$1080 Left Front Axle Job at the dealer! Ouch!

[discharmingman]

I went in Friday to my local dealer for a routine oil change and about an hour into the job, the service desk comes and gets me to come see my car. The boot was broken and was leaking all around the front left axle. I'm not very familiar with suspension, but it didn't look too good so I asked how much a job like this would cost and he quoted me about $500 ($322 for the Left Drive Shaft, $196 for labor).

I gave him the ok and sure enough an hour into it, by Murphy's Law, it turns out they couldn't separate the axle from the wheel hub. They were working on it, spraying lubricant and other stuff and they told me they were gonna have to leave it overnight to let the lubricant penetrate and see if it comes off the next day. Keep in mind that I put Eibach Sportline Springs on it back in 2006 when I first bought the car.....that's around the time they were flying like hotcakes off the delivery trucks...so I've had my car slammed as low as you can get it with springs alone.

Saturday comes and it's not coming apart, so they say they're gonna have to replace the hub too. So another $311 in parts and $147 in labor. (the $311 in parts were: $144.79 Knuckle Steering (L), $99.72 Wheel Hub, $57.26 Taper Bearing, $9.23 Ring)

All in all, it came out to $1079.76, which I had available, but damn, that's a lot!!!!

Like I said, I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to suspension, so can someone tell me if this was a fair price and if there's a way to avoid my wheel hub getting welded together to the axle.

Side note: As the mechanics were trying to separate the two with pressure and couldn't, they asked me, "Did you hear any rolling of the bearings?, because those two parts are pretty much welded together." I told him I didn't hear anything.

Others have told me this is usually a result of having my car that low. What are your thoughts. Please, any expertise advice and feedback on this would be helpful.

 

[SeR_Cyclops]

I dont think it has anything to do with lowering your car. If the axle was stuck in the hub could they not take it out of the tranny and then beat the s*** out of it and get it to come out? Oh and I think that price is crazy high.

 

[ogsp5]

The axles for the Mazda 3 are very very expensive, even when re-built

 

[discharmingman]

Thanks ogsp5,

I'm still trying to figure out how the axle could have become welded with the hub.

 

[LovinMyMS3]

Yep, half shafts will cost you, but being "welded" to the hub I find doubtful.

 

[Jchouin1]

corrosion can be a nasty creature! Being lowered DOES contribute suspension wear. Suspension components wear differently as the geometry changes. In regard to bearings, a stiffer suspension will require greater force to compress the coil spring, which must travel through the wheel bearing. This gets uglier when the suspension hits the bump stops and lifts the vehicle instead of the wheel. My car is low too, so breaking stuff just goes with the territory! I wrote an estimate for this on CCC, and it came to $788.80. You paid a little extra for union labor rates.

 

[Addison]

Next time, if you can go without the car for a week, you can look into having the shaft rebuilt yourself. Here in Canada, Cardone is pretty reasonable in regards to time and cost.