How the price estimate was built
What it shows: Our default range is $406 to $698; 2 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 ($480)MiddleHigher-cost states ($611)
What it shows: CA is the highest at $611 and AR the lowest at $480, across 51 states.
Counts below are complaints filed with NHTSA, not failure rates: a longer bar means more owners reported it.
Is your car affected?
What it shows: The most common band for complaints about this repair is 50,000-100,000 (42%). The biggest difference from all complaints is under 50,000: 41% against 60%.
What it shows: The most common band for complaints about this repair is 3-5 years (42%). The biggest difference from all complaints is under 3 years old: 14% against 40%.
Is it urgent, and what do owners notice first?
763 owner complaints name this part.
Use the owners' words ("warning light") when you describe the problem to a shop, and ask what test they ran.
Which trouble codes do owners report?
P0128 Coolant Thermostat (Coolant Temperature Below Thermostat Regulating Temperature) leads at 28.
Trouble codes owners quote in complaints about this part. P0128: Coolant Thermostat (Coolant Temperature Below Thermostat Regulating Temperature): 28 complaints (4%).
What do owners say it led to?
Among the 763 owner complaints naming this part, owners most often say engine damage followed.
What owners say happened after the problem. Engine damage: 22 (3%); Loss of power: 7 (1%).
If your car shows the signs above, get it checked before it gets as far as engine damage.
Which other parts do owners name in the same complaint?
Among the 763 owner complaints naming this part, water pump is named in 17% of them, more than any other part.
Other parts named in the same complaints. Water pump: 17%; Radiator: 13%; Head gasket: 6%.
Owners name the water pump most often in the same complaint, which is not proof that one caused the other. Ask the shop whether it checked the water pump too, so you are not quoted twice for one visit.
How fast were owners driving when it happened?
55 mph or faster leads at 41%.
Owners reported it most often at highway speed. Tell the shop what speed it happens at, because that narrows the diagnosis.
How serious did it get for owners?
Among the 763 owner complaints naming this part, being towed is the outcome owners report most often.
Outcomes owners reported in complaints about this part. Towed: 38; Fire reported: 6; Crash reported: 3.
Which model years show up most in the complaints?
Among the 763 owner complaints naming this part that state a model year, complaints cluster in a few model years instead of spreading evenly.
What it shows: 2015 is the largest at 136 (18%), followed by 2016 at 123 (16%); the smallest shown is 2025 at 4 (1%).
When in the year do owners report it?
NHTSA owner complaints about this part run furthest above the usual seasonal share in November: about 43% more of them name an incident that month than complaints about any part would predict. A complaint is a report, not a measured failure.
What it shows: November is the largest at 10% (all: 7%), followed by January at 10% (all: 9%); the smallest shown is June at 6% (all: 9%).
Has the maker published a fix?
A bulletin is a repair procedure a maker sends its dealers, not a safety defect: if your maker is listed, ask the dealer whether one covers your car and quote its number.
| Maker | Vehicles | Bulletin number | Date | What it says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeep | Wrangler 2023–2026 | 113153 | Jul 2, 2026 | The bulletin file gives no description beyond its title (thermostat). |
| Mazda | CX-3 2019–2021; CX-30 2020–2023 and 3 more | 01-001-26a | Jan 31, 2026 | Some customers may experience a check engine light ON with DTC P0126:00 (Thermostat stuck open) and one or more of the following symptoms: Engine takes longer to warm up. |
| Ford | Bronco Sport 2025–2026; Escape 2025–2026 | SSM 54540 | Jan 31, 2026 | Some 2025-2026 Escape/Bronco Sport vehicles equipped with a 1.5L EcoBoost engine may require replacement of the engine thermostat due to various concerns. |
| Cadillac | XT5 2021; XT6 2021 | N252508350 | Oct 21, 2025 | Certain vehicles listed above, may have a condition that could cause the engine coolant thermostat to open at a lower temperature than intended. |
| Cadillac | CT4 2025–2026 | N252519310 | Aug 26, 2025 | Certain vehicles listed above, may have a condition in which the torque on the engine thermostat housing fasteners is low. |
| Jeep | Compass 2025–2026; Renegade 2024–2025 | 07-002-25 REV. B | Jun 7, 2025 | "Engine Coolant Leak From Thermostatic Valve Gasket Customers may experience the following: Coolant is leaking at the thermostatic valve This bulletin involves inspecting and, if necessary, replacing the thermostatic valve. |
42 more bulletins name this part; the car finder at the top checks yours, and the NHTSA bulletin file linked below lists them all.
Manufacturer warranty extensions naming this part (7)
| Maker | Vehicles | Date | Notice number | What the maker extended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cadillac | XT5 2021; XT6 2021 | Oct 21, 2025 | N252508350 | Engine coolant thermostat opening at lower temperature than. |
| Chevrolet | Blazer 2021; Camaro 2021 | Oct 21, 2025 | N252508350 | Engine coolant thermostat opening at lower temperature than. |
| GMC | Acadia 2021 | Oct 21, 2025 | N252508350 | Engine coolant thermostat opening at lower temperature than. |
| Mazda | CX-30 2020–2023; CX-5 2018–2025; Mazda3 2019–2023 and 1 more | Nov 4, 2024 | SSPD8 | Fail-safe thermostat stuck open in coolant control. |
| BMW | 320i 2013–2014; 328i 2014; 328i 2013–2014 and 2 more | Jul 5, 2022 | SIB012216 | Engine coolant thermostat. |
2 more extension notices name this part: BMW. Ask the dealer whether one covers your car.
What do owners say?
4 complaints quoted word for word, each with its NHTSA number.
Took it in right away to the dealership to find out it's the thermostat, it's a common/known issue and it isn't covered under my extended warranty and will cost ~$1300.
The Audi dealer later diagnosed failure of the water pump, thermostat, valves, and related parts, with a repair estimate of nearly $5,000.
GM calls for the thermostat to be replaced, at the cost of $1400 at my local Chevrolet dealer.
We towed the car to Kia and they could not find the problem told us we need to replace the thermostat for $1000 and that would fix the problem we left and had it towed away.
Check your car
Our calculator's default estimate is $406–$698 for a standard sedan with an aftermarket thermostat at a chain shop that charges $120 an hour. The choice that moves it most is the kind of vehicle: an SUV, truck or luxury car costs more than switching between a chain shop and an independent one.
What does the thermostat estimate cover and leave out?
The estimate covers the thermostat and the shop labor to swap it, for the vehicle class, part grade and hourly rate named beside the range. It is a range for a typical car, not a quote for yours.
It leaves out whatever a shop adds on top. Ask whether the quote includes fresh coolant, a new gasket or housing, and a check for leaks after the refill. Ask whether a diagnostic fee is separate, and whether the shop read a trouble code before it named the thermostat. Taxes and fluid disposal fees are separate too.
If a quote lands well above the range for your vehicle class, ask what is being added before you pay.
How much do the shop, vehicle and part change the price?
Here are the calculator's ranges for each setting. Every row keeps the other inputs at the default.
| Setting | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Default: chain shop, standard sedan, aftermarket part | $406–$698 |
| Independent shop | $370–$630 |
| Dealership | $505–$885 |
| Economy or small car | $322–$590 |
| SUV or truck | $464–$776 |
| Luxury or performance car | $600–$1,090 |
| OEM or dealer original part | $482–$814 |
The vehicle class moves the estimate further than the shop does: a luxury car at the default shop costs more than a standard sedan at the dealership. The part grade adds a smaller step. A car that is both luxury and at the dealership costs more than either row alone, so run your own car through the calculator instead of adding rows in your head.
Should I choose a dealership, a chain or an independent shop?
The estimate is lowest at an independent shop and highest at the dealership, with the chain shop in between. The gap comes from the hourly rate: the calculator uses $100 for an independent shop, $120 for a chain and $175 for a dealership.
A dealership can be the right call when your car is covered by a manufacturer warranty or a bulletin, because the dealer can check your vehicle against those records. For an out-of-warranty car, get one independent quote and one dealer quote and compare them line by line.
How do I get a fair quote?
Ask what part grade the quote assumes. An aftermarket thermostat and an original one are priced differently in the table above, so a quote that does not name the grade is hard to compare. Ask what warranty covers the part and the labor, and whether it is in writing.
If the shop says other cooling parts need work, ask it to show you the reason and price those parts on their own lines. That way you can approve the thermostat now and decide about the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Can I replace the thermostat myself?
Some owners do on engines where the housing is easy to reach. The job opens the cooling system, so check your service manual for how to refill and bleed it.
Is an aftermarket thermostat as good as the original?
Ask the shop which brand it uses and what warranty comes with it. A cheaper part with a short warranty can cost more if the repair has to be done twice.
Does the shop need to check anything before replacing it?
Ask whether the shop tested the cooling system or read a trouble code first. A thermostat quote with no stated reason deserves a question.
Sources
Data shown on this page
- NHTSA owner complaint file (2015-2019 · 2020-2024 · 2025-2026) file downloaded 2026-10-05
- NHTSA service bulletin file (2015-2019 · 2020-2024 · 2025-2026) file downloaded 2026-10-05
- CalcScrape calculator model scaled by BEA Regional Price Parities data from 2024
Terms: US government data, public domain.
Observed: records as filed; owner reports are unverified and are not failure rates. Modeled: our estimate, not a quote.
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 17% below the middle of RepairPal's range ($616–$716). Methodology