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Yep, definitely have a trusted indy mechanic. Someone who knows your car well and can work with you on what's needed now versus what can wait.
I have an old car that I [begrudgingly] took to the dealer for the recent airbag recalls. Being an old car, it naturally has some oil leaks. Been that way for years and only requires a minor top off b/w oil changes. I told them I didn't want their stupid multipoint inspection b/c I knew they were going to come back with a long list of stuff I wasn't going to approve anyway. Of course, they did it anyway and said I needed a slew of seals, filters, fluid flushes, blah blah. All of this was going to cost a couple of G's, which exceeds the car's value several times over. I literally laughed in the guy's face and said just do the recall and give me my car back. The dealer doesn't care about being practical or working with you. They just give you a laundry list of "repairs'' at their ridiculous rates.
Yep, definitely have a trusted indy mechanic. Someone who knows your car well and can work with you on what's needed now versus what can wait.
I have an old car that I [begrudgingly] took to the dealer for the recent airbag recalls. Being an old car, it naturally has some oil leaks. Been that way for years and only requires a minor top off b/w oil changes. I told them I didn't want their stupid multipoint inspection b/c I knew they were going to come back with a long list of stuff I wasn't going to approve anyway. Of course, they did it anyway and said I needed a slew of seals, filters, fluid flushes, blah blah. All of this was going to cost a couple of G's, which exceeds the car's value several times over. I literally laughed in the guy's face and said just do the recall and give me my car back. The dealer doesn't care about being practical or working with you. They just give you a laundry list of "repairs'' at their ridiculous rates.
Same thing at the chain service centers. Don't blame the mechanic - he has to follow the script. It's the automotive equivalent to "would you like fries with that?".
We have to differentiate here between a vehicle in good shape where a specific part is failing versus a checklist of potential service items applied even to a vehicle where it doesn't make sense. I used to go through this routinely with my ex, every six months she's take a crappy old van to get an oil change and come back freaking out over a list of stuff costing 3x the value of the car.
Same thing at the chain service centers. Don't blame the mechanic - he has to follow the script. It's the automotive equivalent to "would you like fries with that?".
We have to differentiate here between a vehicle in good shape where a specific part is failing versus a checklist of potential service items applied even to a vehicle where it doesn't make sense. I used to go through this routinely with my ex, every six months she's take a crappy old van to get an oil change and come back freaking out over a list of stuff costing 3x the value of the car.
That’s typical dealer bs. My wife’s Sorento had 30,000 on it. I told her take it in for a oil change. I didn’t have time. They tried to sell her brakes on all four corners, accessory belts, air filter, TIMING belt, transmission service, tire rotation etc. So of course she called in a panic. I actually was on my way home and I went there. Somehow all of the “needed” work became “we suggest” having it completed. The timing belt (in owners manual) specifically states it’s not required to be replaced to maintain the warranty. The brakes were at 40% (she went another 20,000 miles before I replaced them) and the rest of the work was just bs sales.
The only time my vehicles see dealer is for recall or warranty work. Once in a while I used to go for oil changes but I don’t trust them to do that correctly. I found a good local wrench for the stuff I can’t get to or it’s just more cost effective to have it done
Gaskets, gaskets, gaskets...every year I need one requiring tons of labor.
Just to stop a motor oil leak that doesn't affect performance.
This year it's the pan gasket,
I see way too many customers who have vehicles and complain about intermittent driveability issues with there vehicle (i.e. runs rough sometimes and has no power, is making a noise, etc.) but choose to ignore it. They'll only address it once the vehicle gets too bad to drive or it won't run at all, or when their wheel falls off because of a failed wheel bearing, and likely they've done further damage than if they'd fixed it earlier.
I can think of two very easy examples of this:
1. Say a customer's radiator starts leaking on their car, and either due to not having the money at the moment, the belief that all mechanics are going to rip them off, cheapness, or whatever the case might be, they decide to just keep topping it off with coolant as needed. Well one day they're out on the road and forgot to top it off that morning, or the leak becomes worse, or whatever, and now they've overheated it and cracked the head/blown the head gasket/etc. and now they're screwed.
They've taken what would've been a couple hundred dollar repair and turned it into a couple thousand dollar repair, if the car's even worth fixing.
2. Say a customer's vehicle has an intermittent misfire (this ones going to all you people who insist check engine lights are just "idiot lights" and don't mean anything, or those that have covered their's with black tape) and rough running. But they keep driving it and now it's got no power going up hills, the check engine light is now flashing, it has a dead miss and a cylinder with no compression.
They've also gone from a relatively cheap fix (plugs, wires, failing coil pack, etc.) to an expensive repair (engine).
It comes down to being proactive vs. reactive with repairs, and it doesn't just apply to auto repair. Same could be said about someone with a leaking roof who just puts a bucket down in their house vs actually getting the roof fixed. And I understand that sometimes people don't have the money and things have to be put on the back burner, but the people I'm talking about ignore things for YEARS on end.
If something is wrong, I fix it the day I discover it, or as soon as possible (few days max, typically), whether it be my house, my vehicle, my relationships, my body, my mind, whatever. FIX YOUR **** YOU LAZY BUMS!
Gaskets, gaskets, gaskets...every year I need one requiring tons of labor.
Just to stop a motor oil leak that doesn't affect performance.
This year it's the pan gasket,
Jesus f’ing Christ that’s the worse RTV oil pan seal job I ever saw. It looks like caulking not RTV.
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