$250 is $25 above what this site says is MSRP. I find the prices on this site are identical to the ones at my local dealership.
Sweet honda parts site (check shipping charges before you buy next time).
I have seen that web site before. Very likely where I will get my rear shocks and front struts when I find time to replace them.
Below is what they replaced, in total:
part_num desc List HAP
1095680 FAN, COOLING 48.85 34.2
446212 MOTOR, COOLING FAN 217.4 152.18
1095590 FAN, COOLING (DENSO) 57.52 40.26
1095591 MOTOR, COOLING FAN (DENSO) 221.08 154.76
544.85 381.4 Tot_Parts
If they had ordered from the site, $500 would be a 30% markup from HAP or 10% off retail. However, they got them locally.
Replacing them myself was not an option. It is the primary family-hauler and my guessimate was that the Element would be down two weekends if I were to do it my self, due to the complexity of the arrangement. Add to that, I can not afford to have the Element down 9+ days, as my truck can not legally haul the kiddos and the fines for doing so would have been $200/incident/kid=$400 ticket if caught hauling the two kids in my truck. Once.
[Remember, child-seat laws are there to help us.]
I
have done other auto repairs, most recently replacing the radiator and hoses on my 97 Nissan Ext Cab PU (jump seats not legal for kid transport, anymore).
I would say you need a new dealership. I also question both fans going out at the same time, unless there is some correlation you didn't mention. Both civic's I had, had the cheap plastic fans for the A/C and Radiator. None of them ever went out, even after 200,000 miles and ~15 years.
They were both out, as I saw them not working as the temp gage moved to the right before I took it into the shop.
I suspect the Element design, coupled with the mild weather we have had herebouts, allowed the Element to keep going without overheating even though one fan was toast. When the other went, I noticed the rising temp when at idle. Mild traffic through downtown Dallas did not cause it to get too wacky, either.
The nearest
stealership dealership is just down the road. Problem is, they are crooks. The honest Honda dealership is 45 min in a direction that neither I nor my wife has any school or business.
The shop I took it to is a compromise and on my way to work. I was able to drop it off early in the AM and ride my bike 3 miles to work. Reverse process in the PM.
They are not cheap, but they have actually fixed every problem that I have presented them on every vehicle I have. That is more than I can say for many shops I have used.
The old time vs money trade-off is what I face and have voted for "time," given our current circumstances.
One reason I use that shop is that they were able to remove and replace an oxygen sensor on my wife's (now FIL's) 95 Honda Civic. Every other shop that took a whack said it was stuck and we'd have to remove the entire exhaust manifold and accompanying gaskets in addition to the seized up oxygen sensor.
If I had more time, I'd take it to the Honda dealership that is 45 min away, which is what we did before my wife was in RN school and it was in warranty.