Head gasket job quote question

[farley556]

I have some friends who detail at the Benz dealer ship and one of them introduced me to a star certified mechanic who does work on the side. He is really good what i have heard and seen. I need to have a head gasket job done and he told me he would do it for $600 labor and i will get the parts. I was wondering, do you guys think this is a good fair price for someone doing this job on the side? Or should i try to go else where?

[Denlasoul]

When I had my head gasket done oy my C280 it was around $1300 and 16 hours of labor. So if you are comforatble with him then it would be a good deal.

[OzC36]

Star certified mechanic who will do a head job for $600 plus parts?

How lucky are you! This is a great deal!

[maybatch2000]

That is an excellent price. I am getting mine done for a 1000 dollars including the parts as we speak. The mechanich charges 50 bucks an hour. There is a possibility you man need a wiring harness if you have never changed it. He said that mine is old and just in case it breaks, I would have to change that as well. It costs arround 700 just for the part.

[snead888]

yea that's a great price, it cost me $1500(including labor)

[Sulaco]

I paid $200 in parts, labor was free.

...doing it yourself is ALWAYS free :)

But really. I was quoted $1500 at the cheapest place. Guy wasn't STAR certified either.

[Proven Guilty]

did the head gasket blow out from overheating, or is it just leaking? if it was badly overheated, you have to consider an additional cost you might not have included - having the head machined down to be flat and true again, as they tend to warp and will never seal properly from just doing the head gasket job himself.

often when people quote side work, they don't always get into details of what other costs may be involved. regardless, $600 labor on that big of a job is worth paying if you don't have the time, or proper tools to do it yourself.

just factor in more cost for machine shop work on the head if needed, as well as the wiring harness like someone else suggested. nothing worse than getting into a project like that without having enough spare coin set aside to finish the job in a timely manner