friedgreencorrado wrote:fast_eddie_72 wrote: I'm sure there are mechanics out there who take advantage of people, but I really appreciated that guy helping me out. The car had about 140,000 miles on it at the time, so I have no doubt that it needed the ball joints. Who knows, that guy may have saved me from a serious accident.It's been my experience that nobody hates a dishonest mechanic more than an honest one.
QFT
pinchvalve wrote: That's why I hate State Inspection. $24 to get an "Emissions Exempt" Sticker. It takes about 10 seconds, so that's paying $8,640 an hour labor rate. And then add another $50 to tell me that my car is safe to drive. Really? The last two times I paid a garage to fix my car they neglected to tighten the lug nuts. And they are are supposed to be the experts in this area? How about you let me fix it right, and I'll keep the extortion money.
I am not surprised to se that you live in PA. I live just outside of Philly, since I can't find an honest inspection shop around here, I've settled for a dishonest shop who's terms I can live with.
Taiden wrote: How much do these engineers value their time? How long would it have taken for them to complete the repairs themselves? How much do they value guaranteed completion of the work? I think if you broke it all down, there are plenty of reasons to pay $4000 for brake work. $10,000 even. It depends on what your situation is and what you value.
that may well be true... but then they really shouldn't be complaining about how much it cost to get their cars worked on ......
Streetwiseguy wrote: I think I am implying that car ownership does not always make sense.
I couldnt agree more... imagine how much you would save by not owning a car - being able to bike or walk to work.
That said, I love having one... or two
$2500 should get you a new JDM (y0) motor, trans and ECU, right?
I spent 6 hours today R&R'ing the fuel pump in the Esprit. It's not finished, but the pump is in and the lines are connected. Just need to put the covers back on. Yeah, 6 hours for a fuel pump. That's a whole lot better than the 8 hours I spent on one water hose. I still have the scars from that one. Goes with the ownership. If I had to pay people for the maintenance on my vehicles, I'd be hocked up to my eyeballs like the rest of the US.
My first Europa, I had a shop rebuild the motor. 2 large in 1982 dollars, which would be like about 6 large today. 15K miles later, I had the #3 piston in my hand with a chunk blown off the crown. I figgered I could screw up a motor myself a whole lot cheaper than paying someone else to do it. I rebuilt that motor for about $800 total, parts and machine shop, with race head work, and it was done right. I've been doing about all my own work myself since. There was a shop in League City, when I lived there, that I would bring something to if I didn't have time to do it myself, which, when you're working 500 hour months, happens. They were honest. They were not cheap, but they never ripped me off. They took one of our puppies too. Good people.
HappyAndy wrote: I am not surprised to se that you live in PA. I live just outside of Philly, since I can't find an honest inspection shop around here, I've settled for a dishonest shop who's terms I can live with.
Yes, PA, the BOHICA Inspection State.
HappyAndy wrote:pinchvalve wrote: That's why I hate State Inspection. $24 to get an "Emissions Exempt" Sticker. It takes about 10 seconds, so that's paying $8,640 an hour labor rate. And then add another $50 to tell me that my car is safe to drive. Really? The last two times I paid a garage to fix my car they neglected to tighten the lug nuts. And they are are supposed to be the experts in this area? How about you let me fix it right, and I'll keep the extortion money.I am not surprised to se that you live in PA. I live just outside of Philly, since I can't find an honest inspection shop around here, I've settled for a dishonest shop who's terms I can live with.
As someone who used to run a shop in PA that did inspections, I hated doing them too. So much red tape involved from the state and just because you flagged something did not mean that person was anymore likely to have it done there.
I work with people that pay $1500.00 every month for ONE car note. Add comp and collission and its probably over $2000.00. when the car is about paid off they get aother. 
I drive a car that cost me less that one moth of their car note. I carry liability only. Of course I have $50k+ worth of tools in my shop but I dont replace them every 4 years.
porksboy wrote: ...I have $50k+ worth of tools in my shop...
That's it, I'm going to start driving my car over to your garage when I need to work on it.
Eh. I am (or my family is) somewhere in the middle. I won't drop $700 to get pads and rotors repaired (I think the total time in parts+beer money was $120), but I will pay for an oil change. It usually comes out to $7 more than the cost of oil alone, and my time is worth more than that.
to many instances of the drain plug not being put back properly by the min. wage "mechanics" at the Jiffy Lubes of the world .... ( my 87 yo Mom wouldn't know what to do ... even if she saw the oil light come on ...
wbjones wrote: to many instances of the drain plug not being put back properly by the min. wage "mechanics" at the Jiffy Lubes of the world .... ( my 87 yo Mom wouldn't know what to do ... even if she saw the oil light come on ...
I bet the % is exceedingly small.
Multiple cars over the last 13 years, I've never had that happen. Nor do I know of anyone it's happened to.
Like mtn said, my truck needed the oil changed yesterday, but my time is worth more. I could have laid on my back for a half-hour or more in my 30° garage, or go pickup breakfast and eat it in a warm shop room for the 20 minutes it took them to change the oil, vacuum and clean the windows.
THe oil filter on the V6 in my frontier is a pain to get to.
yes it is a small %... but it's incalculably huge compared to how often I've do it... + it's at least a 15 - 20 min drive to any oil change place from my house
These days, the only thing I do is tuneups and tire rotation. Too busy, and I don't have a garage. Sucks working on your car in the backyard.
Lesley wrote: These days, the only thing I do is tuneups and tire rotation. Too busy, and I don't have a garage. Sucks working on your car in the backyard.
Backyard is much better than a busy city street, which is where I once replaced the power steering pump on a '76 Olds Cutlass.
I've taken my cars to oil change places. Meh. Never had a problem.
I've seen repair bills that were more than the cost of my entire car, When it was new. Granted the car being repaired cost more than my home.
z31maniac wrote:wbjones wrote: to many instances of the drain plug not being put back properly by the min. wage "mechanics" at the Jiffy Lubes of the world .... ( my 87 yo Mom wouldn't know what to do ... even if she saw the oil light come on ...I bet the % is exceedingly small. Multiple cars over the last 13 years, I've never had that happen. Nor do I know of anyone it's happened to.
(raises hand)
7 years working for import car dealerships and I've seen it probably a half dozen times. No, it's not a large percentage, but it happens frequently enough I still don't let the mouth breathers who work in those places touch my car. I've met a few of those guys, and my next door neighbor (who has NO experience working on ANYTHING) had a job at one of the local places for a couple years while he was going to seminary. A nice guy, but didn't know how to change the oil in his lawn mower until I showed him. It's another industry where a warm body is the only requirement for employment.
In reply to fast_eddie_72:
I'm with Fast Eddie on this. The only time the cash value of your car matters is when you're trying to sell it. Other than that, the value of your car is getting you from point A to point B reliably.
For an example, let's say that your timing belt snapped in an E30 BMW. Getting an engine put in might cost you at least $1500, but if you're confident the rest of the car is going to keep trucking along it is still way, way cheaper than buying a new car.
ddavidv wrote:z31maniac wrote:(raises hand) 7 years working for import car dealerships and I've seen it probably a half dozen times. No, it's not a large percentage, but it happens frequently enough I still don't let the mouth breathers who work in those places touch my car. I've met a few of those guys, and my next door neighbor (who has NO experience working on ANYTHING) had a job at one of the local places for a couple years while he was going to seminary. A nice guy, but didn't know how to change the oil in his lawn mower until I showed him. It's another industry where a warm body is the only requirement for employment.wbjones wrote: to many instances of the drain plug not being put back properly by the min. wage "mechanics" at the Jiffy Lubes of the world .... ( my 87 yo Mom wouldn't know what to do ... even if she saw the oil light come on ...I bet the % is exceedingly small. Multiple cars over the last 13 years, I've never had that happen. Nor do I know of anyone it's happened to.
Guess the shop I worked at was a rarity. All the guys knew a good amount, everyone was gearheads. The rare, non gearhead was the one vacuuming or washing the windows.. In the 5 years I was there we never had a drain plug fall out. I'm paranoid and would check it at least 5 times. However, in a really busy, big store- one guy ran the whole pit- which could be 4-6 cars at once. Crazy, I had 2 cars, maybe 3 to do at once.
Lets see your 87 year old mom run between two oily bays and keep track of everything!
Yeah, the shop I go to is full of gearheads.
Owner even rides a turbo'd V-Rod. As always YMMV.
familytruckster wrote: Lets see your 87 year old mom run between two oily bays and keep track of everything!
???????
she doesn't do the work on the car .... in case you weren't able to figure that out for yourself ... the ?????? are for me not understanding what you meant....
z31maniac wrote:wbjones wrote: to many instances of the drain plug not being put back properly by the min. wage "mechanics" at the Jiffy Lubes of the world .... ( my 87 yo Mom wouldn't know what to do ... even if she saw the oil light come on ...I bet the % is exceedingly small. Multiple cars over the last 13 years, I've never had that happen. Nor do I know of anyone it's happened to.
I don't know the sample size of my acquaintances who have successful quickie lubes, but I do personally know 1 guy who had the ATF changed without benefit of them actually refilling it, and 1 guy who had the drain plug cross threaded and stripped out, losing all the oil at speed on the freeway. Both cause major damage that was only repaired by filing claims against their own insurance, because the lube places denied them.
Boggles my mind as well as to how much money some people spend on vehicles.
The funny thing is though, is that the ones who say "maybe they value their time more than that" etc etc are full of crap. For me to even BEGIN to think about paying someone to do all the maintenance/repair on a car, I'd have to be earning a minimum of $60k per year and be debt free.
Just thinking of a new $50k car and comprehensive makes my heart race. As someone stated, that's $2k NET dollars for ONE vehicle. Presumably there are two in most households. $60k per year gross works out to ~$40 to $45k net here. So, uh, in a year have your income went to that new car. There just AREN'T that many people earning close to $100k
Careful - a lot of the more expensive cars aren't purchased with W-2 money.
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