Being an Adult is Painful
So, I had my car towed to the dealership because the tires are an odd size and not everyone carries them but I know the dealership has them. I just wanted one new tire and the alignment done. Ok, so I need four new tires. I have kind of known that for awhile anyway. Rear brakes are at 30% and should be replaced now or soon. Ok, but I am not getting that done at the dealership. Oh, and your engine kind of looks like you don't take care of it and it needs all this maintenance stuff done. Grand total: $1369.65
I was understandably alarmed by such a number, so I rang up the editor who writes all of our consumer automotive advice articles. He was very patient and nice to me so if you could all go out and buy his book as thanks, I would appreciate it. I had the dealership fax over a price list and went over it with the editor. He basically said everything on the list is overpriced. For instance, they wanted to charge me $510 for the tires. I called up my old place and they said $279 out the door. Anyway, the editor told me to get all of my service records and see what has actually been done and then shop around for service. Painful. Pain. Full.
So, the assy dealership is putting on the full-size spare and fixing the alignment for $70.
I was understandably alarmed by such a number, so I rang up the editor who writes all of our consumer automotive advice articles. He was very patient and nice to me so if you could all go out and buy his book as thanks, I would appreciate it. I had the dealership fax over a price list and went over it with the editor. He basically said everything on the list is overpriced. For instance, they wanted to charge me $510 for the tires. I called up my old place and they said $279 out the door. Anyway, the editor told me to get all of my service records and see what has actually been done and then shop around for service. Painful. Pain. Full.
So, the assy dealership is putting on the full-size spare and fixing the alignment for $70.
2 Comments:
It is good that you have someone who can give you guidance on all that. I was talking over the weekend about all the repair they wanted to do on beloved Bronco and how much it would've cost had I gone through with it and they were like, no - it shouldn't have cost that much at all. Moot point now but sometimes that stuff would be nice to know.
My advice goes something like this: Never EVER go to a dealership for service. EVER. They're a bunch of overpriced money stealing idiots. Ok, and this comes from a girl who is friends with several ford dealership mechanics. Here's what I've learned about dealership mechanics, well fords anyway, they are all alcoholics number one, or worse. Number two, they're on some kind of time goal now, so they only have so long per car etc. Which makes me think, great not only are they drunk or coming down but they're also rushed. Boy does that make me feel safe! What I do is always find a local car aficianado and find out where they take their car. So far this has worked out great for me and I always love my mechanics.
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