Are they ripping me off/

[KawasakiKBH]

My Kawasaki strimmer from 2009 is being repaired. They are telling me it's probably the carburetor. They want £200 and are saying it might not fit, or they might have to replace the pull chord etc. I found the carb in need on ebay for £20. Is there something I'm missing here?

[KawasakiKBH]

Also, just to add a bit of info, they are saying they're gonna have to order from the manufacturer. There are an abundance of these parts on ebay.

[Mick]

Hi KawasakiKBH, and welcome to TGMF.

So they have told you it needs a new carb, and it might not fit, so I'm guessing it's not a genuine OEM replacement by the sound of it, if they are Kawasaki dealers they would probably know if it will fit or not. Some main dealers won't source cheap carbs and will only go with the specific brand hence the higher cost, though that is twice as much as most carbs I've seen.

A machine of that age you'd probably be better off trying to fix it yourself rather than throwing that sort of money at it. Do you know what model it is?

Some of the cheap replacement carbs do work quite well, and for the risk of up to £20 it's worth a gamble.  At £200 you're well on the way to buying a new one, so unless there's something urging you to keep it going I'd either look at a new one, or try the cheap carb on it.

You could probably get a brand new ECHO SRM-222 strimmer / brushcutter for around £250  Throw 200 at that one you still have a old machine at the end of the day.