Mitsubishi Repair: diamonte abs brakes, ken bowen, mitsubishi dealership

Question
I just got the bad news from the mitsubishi dealership today that the cost of repairing the ABS system on my 99 Diamonte is going to be about 2 grand! My ABS light as well as the TCL light went on simultaneously. They say it is the main ABS power unit and also a rear wheel ABS sensor. Does this sound correct and also is it feasable to get the parts from a junk yard if the actual parts mentioned are bad? The dealership was attempting to get everything along with the kitchen sink replaced on the estimate so I kind of suspect some gouging may be in order. If the tag wasnt so high I probably would not get this involved in the issue but there is something about dumping several thousand bucks into a brake sensor that really irks me.

thanks for your help,

Ken Bowen

Answer
Ken,
If the unit the dealership is suggesting is bad is the motor & pump for the ABS system, that costs around $1100.  The rear speed sensor is about $400 per side.  And like you said, there are probably other parts they want to replace, and labor will cost you about $80/hr.  So quoting you $2000 for this job is a lot of money, but unfortunately, a true ballpark estimate.

For something this expensive, I would recommend you getting a second opinion.  The dealerships do tend to want to replace everything as a precaution because they probably cannot actually pinout the actual cause of the problem.  There's a chance that both those items need to be replaced, but not likely.  You can call around to local salvage yards and ask if they have any 99-01 Diamantes on the lot, with working ABS components.  You could also check eBay for used parts.  Now, the dealership would probably decline to installed used parts, so if you can find used parts, you'll need to find another mechanic to install them.
Good luck!