2013 LR4 with overheated engine...what would you pay

[ryanjl]

That looks like a shop that works on Land Rovers, not a Land Rover (or British car) specific shop. As an example (not an endorsement...just found this via google)...

Home - British Auto Repair

britishautosd.com

There's so much Lucas in those photos that this guy has to jump for joy when he sees an LR4 pulling into the parking lot.

 

[BigBriDogGuy]

@powershift I'd do a ton of research if I had to drop a new motor into mine and I wouldn't pull the trigger until I was 100% comfortable with the situation. That would include getting quotes from no less than three reputable shops so I can get a sense of the market. For me, it's just too big of a deal to leave anything to chance. I'd want a lot of transparency and someone that was willing to take the time to walk me through the process. Someone that would be willing to answer my questions, even the stupid ones.

There would also be questions that I would want to ask myself. Ones that I would need to have very specific answers to. For instance, Q1: How do I know they aren't taking me for a ride? A1: Because I've talked to people that I know and trust that have had work done by them in the past and they will vouch for the fact they are reputable. Q2: How do I know they won't mess up the install? A2: Because they have done over 30 Land Rover engine installs during the last 5 years and offer a 2-year warranty on their work. Stuff like that.

 

[powershift]

@powershift I'd do a ton of research if I had to drop a new motor into mine and I wouldn't pull the trigger until I was 100% comfortable with the situation. That would include getting quotes from no less than three reputable shops so I can get a sense of the market. For me, it's just too big of a deal to leave anything to chance. I'd want a lot of transparency and someone that was willing to take the time to walk me through the process. Someone that would be willing to answer my questions, even the stupid ones.

There would also be questions that I would want to ask myself. Ones that I would need to have very specific answers to. For instance, Q1: How do I know they aren't taking me for a ride? A1: Because I've talked to people that I know and trust that have had work done by them in the past and they will vouch for the fact they are reputable. Q2: How do I know they won't mess up the install? A2: Because they have done over 30 Land Rover engine installs during the last 5 years and offer a 2-year warranty on their work. Stuff like that.

That sounds like great advice, thank you. I have an appointment with a new shop on Monday to get my front lower control arms done for $1,700 w/alignment and they offer a warranty on parts & labor. I'm going to be interacting with them and hopefully the mechanic so I can get an idea of their experience and honesty levels. I'm also asking them to diagnose my engine noise. It doesn't sound like a chain problem to me but it is coming from the front and center of the engine. It hasn't worsened in the 2k miles I've driven it so that has been a pleasant surprise.

I've also contacted another shop for the engine swap and they were referred by Tapa because its a Vegas shop that bought an engine from him. I was calling Tapa to check the BS another mechanic was giving me. Its an exotic car dealer. They want $7,747 for labor and $3,330 for additional parts not including the engine cost. I need to ask about what parts that $3k covers but there are a lot of used parts that would be swapped over and I'm hoping that cost covers things like motor mounts, radiator and coil packs. That really is what I want, a new engine so that I can drive it another 100k miles and just do maintenance on it instead of waiting for things to break since it has 99k miles on it now.

 

[Rover Range]

$7,750 for labor and $3,330 for miscellaneous ? Run Forrest Run!!

 

[powershift]

The company that is doing my control arms on Monday quoted $5,500 for the engine swap labor and another company quoted $6k + any parts that need to be replaced.

 

[steevo]

It is not uncommon for businesses that don't want to take a job to provide a high quote (don't ask how I know). From their POV, either you choose not to do it or pay enough to make it worth their effort. With a quote for ~$8k in labor and ~$3k in unspecified parts + the cost of the engine, you might be getting the low key brush off from that shop

 

[powershift]

They could very well not want the work. I initially left a message asking for a quote and they never called back. When I followed up I was asking the receptionist if the service guy was off for 3 days. When she said no, I mentioned that it doesn't sound like they want the work. Then she wanted my email address which I refused. They texted me the quote and said to call if I'm interested.

 

[txfromwi]

Never chase a vendor - never.
If they want the work they will contact you with a legitimate bid.

Not that I ever plan to do it myself, ,and just asking...
But it seems to me that once one could handle the weight and physical reality of hoisting an engine that most of us on this group could do the swap.
As for myself, and not all on the LR4, but over the years via various projects, I have done every piece of a full block engine replacement except for the bolts to the transmission and the exhaust manifold.
Am I naive in thinking that this is a manageable task?

 

[ktm525]

As long as you don't need it on the road in a certain timeline then I say no problem doing it yourself.

 

[powershift]

Never chase a vendor - never.
If they want the work they will contact you with a legitimate bid.

Not that I ever plan to do it myself, ,and just asking...
But it seems to me that once one could handle the weight and physical reality of hoisting an engine that most of us on this group could do the swap.
As for myself, and not all on the LR4, but over the years via various projects, I have done every piece of a full block engine replacement except for the bolts to the transmission and the exhaust manifold.
Am I naive in thinking that this is a manageable task?

That sounds like great advice. The second company was trying to drive up demand. They put me on a list and said 9 people were on it, they would follow-up once they locate an engine and I waited two weeks. There was no call so I followed-up and he was gaming it hard saying that all the vendors don't have an engine in stock and they need to be ordered and then they are built, plus some other ********. So I called Tapa and asked if he was working with the vendor and he wasn't. He also has some in stock. That is when Tapa gave me the lead on the exotic car shop.

If you have a garage, tools, service manual and patience that is all you really need besides being mechanically inclined. I've done a few engine swaps, sub-frame replacements and other major work but I had a workspace back then as well as a rollaway tool chest, cherry picker and everything else. You can rent a lot of tools now, that is another place to save.