ripped off?

Ive been having a bit of a never ending water/headgasket issue with my jimny for about a year had 2 head gasket replacements still problems and decided to bite the bullet and take it to the dealership. got quoted initial £65 labour for them to have a look theyve had it all morning just got a phonecall from a woman saying they will have to remove the head to inspect (understandable) because my oil looks like 'custard' (no sh*t?) and that its gonna be 7 hours labour which comes to £550. am i nuts or is that a total rip? im assuming there will be more added on once theyve assessed the problem and figured out a solution. i just want it sorted though fed up

Better go and hide in a dark corner ....


OR ...

It might be easier, cheaper to go and buy a whole engine from Cam Suzuki (suzukijimnybreakers@gmail.com)

I had a whole engine from them for just £300 delivered a couple of years back.

Which engine version is it? If its a single cam you have the head off in an hour or so. If its the twin cam I'd consider doing a full engine change our getting someone to do it as it would probably be alot cheaper than the dealers are going to charge. Where are you and how old is the jimny?

Just seen the pic of your soft top jimny on your other post. It wiil have a g13bb in it. So head removal should not take that long

thanks for the replies!!

haha yeah im gonna have to find a very dark coner
told them im just gonna leave it for now. need to make a decision though its just a big garden ornament at the moment
ive had the headgasket changed twice in about a year and a half, i assume it keeps going because it loses water so fast then overheats. its only got 56000 on the clock
Both times its only cost me about £85 including new belt oil etc, and only been a few hours work from a car savvy friend but once it went again i thought id take it to the experts and get it sorted properly..'experts' who say it will take them 7hrs labour just to remove the head to find the issue. so i can only imagine how much theyd charge to actually fix it. ive got about a grand budget for repairs im just worried i spend the 550 and then its a waste because i cant afford to fix it!

Im based in newcastle

ive looked at getting a new engine saw a few around the 350 mark but heard its pretty expensive to get fitted?

sick of being told to scrap it as otherwise its perfect! even with the headgasket it actually drives with no issues (minus embarrassing white smoke)

Did your friend make sure that the head was perfectly flat each time?

The head usually needs skimming flat at a machine shop, if this wasn't done following an overheat situation, then the headgasket won't last 5 minutes.

If it was done each time then I'd be looking out for internal cracks, so I'd just get another head and put that on.