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ok so i got some new tires last week and they weren't able to do the wheel alignment because theres something bent on the front wheel/suspension.
went to get it checked today and theres a crack in the steering knuckle. also found other problems...
they quoted me around $650-900 for parts and labor.
knuckle/strut: 140
hub bearing: 203
tie rod:85
alignment: 70
labor for knuckle and hub bearing: 187
labor for tie rod: 93
so adds up to 800 something with tax.
it is an old car with lots of miles so its only worth like around $2k. expect more problems in the future because things get old.
should i fix it? is it worth it? or spend the money on a new car?
is it safe to keep driving it? should i stay away from potholes?
yes it can be depending on how big the crack is. the cost of repairing the car is actually quite reasonable. as to whether it is worth doing is up to you in the end. you have to answer questions like;
1: do you like the car enough to want to repair it
2: is the car otherwise reliable and in good condition
3: do you really want a car payment for the next 36 to 72 months
4: are there any new cars on the market you would be willing to invest that kind of time and money
how you answer these questions will determine whether or not to repair your current car or replace it.
My first question is this: Where did you take the car? Because if you took it to Firestone - or one of those chain-operated shops - I'll give you a 99.9% guarantee that they're lying to you.
Go to at least one different place, and get another inspection and quote.
My first question is this: Where did you take the car? Because if you took it to Firestone - or one of those chain-operated shops - I'll give you a 99.9% guarantee that they're lying to you.
Go to at least one different place, and get another inspection and quote.
I too have had very bad experiences with "Chain" operations. I took my truck to a chain exhaust store because of a leak around the exhaust manifold that I couldn't identify. They told me my exhaust manifold was cracked and it would need to be replaced. They didn't have the parts so I had them order it and drove the car home. Naturally I decided to look for the crack and noticed one of the bolts missing in the back of the engine. I didn't see any cracks. I bought a bolt and the noise went away. I guess they missed that bolt at the factory. The chain was going to charge me 600 dollars for the new manifold when all it required was a .60 cent bolt.
I had done my brakes on my 01 F150 at 60,000 miles, and at about 80,000 I took it in to have the tires balanced. They came in and said I needed a brake job. We'll after a second opinion they said there was more pad left than originally thought.
Point: Garagelogic is right in that I would want to see said crack myself. Tierod can always be suspect, so have someone turn the steering wheel back & forth while you watch the steering components. A bad tierod is really easy to tell by the movement in the joint.
It may be that they just didn't have time to do the alignment, so they came up with additional work to get out of it for the moment. An 01 Pontiac isn't worth a whole bunch, but $800 is only 3 months car payments if it in fact needs to be done.
My wife loves going to the doctor, and guess what? They keep finding all different kinds of test to rule stuff out. reminds me of King of the Hill where hank takes the cat to the Vet!
I had done my brakes on my 01 F150 at 60,000 miles, and at about 80,000 I took it in to have the tires balanced. They came in and said I needed a brake job. We'll after a second opinion they said there was more pad left than originally thought.
Point: Garagelogic is right in that I would want to see said crack myself. Tierod can always be suspect, so have someone turn the steering wheel back & forth while you watch the steering components. A bad tierod is really easy to tell by the movement in the joint.
It may be that they just didn't have time to do the alignment, so they came up with additional work to get out of it for the moment. An 01 Pontiac isn't worth a whole bunch, but $800 is only 3 months car payments if it in fact needs to be done.
My wife loves going to the doctor, and guess what? They keep finding all different kinds of test to rule stuff out. reminds me of King of the Hill where hank takes the cat to the Vet!
My last high mileage truck (Duramax GMC 2500) went 130k miles on original brakes despite the local tire shop reminding me they "are getting thin".....when they got changed, it was only because the wheel bearing was bad and I didn't want them to reassemble the brakes with old pads!
Mercedes tried the same on my wife's SUV, 50k miles in 20 months, tons of highway driving. They wanted $1400 and replace everything (no turning rotors, replace them) so I told them we will do brakes when the light comes on the dash. What's the difference, you are not going to hurt the rotors if you are throwing them out anyway! Never did brakes, traded the car!
Chain repair shops are the pits. I keep a local independent shop that does the work I don't want to do myself and he is extremely honest. Usually comes in charging me less than the original estimate.
Years ago I took my then wife's Buick in for one of those $29.95 transmission fluid change specials. The mechanic pulled the pan and looked at the fluid and said "Looks pretty good, I don't see any metal in there." A few minutes later the Manager comes walking out, looks at the same pan and says "Oh Boy, I see big problems there, you have a bunch of metal in your fluid !" He goes on to say the transmission is on the way out and it will be $ 1500.00 to replace it.
I told him to button it up, put the clean fluid in it, and I would be on my way. He got really pissed and said "Ok, but believe me, your wife will be getting stranded somewhere !" 4 years later the same transmission was still working great.
But life does have a way of catching up with guys like this. About a year after that incident I was watching the news and saw him being taken away in handcuffs because they arrested him for fraud in connection with scamming people on car repairs ! Yes, life is good !
Brake jobs are the "theft of choice" of these chain shops. After all, it's easy to scare the crap out of people with talk like, "If you can't stop you'll die!"
Then they charge $100 for something that takes 15 minutes, and requires $15 worth of parts.
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He goes on to say the transmission is on the way out and it will be $ 1500.00 to replace it.
