Flex Pipe - $1000???

Hello,

My daughter took her 2001 Hyundai Elantra to the dealer for an oil change yesterday.
They told her that not only did she need a $300 brake job but that she also had a
problem with something called a Flex Pipe that would cost approx. $1000 to repair.
Her brain must've been frozen because she told them to go ahead with the $300 brake
job. At least she didn't let them fix her $1000 Flex Pipe.

Does anyone have any idea what a Flex Pipe is and why it costs $1000? Also, $300 for
a lousy brake job??? Is that a joke or what?

I own a '98 Camry and would never take it to a dealer - hell, Toyota wanted $9.00
for a 15-cent panel bulb - and $65 to install it! I thought only Toyota dealers were
so outrageous with their prices. Are Hyundai dealers the same?

Any info or insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanx,
HLK

 

$300 for a brake job is not a bad price - if you're going to pay for a brake
job. I wouldn't pay it, but many folks aren't going to do it themselves.
Dealers of course, are always the most expensive way to pay for any kind of
work.

 

I just received a coupon in the mail from Hyundai Canada and a complete
brake job for the elantra was $147.00, (new pads, turning disks and fluid).
tell the dealer to go to hell.

 

Young (helpless) females have always been, and still are, a natural target
for the auto service industry. And its not just females, I've been taken
too - it just takes a little more effort and creativity to con me than it
does to take advantage of the average young female. One of the best ways is
to scare them..."if you don't do something about those brakes, you could get
in an accident..." Always ask for, and get, the parts back that were
replaced. If you had the brake pads in your hands that were replaced you
would know whether she needed a brake job or not and you would have proof if
a con job took place. Never agree to anything at the time it's suggested,
always get a second opinion. Its one thing if you go in with a specific
problem you want fixed, its something very different if they find something
that they say needs fixing.

Dan

 

Curiously, not one of the responding posters has said anything about the
flexpipe itself. So I will give it a shot.

As frustrating as this may be, I am consistently hearing about really high
prices for this "flexpipe." If I am not mistaken, Mr. HyundaiTech has (and
probably can and will again) confirm that this pipe is not cheap. Don't
know why, but it is what it is.

Sadly, it is also a "dealer only" item, which means that while you can go to
other places to get the flexpipe installed, they also will have to get it
from the dealer, and it will be expensive.

One possible alternative is to call a salvage yard, and see if one can be
taken off of a wrecked car. Some of those are in pretty good shape.
Occasionally, even dealers (at least the good ones) will try to work up
something like that, in the interest of keeping their customers.

Your only other alternatives are either to try to work with the dealer on
lowering the price at least a little bit, or try competing Hyundai dealers,
even if they are a bit further away. In any case, call a couple of them,
and see how much it might be.

Sorry that the news isn't better, but I don't think that your daughter is
being "took." That happens to be what this dealership charges for these.
And with imports, prices are usually going to be at least a bit higher when
it comes to repairs, especially for parts.

 

But how do you know the parts really came off your car? I always check
my brakes, suspension, exhaust, etc., before I take it in so that I know
roughly what shape things are in. Having worked on many things
mechanical in my early years certainly helped in this regard though.

Matt

 

I might be out in left field here but when you talk about the flex
pipe you are referring to the short piece of pipe that looks like it
is made of wire braid correct? One of my sons has a 95 Scoupe and my
other son has a 96 Accent. Both of them required a new flex pipe in
the last 1 1/2 years. They went to a local muffler/brake shop and got
the job done for much less than $100 since that piece of pipe was a
standard type of stocked item in this shop and they just cut the old
one out and welded the new one in. So, I don't think it is a dealer
only item. Then again it may be totally different for the Elantra or
maybe they were trying to stick the owner for the complete assembly
from the manifold back through the flex pipe and a new cat converter.
$1000 does seem a little on the high side to me.

Cheers,
Lawrence

 

A while back, my 2001 Accent developed a leak in the front exhaust
pipe, setting off the check engine light. My dealer fixed it: the
invoice described it as "front exhaust pipe leaking at flex
joint". Maybe that's your "flex pipe"? The repair was fixed for free
under Hyundai's warranty, but my dealer would have charged about $300
to replace it had it not been under warranty. An independent mechanic
I called also estimated about the same price. $1000 sounds on the high
side.

On the other hand, the $300 brake job sounds reasonable if this
includes replacing both the pads and rotors. That's roughly what it
costs with the independent mechanics in my neighborhood.

Chris

 

I didn't realize that repair would be covered under Hyundai's
warranty. A couple of months ago I had it the broken flex pipe on my
'03 Accent for $190 at the local Midas Muffler. They wanted $60 to do
an "engine diagnostic" to see what was making the "check engine" light
stay on. I just disconnected the battery for a couple of minutes and
it cleared itself.

 

FWIW - did a little looking on the web:

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/p...ory=exhaust_pipes&part_name=intermediate_pipe

$72.95

As I recall on my 99 it was a separate part but this is a complete
welded assembly.

 

There realiy is no such thing as a 'dealer only' part , I've been able
to find every part for my 01 Elantra online, way below dealer cost ,
including the oem catalytic convertor . I even found out that a couple
of the delears OEM wholesale suppliers also sell the same exact part
online and on Ebay ! You just have to hunt alittle bit using the
search engines .

 

Thank you all for the great responses! They really helped to shed some light on both
the brake job and the 'Flex Pipe' issues. I've also done some research on my own and
now have a much better understanding of what's going on with my daughter's elantra.
I'll post a follow-up with results of the flex pipe repair.

Thanx again,
HLK

 

Do you think it's possible to stop referring to women as being "helpless," and perhaps refer to anyone bringing their car to a mechanic as either having experience with car repair or not? This only perpetuates the reality that many auto mechanics can take advantage of anyone, and perhaps try to target females even more.

Also, I doubt your daughter's brain was "frozen" since she had the intelligence to be responsible for her vehicle and take it to the mechanic to be fixed.

Please stop referring to females in this manner on this forum. It is hateful and demeaning and goes against the rules of this forum:

"By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws."

Thanks