Well, last month when I was driving my 97 Civic EX, I would notice when I would take left hand turns as I was coasting around the turn that I would hear this faint metal griding sound from the left wheel. This problem progressively got louder and more frequent to where it was happening anytime I took a left hand turn. I finally took it into a shop and they said it was the left bearing that was bad....so they went ahead and replaced it....cost: $400.
A couple weeks later i'm driving the car and it starts happening again! So I take it back into the shop and they say that there is something wrong with the CV Input Shaft Center Differential Bearings...he showed me by grabbing onto the area of the shaft that just comes into the transmission and he was able to slightly move it by applying force up and down...he said it shouldn't move at all.....they said that they would have to take the transmission out of the car, and that the job would probably cost $1100 due to the 8-10 hours of labor they'd have to charge. I was completely floored by this....the damn car was bought for $6,000! They said it was extremely rare that a Honda has this problem. My question is, and keep in mind I know nothing about cars....but my step-father is a decent mechanic.....is this quote and procedure I got from this mechanic shop just a bunch of B.S? Can this job be done ourselves for much cheaper? Thanks.

 

Just my opinion, butthat's fawking ridiculous!! If your stepfather is a mechanic buy the parts and help him install it for you. Just from recent reading's I don't THINK you'll have any more than a couple hundred $ rapped into it just buying the parts only, probably less.....

 

I don't think he really has any way of taking out the transmission....if that's in fact what you have to do.

 

Duh, your step dad is a mechanic. You should have had him look at it first. Some shops are crooked as hell. Tthe grinding is possibly caused by a broken CV joint that is broken. All you have to do is get under the car (just need a jack) and check the CV boots. If the boots are ripped then thats your problem. It costs $75 for an axle from autozone + labor. Its really not that hard to change and your step dad might be able to help you with the install. Also, never go to that shop again. They charged you $450 and they didn't fix the problem. If they can't get it done right the first time, why should you take ur car back to them?