Question about replacing a Toyota engine

[MrFord]

I know, not Contour related... but my brother-in-law 2001 Corolla broke down last weekend. It was running fine, then it just stopped dead. Didn't overheat at all, slight oil deposit on the passenger side inner fender. Still crank, but sounds like no compression. My best guess was a snapped timing chain/sprocket. Now it's at the shop (a local guy they know) and they're talking about a $2400 repair bill. For a car he bought 3 months ago from the stealership!

Before he bought the car, he had it inspected at that local shop, who rightfully told him that the head gasket was shot and needed replacement. The dealership didn't want to repair the car at first, but they finally did the job after he told them this was a deal/no deal situation.

Fast forward this week, now they're saying (from what my girlfriend could understand) that either the head or something in it wasn't tightened enough after the gasket replacement and that's what caused all the trouble. I know for a fact this is a non-interference engine, so a broken timing chain shouldn't require more than a new timing chain, correct? Now they're obviously gonna go against the dealership to get it fixed, because it looks like it's their fault, but still...

Well, my main question: how much can a complete Toyota 1.8L cost vs repairing the current block? And how much labor/hours in average is estimated for an engine swap?
My curiosity comes from the fact that we can buy complete low mileage 3L for 300$, engines that are much less popular than a Corolla engine. It should be a basic pull out/drop in?

Etienne

 

[getsum111]

The only experience I have is with the 3.0 V-6, specifically the 3VZE motor from the pickups. My wife has one, and when her head gasket went, they wanted like $900 to fix it. Went online, JY, etc., and the cheapest used on we could find was a 125K mile motor, for $1500!!! :shocked::help:

But, women being what they are, she loves the truck, so we found a place that sold a rebuilt motor w/ 100K mile warranty for like $2300 shipped. Installed it, along w/ new clutch, earning decent brownie points. :laugh:I can't say how much the 4 cyl. motors go for, but the 6's seem to be pretty pricey.

 

[MrFord]

Holy :shocked:!

I guess they dip them in holy water before their first run... lol

So that probably explains the price... Toyota can be as tough as they say they are, when they break down, it's payback time heh.

And with that rundown for small cars, what really worth $2000 a year ago now sell for $8000. When he was shopping for his Corolla (he had an Altima, but got into a fender bender at 20 mph and the frame bent, total lost...), I told him to look for a 03-04 Focus, as they were pretty reliable there was plenty for sale and they were going for cheap, at least last year when I was looking. I was shocked to see that not only the cheapest one was over $5000, that was for a 00 model... I could count one one hand how many Focus were for sale for Long Island under 10 grand. Most of them were from a bunch of dealerships under the Atlantic umbrella, who were advertising them for $6000, but when you read the fine print, that price was only valid when you financed through them at 12%, plus a $4000 deposit... They went to one of them, they had an 04 Neon for $5000, but when they said that they were paying cash, the guy said that the price was then $9000 non-negotiable... they obviously walked away. I mean... a NEON!

I told him that a Contour would be a better deal