So I took my car (93 Honda Civic LX) to Midas, and they said I'd need to replace the upper/lower ball joints as well as the control arm assembly on my front wheels (they were sort of loose when they looked at it), and they said it would cost about $1200.

I plan to ask around other car repair shops when they're open, but in the meantime, does that sound about right, or is the price kind of high? My car seems to drive fine, but when I make sharp corners the driver side front wheel wobbles a little bit (not so much when I'm driving straight such as on the freeway).

first mistake is going to midas.


go to a real mechanic

You probably won't get it done much cheaper (assuming you're doing upper and lower, both sides). Actually that's a pretty decent price. Get at least a couple of estimates though.

I just did this job on an old BMW I have. Parts were around 400 bucks. I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you have the garage space, tools, some knowledge, etc. Not an easy job.

 

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To much, the parts for both side should be around 400 bucks.Job time at worse should be 2 hrs per side.If they up the cost to 500 total you are getting charged about 175.00 per hour for labor.


PS Have your wheel bearings changed as well.

 

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midas ruined my entire brake system. take it to the dealer to get your baseline and then go to other places. check yelp for good mechanics.

 

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Upper control arm and ball joint are an integrated assembly on a lot of Hondas, so that drives the price up a bit. Most ball joints are like $15

Quick look at RockAuto says $50 for Moog (middle of the road brand) for your car.

Can't get to the Mitchell Guide at home, but I'm guessing installation is 1.5hrs per side tops.


We'd double the part prices, and then charge $62/hr for labor. So $380, plus $70 for a 4-wheel alignment(which you'll need, new parts will change suspension geometry), $15 in "shop fees", and sales tax. Under $500.

And we aren't the cheapest shop in town.

 

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Find a back yard auto mechanic and then ask him who he uses. If you live in Denver I know of a couple of honest mechanics.

 

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Well, I ended up going to a local mechanic that's like half a mile from where I live. He replaced my muffler for $129 (Midas wanted $180 for it), and then when I told him about the ball joints, he said he'd do it for $800. Since that was roughly the quote I got from other local mechanics ($800-900 was the range), I figured I should just do it here since it meant I didn't have to drive my car further away.

He told me that the labor cost for the ball joints/control arm assembly could've been $300 easily, but he decided to only charge me $140 for it. Considering how fast he did it, and the savings he gave me, I definitely will come back for service on my car again.

I took my car to him on Friday morning, and he was done with it by noon Saturday. Pretty happy with it for the most part. And it's nice not having a loud muffler, nor having to worry about my wheels wobbling when I'm on the freeway going to work.

Get an alignment if he didn't do it.

New ball joints changed your steering geometry. You don't want to have to buy new tires in 3 months.

 

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He did do an alignment, but it veers to the left slightly and I have to turn my steering wheel slightly to the right to get it to go straight. I'll drive it for a week, and see what its like, and if it's really bad, I'll have him look at it again.