Seat Leon Cupra 2015 Head Gasket replacement price?

[Budy]

Good morning,

My 2015 Seat Leon Cupra 280 is currently with a garage which have replaced the radiator and carried out a block test, confirming replacement/repair to the head gasket is required.

They charged £800 for the radiator and block test inc labour, after initially stating it'd be around £500. They are now quoting ~£1300 for the head gasket work after telling me it'd be about £900 initially.

Is this a reasonable amount they are charging? The huge gaps between their initial estimates and the actual pricing are making me suspect foul play, but I have no frame of reference for how much this should cost. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[mty12345]

Phone a VAG specialist and/or main dealer and ask for a quote to replace the headgasket so you can compare prices. Complicated and expensive job on any modern car, if it was my car i would NOT entrust it to any back street type garage. Take it to a specialist who has experience and the special tools that are undoubtedly needed for such a job.

Not sure why they would need to replace the radiator? Usually a coolant sniff test is enough to diagnose a headgasket issue. What are the symptoms? Are they 100% sure it's the gasket?

 

[SuperV8]

What is a 'block test'?
£800 sound a lot for a radiator!

Ask for the break down of the quote - to see if the parts/labour seem reasonable.
My data shows a head gasket renew job is over 8 hours! "Renew the cylinder head gasket 8.19h"

As above get some more quotes - from VAG specialists and main dealer.

 

[Budy]

The symptoms were oil appearing in the coolant and coolant leak. There was steam coming from under the bonnet after driving, besides this there were no warnings or other symptoms.

Essentially they said that my radiator was leaking and needed replacing. They then used a 'block tester' to determine that the head gasket was blown and needed replacing/repairing. From looking on youtube it's "to check for combustion gases in the cooling system. Combustion gases found in the cooling system are usually the result of either a blown head gasket, cracked head or cracked block."

The price of radiator replacement, block tester and labour is the £800.

 

[mty12345]

Their block test is what i would call a sniff test, but yeah that is the correct way to diagnose a head gasket leak. I doubt radiators are cheap for that car, so £800 doesn't sound too unreasonable if it was actually leaking, as it's probably a few hours labour to replace it.

As for the headgasket, if it's a 8+ hour job then £1300 doesn't sound unreasonable, just comes down to your confidence in their diagnosis and ability to do the job by the book. Lots of scope to make mistakes and cause further engine damage if headgasket work isn't done to a very high standard. Apart from replacing the engine, replacing a headgasket is about as complicated and major as jobs get.

 

[SuperV8]

Their block test is what i would call a sniff test, but yeah that is the correct way to diagnose a head gasket leak. I doubt radiators are cheap for that car, so £800 doesn't sound too unreasonable if it was actually leaking, as it's probably a few hours labour to replace it.

As for the headgasket, if it's a 8+ hour job then £1300 doesn't sound unreasonable, just comes down to your confidence in their diagnosis and ability to do the job by the book. Lots of scope to make mistakes and cause further engine damage if headgasket work isn't done to a very high standard. Apart from replacing the engine, replacing a headgasket is about as complicated and major as jobs get.

The genuine 2.0tfsi rad 5WA121251H is less than £250 (aftermarket versions 1/2 that) - and the 'book' time for remove and refit rad is 2.1h so for me that £800 sounds expensive.
sniff test shouldn't be expensive.

 

[mty12345]

The genuine 2.0tfsi rad 5WA121251H is less than £250 (aftermarket versions 1/2 that) - and the 'book' time for remove and refit rad is 2.1h so for me that £800 sounds expensive.
sniff test shouldn't be expensive.

Yeah if it's that cheap for the rad then i agree.