did the work till I found out they gave me some bs copper plugs one time and charged me for stock iridium which caused some miss fires 20k later when the stock iridium's last 100k. A 2 dollar plug vs a 14 dollar plug is great margins for them lmao. Even when changing my motor mount they only unbolted the side that was cracked and jacked the engine up ripping the other side leaking oil everywhere, and guess who had to pay 300 for an idiots mistake? Me, lmao. Just food for thought

 

All seems reasonable if you don't want to get dirty. Shop has an investment in tools and rent. Gearbox takes less than 2 quarts. Differential takes less than 1 quart. No ned to buy an "extra quart." These plus an engine oil change should take 20 minutes of labor once the car is up on the lift. Done concurrently. An hour for you on jack stands. Messy hour. Brakes and clutch can be done at the same time and something I'd rather leave to trusted professionals even though it looks easy.

When was your coolant last changed? I think this is a 3 year cycle. Same with the brake/clutch fluid which you're indirectly addressing.

You can get the Bridgestone S-04 tires on the car for a little less than quoted as noted above. Start adding shipping and mounting/balancing and there's little or no difference. Tire Rack price for mine was about $600 * with freight to Ohio and $25/wheel to mount. $700 right there. My S2000 is a summer car and I ran Dunlap Star Specs, Bridgestone RE-11A, and now Bridgestone S-04 tires. First was excessively noisy, second wonderful but discontinued, and the third set just on the car since very late last fall before she went in the barn. Very happy with this tire at this time. I'm trying CR-spec tire sizes: 215F/255R. I have the Continental DWS-06 tires (225/50ZR17) on our Subaru Legacy 3.6R and they're wonderful sedan tires. I don't throw this car around curves like the S2000 though.

*(I may have paid less for the S-04 tires but can't find my credit card statement for that period. Price is the current price._

-- Chuck

 

Thanks for all the responses! I feel better about the prices now. There really isn't much labor, majority of the cost seems to be in the fluids/parts themselves.

Like I said before, this was the plan before I knew I needed tires. However, this was going to require borrowing jackstands from my friends shop, getting the car lifted, changing everything out, etc. Now with it needing tires, the tires have to be removed and the car will be on a lift already. Why not consider the option to have them do it if it is only going to cost a few hundred dollars extra and save me 4-5 hours?

Trust me, I understand where you are coming from. There are countless things I still need to do the S so there will be plenty of bonding time. However, working one full-time job with 3 part time gigs. Time is limited.

I've seen those videos, its awful. Fortunately I'm located in Bel Air, MD therefore I have the privilege to send my car to Elevated Automotive. They were responsible for an S2000 build making over 800HP. I'm not worried about their skills (they will do a better job than I probably would), was just checking prices.