Is this dealer trying to take me for a ride?

[missp]

Hi all. I am new to this forum.

I have a 2000 Chevy Cavalier with a little over 20,000 miles on it (yeah, you read right, 20,000 miles).

The dealer is telling me that I need to have the right front hub bearing replaced at a cost of a few hundred dollars. They told me the same thing a few months ago when I had it in. At that time I took it to a private mechanic (NOT a dealer). I told him what the dealer said about the right front hub bearing, and he said he didn't see a problem with it. He also said he gets people coming to him all the time for a second opinion after taking their cars to this dealer, and a good part of the time he DOESN'T find the same problem.

I am not have not noticed any problems with the car right now (this was an incidental finding while it was being checked for another reason -- a hot smel, which just ended up to be a minor oil leakl).

I understand that a bad hub bearing can be dangerous if it gets too bad. Of course, I don't want to take a chance when it comes to safety, but I also don't want to be ripped off. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of problem or any suggestions? I told the mechanic that I found it hard to believe that a car with only 20,000 miles was having that major of a problem, and he just said, "it might have been a bad part".

Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Mangoamerican]

i got a suggestion.. take and push the sides of your tires back and forth.. with force! see if it moves any.. When i first got my 500 dollar 96, i jacked it up and noticed that i could move the wheel.. back forth left right all ways! so i decided that didnt look too good. if you can do the same.. best fix it!

[missp]

Thank you.

[studballs]

if its bad you can get a hub assembly for 70 bucks..not hard to put on yourself

[diggisaur]

I replaced one of my hub bearings but maybe prematurely......

My cavalier was 5.5 years old and at about 110k miles at the time.

[SpitAndDirt]

Are you sure that the reason why the dealer wants you to replace it is because they just want your money? I would ask to see if there is some sort of Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) that they are looking at. This may be the reason for the pushing of the service. It may be a real issue that you might have a problem associated with that hub bearing. In that case though, I would see how much an independent mechanic would charge for the same job.

[missp]

Thanks so much for the replies and suggestions. I think I am going to take it back to the private mechanic I took it to before and ask him to repack the front bearings, and of course while he is doing this he can check them at the same time. I may even ask if I can watch him try to move the wheel after he gets it up on the lift (although he may not be able to because of insurance limitations).

[SpitAndDirt]

You have a front wheel drive car. You can not repack the front wheel bearings. Replacement of the bearing only. -Chris

[studballs]

Originally Posted by SpitAndDirt

You have a front wheel drive car. You can not repack the front wheel bearings. Replacement of the bearing only. -Chris

he's right...its a sealed unit