Is this a fair price for car repairs?

That is in fact a somewhat reasonable price for that type of work. Struts are not very easy to change (well, they can be but its a lot of work). You could probably find cheaper if you hunt around a bit (and it never hurts to look), but you’re not going to find like $200 cheaper (or at least I would be shocked and questioning the quality of the work if you did).

If you have some tools and know how you could probably change them yourself to be honest.

But if you’re set on a professional, that is a reasonable price.

A good way to figure it out is to ask how much the parts cost and how much the labor will be. The mechanic should be able to break it down for you.

Check it out on this repair cost calculator. (For my ‘04 Camry, it suggests that “strut replacement” done in the shop in my area would be on the order of $450 or so. That was for one strut.)

That seems reasonable.

I paid $500 to get all four struts replaced on my ‘85 Corolla; that is without alignment or work on the steering rack by a mechanic that charges $60/hr for labor. That was in WA last year.

When I needed the air suspension in my ‘94 Subaru removed and replaced with conventional struts ’’(which also required new top mounts)—the bill came to $650, and that was in NH about three years ago.

I would say that if they are also replacing the steering rack (which is a pricey part in and of itself; the ones I saw were ~$200) then $650 is pretty good.

Jump on it !

That price doesn’t seem too bad. It is fun to get a resolution to these mechanic questions and get back on the road. Maybe since he’s doing the work anyway you can ask for a deal on the alignment.