Car Speed Sensor Replacement Cost [Labor & Parts]

The speed sensor is an important part of your engine. You need this component to make sure that you get safe braking and handling functions as well as wheel speed readings and traction control.

Speed sensors are important for safety functions and braking among other necessary processes. You should never ignore a speed sensor issue with your vehicle.

The average cost to replace a speed sensor in your vehicle is $245. The part itself will run between $100-$140. The labor cost can be another $100-$150. However, the cost to replace such a sensor varies from one car to another. For example, replacing sensors in exotic cars can cost as much as $1000. 

If this failure has caused further issues, you might need to pay for diagnosis and repairs on these items as well.

If you are ready to learn more about the cost to replace a speed sensor, read on!

How Much Does it Cost to Replace a Speed Sensor?

A speed sensor is usually easy to diagnose and you should not have too many costs other than the part itself. The part can cost more or less depending on the make and model of your vehicle.

The average cost for the part is $260. The rest of the cost is tied up in the labor that is needed to access the part and replace it.

You can elect to replace this part yourself, and you will then only have to pay for the part itself.

The difficulty with undertaking this replacement process yourself is that you might not have all the right tools to undertake this repair successfully.

This is a part that can be hard to access if you do not know that much about engines.

You will need to remove some hoses and other parts to get to the sensor and put in the new one. This can be outside the skills of many car owners.

You should consider this complication before you decide to undertake the repair process yourself. Consider watching a video if you want to know where this part is commonly located.

As you can see, most of these makes and models are not expensive to fix. This can be a big relief. When you hear what this part actually does for your engine, you might think that it will be an expensive repair.

The labor portion of the job is often the biggest part of the cost, but you will find that it is often worth it since you probably will not have the tools that are needed to complete the process yourself.

What About Aftermarket Costs?

The aftermarket costs for these parts can vary per location and make and model. You can save some money on used OEM parts at auctions or salvage yards.

If you are going to complete these repairs yourself, you might find that this is the best option to save money on the overall repair process.

In addition to parts that can be sourced from the salvage yard, there are options that can be purchased on sites like Amazon. These parts are generic and may not work with every vehicle.

You can usually check to see which kinds of vehicles it can be used for within the sale information.

Most of these parts will be about the same cost after shipping as the parts listed in the above chart. You can expect a range of about $50-$90 for most of these parts.

You will have the added advantage of not needing to scour lots of salvage yards looking for this part if you purchase it in this way. Just remember that it may not be a great fit for your engine, even if the manufacturer promises that this is the case.

What Other Repairs Might be Related to a Speed Sensor?

This part failing can lead to various other repairs that need to be completed to get your car up and running again. You should plan for this worst-case scenario if need be.

The other costs that might be involved are related to diagnosing other issues.

If you are thinking that there are going to be other issues wrong with your vehicle beyond the speed sensor, you should expect about $40-$60 an hour for diagnosing these other problems.

If they are more extensive, you will need to consider that it might take a few hours to find the problem. This can add as much as $200-$400 to your overall repair costs.

Other repairs that might be needed are in this chart and will add the additional costs with included labor. Remember that labor can vary in unique areas of the US. City locations as well places that do not have access to these kinds of shops can increase the cost of labor.

You might find that cities and locations with limited repair locations will charge twice the labor that you would have to pay in another area.

If you consider that these parts might need to be repaired as well as the need for diagnosis to find these problems, you might need to add another $1,000 to your repair cost for your broken speed sensor.

This is a perfect example of how a single failing part can impact your entire vehicle in one way or another.

You can almost always save a lot of money by making sure that you maintain and have problems looked at right away before they escalate into bigger issues.

The longer a broken part is impacting other sections of the engine, the more likely it is that it will lead to more expensive repairs.

What is the Difference in the Cost Between OEM and Salvage Parts?

You will find that the cost for OEM parts is always slightly higher than for salvage parts. This is not always true of every part that you need to buy, but for most parts, you will find that OEM costs are about a third higher.

You can expect that if you are going to pay $75 for something as a salvage part, you will pay around $110 for the same part as an unused OEM part.

This is one of the places where you can save money, but if you are going to be doing the repair yourself, you will find that this is a small added cost for a part that you know will hold up to use.

What About the Cost for Exotic Vehicles?

The first factor that you need to think about when you are needing to replace this part in an exotic, is that the cost of labor and diagnosis is often far more for work on exotics.

Labor at an exotic repair shop or dealership can be about $90-$170 an hour. This can really add up if there are many things that need to be diagnosed to make sure that your repairs are completed properly.

The parts themselves can also be more expensive. Exotics are often hard to source parts for and you will find that access to this part can be tough in some cases.

You might have many more hours of labor to pay for to get to this small part in some exotic engines. The cost for this repair in many exotics can be three or four times as expensive as it would be in a car that is not exotic.

Wheel Speed Sensor Cost

You could expect as much as $900-$1,500 for this repair. Some exotic dealerships will also be required to perform many hours of diagnosis to be sure that this is the failed part.

You should always plan for exotic repairs to be far more expensive than repairs in other vehicles. The other difficulty with this process is that you will often not have access to the tools that are needed to complete the repair yourself.

Conclusion 

There are many other kinds of repairs that will cost you far more than the repairs needed to replace a speed sensor. Other than when this process needs to be completed in exotic vehicles, this is not an expensive repair overall.

You might consider doing this repair for yourself, but you will need special tools and some knowledge about mechanic skills.

In most cases, the labor that is required is fairly affordable and it is well worth having someone else take care of this repair process to save you time and frustration.

Unless there has been extensive related damage to your vehicle due to the failure of this part, you can expect that the cost for this repair is quite low and easy to budget for.

Keeping your car in good condition can help prevent these kinds of failures but time and miles might make this repair necessary.

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