How much should it cost to repair the front deifferential on a 1997...

[sabrina n]

...Mercury Mountaineer? My front differential broke and I wanted to know if I drive it to the mechanics will that make it worst and how much should I pay to get it fixed? One mechanic told me only a ford dealer mechanic can fix it and it would cost about 3,000 dollars. Another mechanic told me he could fix it for 650 dollars. That's a great difference in price and don't know how much I should actually pay. I don't want to get ripped off and I also don't want a crappy job done either. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[doug b]

it will really depend on whats wrong with it,get it diagnosed at ford then if they seem to high chech other shops with what ford told you,it could be a switch or it could be totaled ,hard to say without knowing what its doing

[rideus]

Mine went out on my 2002 and I took it to a local tranny shop thats been around for 30 years. Used one with 55,000 miles was $1400 bucks with 1 year warranty. $1200 with 3 month warranty.