You *may* want to get a second opinion - and that will come with (at least) the cost of an alignment as the tech *should* be checking the ball joints. tie rods, and ALL the suspension components for wear and looseness *before* doing an alignment. (no point to aligning a car with worn/loose parts - waste of $$$)
You didn't say how many miles, if the ball joints have ever been replaced before, etc - so hard to judge if this wear is "premature" or normal. Some ball joints will go for 100,000+ miles. Same with tie rod ends.
Labor guide shows 1.9 hrs per side just to replace the ball joints. Add in the alignment and tie rod ends and it looks like you're getting a sweet deal.
Ball joints by themselves would be anywhere from 200 to 400 so yes most likely reasonable
My gosh . . . . all that work and it's only 18 years old. They just don't build 'em the way they used to.
Due to my tires wearing out faster than usual on my 97 Honda Prelude my mechanic is going to charge me $715 for a wheel alignment, replace my inner tie rods and installing adjustable ball joints. For the price of an wheel alignment is $80 and the ball joints they are ordering are around $100 apiece the inner tie rod price I'm not sure but I assume there about $30 each one. So I'm basically getting charged $400 in labor? Is this right?
