18th Sep 2008, 23:44

Paying $1200 to have a fuel pump replaced is like going to a fancy restaurant and paying $50 for the chef to make you a peanut butter sandwich.

As comment 23:16 says, learn to do some of the minor stuff (and replacing a fuel pump is VERY minor) and you'll save enough to buy a second car in a few years. I even make my wife learn basic maintenance because I don't want her being a "helpless woman" who can't even open the hood. It's gotten her back on the road a couple of times when she was able to repair the car herself rather than calling a tow truck.

10th Apr 2009, 14:35

Agreed, you got taken. If you can't make the repair yourself, shop around. Overpaying for a simple repair is your fault not the vehicle's.

26th Jun 2010, 13:11

Maybe you don't even need a fuel-pump at all. I own the same 2001 Explorer Sport, and one thing I know about this car is, you don't need to warm them up (it said so on the owner manual). I did try to warm it up when I first got it 5 years ago, and it shut-off on me in less than 2 minutes. Tried to warm it many more times after that, and it's the same problem, got shut-off in less than 2 minutes (have to try it, just don't really believe the owner manual). Now, I don't even bother to warm it up, even if there's snow outside. Just start and go, but go a little slow about 20 miles/hr and it will warm itself up.

The car is great, fast take-off at the lights (leaves many car in the dust).

The only problem I've got right now is the alarm warning for leaving the light on, and leaving the key in while the door is open, has somehow stopped working. Of cause the seat-belt warning is still working.

I took the car in to fix the driver's door lock. I think the mechanic at the shop shut the alarm off, because if you leave the door open, it was making a noise, but thanks to him it does not anymore. Which in turn I have left the light on many more times; that leads to buying the new battery.

All I need now, is to know where to turn the alarm back on, other than that the car is great; cannot say the same about those mechanics who worked on my car lately.