radiator just blew today

[coronaglen]

Driving down the road, my radiator blew and engine shut down. Didn't drive it and had it towed to firestone. Said it would be about 650 bucks to replace.

2007 M35 with 155,000 miles. does that seem like a a lot? dealership must be a ton more. I can't fix it myself. hopefully nothing happened to the engine but it is sunday so I won't know till tomorrow.

any suggestions?

thanks

[wingFeather]

The stealership probably wants over twice that.

Any time you have to rely on a shop to do something, the price is going to be high. To me, that seems like a lot, because a new radiator can be purchased for $150. Even if they charge $100 an hour (as much as a doctor), at 2 hours labor + parts and coolant, it should only be $450.

[coronaglen]

thanks. they said also i should replace the thermostat to which was another hour of labor plus the part. I imagine the dealer would be way higher.

[trayday]

Seems like a lot because it should be any easy item to replace. I'm guessing we have plastic radiators? Have you looked into an aluminum radiator?