Grrrr! Car repairs are sooo expensive!!

[aephi alum]

I took my car in for repairs today. It just hit 60,000 miles, and I suspected the rear brakes were going.

In the middle of the day I got a call from the garage. Not only are the rear brakes going, the *front* brakes are going too. (This is not unreasonable; I hadn't had the brakes done in a long time.)

So I got to have *two* brake jobs done, plus the standard 60K stuff (rotate the tires, etc). The bill came to nearly $1,000. And right around the holidays, too.

I probably could have gotten the work done cheaper, but I take my car to a dealership so it gets the best quality care, and I live in an expensive part of the country. Plus, this dealership gives out loaner cars like candy - most places won't give you one unless you have to leave it overnight - if they offer them at all. And I need a car to get to work. So, I'm not complaining too loudly. But still, this was a nasty financial surprise.

Sorry guys. Just had to vent.

[Beef]

Damn, thats pretty high, what kind of car???
What exactly are/did they do?? That is alot for only 60000 miles...

FYI, just because its a dealer, dont assume they have top notch technicians. Granted, they probably know the car better, but brakes are pretty easy to do for most any shop.

[lionlove]

I completely understand. This summer I spent about $1,000 on car repairs. the first $350 came from running over something in the road driving from MA to NJ to visit my boyfriend and destroyed my muffler. The other $650 was a routine checkup that ended up replacing brake pads, battery, belts etc. Luckily my cousin is a car mechanic at the dealership where my car was sold so I get the "family rate" but it's still expensive.

[aggieAXO]

I don't trust dealerships. I took my car in 2 years ago to the Ford dealership here in Austin and they completely mis-diagnosed it yet managed to do 600$ worth of work, it needed something else so I decided I wanted my mechanic in San Antonio to do the other work. The guy at the dealership said it should be safe to drive it 90 miles to S.A. and so I started out. When I got to San Marcos which is 30 minutes south of Austin-it almost blew up. I had to have it towed to S.A. My mechanic looked at it and said I had a cracked head (whatever that is) and should have been easily diagnosed by the dealership-urgggggggg. Anyways, my mother was pissed and managed to get the dealership to pay for everything, including the tow bill. About 1 month later I received a notice in the mail from Ford Motor Co. saying that cracked heads (or whatever the proper terminaology is-I can't remember) are a problem in the 94 and 95 models and they were having a nationwide recall-funny how the dealership did not know this

[DGPhoney]

GRRRR... I am totally feeling that, like as of tihs week, my car is officially a piece of , well u know the rest. anyway when I got the car, it was thought to be all dandy and driveable
ERRRR. Sense then brakes went, oil filter broke, rubber side part came off, and ohhh sooo much. So I am shelling out a good g or two to make this car da bomb, hell even driveable
Oh well , in a month or so, it will be looking like a 2002 when I get done with it
DGPhoney~

[KarenC725]

My solution to the problem is to date a mechanic! Not that that is the reason we are together, but it sure comes in handy. I only get charged for parts and I get his Tahoe when my truck goes in.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

My solution: no car! Luckily, I live in New York City so I don't need one!

[juniorgrrl]

Originally posted by aggieAXO
I don't trust dealerships. I took my car in 2 years ago to the Ford dealership here in Austin and they completely mis-diagnosed it yet managed to do 600$ worth of work, it needed something else so I decided I wanted my mechanic in San Antonio to do the other work. The guy at the dealership said it should be safe to drive it 90 miles to S.A. and so I started out. When I got to San Marcos which is 30 minutes south of Austin-it almost blew up. I had to have it towed to S.A. My mechanic looked at it and said I had a cracked head (whatever that is) and should have been easily diagnosed by the dealership-urgggggggg. Anyways, my mother was pissed and managed to get the dealership to pay for everything, including the tow bill. About 1 month later I received a notice in the mail from Ford Motor Co. saying that cracked heads (or whatever the proper terminaology is-I can't remember) are a problem in the 94 and 95 models and they were having a nationwide recall-funny how the dealership did not know this

I think a big part of your problem was having a Ford!

But, yes, dealerships can screw you pretty badly. 99% of mechanics will screw you, unfortunately

[aephi alum]

My car is an Acura. For some reason, they assume that just because you drive an Acura, you have money. Hello?? If I had a *new* Acura you could assume I have money. My car is 10 years old.

I guess it could be worse. I still remember a road trip I took with my parents when I was about 12. This was in my father's 2-year-old Oldsmobile. We drove cross country from New York to L.A. and back. In Oklahoma City (on the way west) the transmission decided to die. Did I mention the car was only 2 years old??

We had it patched up (blowing half a day in OKC without wheels), and my stubborn father decided we would keep going. We stopped at 5 more garages en route. Oh yes, and the air conditioning cut out too. Did I mention it was August?

It was after that, that my parents bought their first Acura... followed by their second Acura, my current car It's a tribute to Japanese engineering that the darn thing's running at all, the way I drive it