(T) How much does it cost to change a radiator?

Rang up my fiat dealer (JCS Kegworth) for a quote on a new radiator, expecting it to be about £150, they wanted £330

If anyone else has had this done I'd be interested to know how much they paid so I can work out if JCS are trying to have my pants down.

Thanks

Whats wrong with the rad? Poss repair?

The rad alone is around that much and theres quite a bit of work involved in changing it so not to bad to me

Theres steam coming out of it coupled with a loss of coolant and puddles on my driveway. By repair do you mean radweld or something?

PNL, have you changed one before? Is it difficult?

No Juelz thankfully I haven't had the privilege mine was a new one when I bought my stilo..BUT from what I understand firstly off comes T14s favourite job THE UNDER TRAY and after everything has been undone and the water drained out the rad drops down from the top to the underside of the car like a guillotine so if your going to do this then could I suggest a suit of armor or the very least chain mail

Would make for a rather strange newspaper headline... 'Man decapitated by car radiator'


Si

1.6 radiator can be purchased for £123.08 from shop4parts. They're a great bunch of guys and I can't recommend them enough.

To fit it, yeah you'd have to drop/remove the undertray (which I've done before, it's not too bad - if you position yourself correctly you can get away with just loosening it), drain the coolant (should be changed every 2 years anyway) and replace - could be done for £150 all in.

Thats exactly what the last owner of my car paid for the rad 21/2 years ago £123 ..so from fiat and two years on probably around the £150 mark [did you you add vat and carrage to that Rich ?] and if it goes into fiat with the average labour charge at £75 an hour I would think more like the £300 you have been quoted Oh and the vat on top of the labour so get Rich to do it for £150 you got a good deal there

The price of £120 sounds about right (though you might find it cheaper).
It's relatively easy job on a Coupe (which also has an undertray) - I can do it, so it can't be too hard!
Then just add the cost of some coolant and possibly some new jubilee clips.
H

You didnt add your labour charge ..you doing it for free as well then nice to have all these friendly people about isnt it Who is H. Mallet guys new stilo member ?

Bit of advice Juelz, steer well clear of JCS. I bought my Stilo from them, and they're useless. They tried to charge me for warranty work, quoted WAY over the odds for other work and are generally lacking in a great deal of things.

So the answer is yes, JCS are trying to get your pants down...as they'll do to anyone who doesn't know what they're really like.

£123.08 was the cost of the radiator with delivery and VAT. It came to £150 as I presumed there would also be new coolant.

I would say it was a job that you could do yourself, hence why I didn't add labour .

So that's where my estimate was out ..as I assumed you would be doing the job for Juelz and charging the labour

Juelz your on your own on this one

I would love to steer clear of JCS, but there isn't a fiat dealer in Nottingham (not a fully opened one anyway) and I'm not sure I would trust a backstreet garage with my car.

Anyone know where the fiat dealers are in Derby?

This surprises me about JCS. I too had my second stilo from them and they have been excellent in every respect. They have a good rep in the Forum although they are on the expensive side.