Alternator required on 1988 Corolla

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Thu 27 Nov 2003 15:42
Alternator required on 1988 Corolla - weatherwitch
It's feels like ages since I've been here. Anyway, I was wondering if one (or more) of you wonderful people could guide me here please. You might remember from previous posts of mine that I'm also looking to upgrade the Corolla but I'm not rushing to do that since disability means I have special requirements.

Ok, my problem. The RAC came out to my vehicle and have told me that the alternator has seized up which is why the fan belt melted! The car is basically very sound (touch wood!) with 11 months MOT left so it is my intention to repair it. Or rather it was, I've contacted two local garages and each say it will cost about £300 to replace the alternator (this includes labour and VAT). They tell me it's about one and half hours work to do this. I'm dubious because the alternator seems fairly easy to reach (I think anyway in my total mechanical ignorance!)

I'm in a very rural area and whilst the car has some power left, it obviously can't recharge the battery or cool the engine whilst driving, so my options of driving off somewhere else for economic repair aren't marvellous. Am I being ripped off or does this seem like fair estimates/quotes?
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Thu 27 Nov 2003 15:50
Alternator required on 1988 Corolla - mfarrow
Sounds very expensive to me, I thought alternators were only about £100 max.? That leaves £200 for 1.5 hours labour!
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Thu 27 Nov 2003 16:10
Alternator required on 1988 Corolla - Altea Ego
Check out your yellow pages or local paper for a Mobile Mechanic.

As your car cant move your local garages are almost certainly including a recovery charge in the costs to get it back to the garage. Mobile mechanics normally have a lower hourly rate as well due to lower overheads.
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Thu 27 Nov 2003 16:32
Alternator required on 1988 Corolla - Mark (RLBS)
Which area are you in ? (don't be too specific).
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Thu 27 Nov 2003 17:22
Alternator required on 1988 Corolla - weatherwitch
I'm in North Yorkshire within the Vale of Mowbray area.

I never thought of a mobile mechanic, (a very good idea - thank you) I'll dig that out and see what's in the area since the online version didn't like the description I gave it!
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