WOW. OMG. They used a stethoscope to determine the hub bearings are bad?? They must have had it on a lift with the front tires off the ground to get under it so the "tech" could hear it.
Usually you can hear them IF you turn the stereo down a little, IF they are bad. If they're really bad, you don't even have to turn down the volume of the stereo. Believe me, you can hear it in the car IF they are bad. Ask Connie, as he's replaced several sets now on an Accord.
I can't believe they want 2 grand for hub bearings on a car that's worth maybe 2500. I would definitely find another dealer, or independent shop, or even a good shade tree mechanic. With the right tools, it's a 4 hour job plus parts. This means that the dealer (stealership) is getting 475.00 per hour (for that 2000 dollar job). How do they justify that kind of money/expense?? Hell, even a grand (1000 bucks) is way more than it should be. I know a guy that would do it 400, and he'd be happy, but, you'd have to supply the parts.
I felt that I saved 650, by doing my own hub bearings, replacing the lower ball joints, replacing the upper control arms, and the tie rod ends. Yes, I did buy a bearing removal/install tool off e-bay for 69 bucks, but that was to make my job go quicker. Plus, I have a 2000 Accord sitting here with more miles on it (236K), that will be needing them done too. It was how I was able to justify the cost of the tool to myself.
Sure, I could have improvised that tool with a hammer, some all thread, and a bunch of washers, but I felt buying the tool kit would be better. I had the old bearings out in 20 minutes, and the new ones in, in about 20 minutes (snap rings too). It took longer than that to get the hubs off/out of the old bearings (I was using the wrong tool), than anything I did on the front end. In my Members thread, you can see what I used to knock the hubs out of the old bearings (can be had at most hardware stores for less than 20 bucks). And I'll use that same tool again, now that I know how much easier it works (remember, I'm still recovering from a torn rotator cuff, and am still having issues with it 7 months later). But, replacing the upper control arms was a little more work than I planned on, in that you have to remove the strut assembly to access the bolts. But even doing that wasn't really that bad. 5 nuts on top, and 1 thru bolt with nut in the lower control arm. I finished the day off doing the tie rod ends. Needless to say, at 233,000 miles, it needed all of those parts replaced. I originally shopped around on doing just the upper ball joints separately, but found I could get the entire upper control arm with a new ball joint for less than the ball joint itself. But, I caught a special that Detroit Axle was having in their online store, and got both upper control arms, both lower ball joints, and both inner and outer tie rods for 62.99 + tax since they are in Michigan. I didn't do the inners, as they hardly ever wear, plus I wanted to keep my alignment semi close. Well that, and I wanted to get my new rotors and pads on before I put the tires on and called it a day. I had about 5 1/2 to 6 hours to all of that, working by myself. The next day I checked and reset the toe in, and called it all good. The front end is nice and quiet, with no noise, everything feels nice and tight, and it'll cruise at 80 mph with no problems (vibration or pulling). A job well worth doing IF you plan on keeping the car. And, I had less than that 250 in parts and tools (specialty) in doing that job.
I should add that I own 2 old air cooled VWs. And they are not bugs or buses, which means they are odd balls, and nobody wants to work on them. This is especially true of my wife's 70 Fastback, in that it has factory Fuel Injection, and there's no place to plug a code reader into (not that it would help). To work on that system, you need a fuel pressure gauge and an ohm meter. That's it for tools. The rest is using your brain, and following step by step instructions for trouble shooting (I got that list from an older guy years ago). A common problem with that FI is the voltage regulator going bad (un-related to the FI, but at the same time the FI is dependent on stable voltage) which causes the FI to run rich. My other "old VW" is a 65 Notchback. It has dual carbs and a factory sun roof. It's the easier of the 2 cars to work on. But, there's only 4 guys (including myself) that will work on old VWs in my area. That means I have to do my own repairs if I want to keep them going. One of the guys has a 6 month back log of work. That guy's son is another one who will work on them, and the 3rd guy works for the city next door, and does work on evening and weekends IF he's not at the sand drags on the west side of the state. Personally I think he's getting out of working for others, and the first guy I know is ready to retire. That means in a few years it'll be just me and 1 other guy who work on them in this area.