How the price estimate was built
What it shows: Our default range is $300 to $481; 1 of 2 published ranges overlap it.
What does this cost in your state?
California is the costliest state and Arkansas the cheapest; each square shows that state's midpoint of the estimate.
Lower-cost states ($339)MiddleHigher-cost states ($432)
What it shows: CA is the highest at $432 and AR the lowest at $339, across 51 states.
Which counties get the weather that wears this part?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Grand Forks County, ND, Ward County, ND and Polk County, MN highest for cold waves, about 21.74 events a year, against 1.32 in the median county. Cold waves test the freeze protection and the heater.
What it shows: Grand Forks County, ND is the largest at 21.74, followed by Ward County, ND at 21.47; the smallest shown is Beltrami County, MN at 17.09.
Our calculator's default is $300–$481, for a standard sedan with conventional coolant at a chain shop charging $120 an hour. A car that needs European-specific coolant runs $524–$844.
What does the estimate cover and leave out?
The estimate covers the coolant and the shop labor to drain, refill and bleed the system, for the vehicle class, coolant type and shop type named beside the range. Ask whether a quote includes a pressure test, new hose clamps or a thermostat, since those are separate parts and labor. Taxes and coolant disposal fees are separate too.
Why do published guides disagree on this job?
RepairPal ($440–$512) and KBB ($200–$250) do not agree, and our default ($300–$481) sits between them. Part of the gap is the job itself: the table below shows that coolant type alone moves the same flush from $300–$481 to $524–$844, and the shop type moves it again. A range only means something next to the row that matches its coolant and shop, so ask which coolant the quote uses and whether it is a drain-and-refill or a full flush with a cleaning step.
| Setting | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Default: conventional coolant, chain shop | $300–$481 |
| OEM-specific coolant, chain shop | $374–$602 |
| European OEM coolant, chain shop | $524–$844 |
| Conventional coolant, dealership | $369–$591 |
Coolant type moves the total more than shop type does, so confirm the coolant before comparing two quotes.
Sources
Data shown on this page
- CalcScrape calculator model scaled by BEA Regional Price Parities data from 2024
- FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), county table: annualized frequency per hazard file downloaded 2025-12
Terms: US government data, public domain.
Modeled: our estimate, not a quote. Observed: records as filed; owner reports are unverified and are not failure rates.
What is our own estimate
The price range comes from our calculator's formula. Its parts prices, labor hours per job and shop-rate tiers are CalcScrape estimates, not a published price dataset. Checked against 2 established price guides on 2026-10-04: our default's midpoint is 18% below the middle of RepairPal's range ($440–$512). Methodology