Read me whining about my auto mechanic

Robocok

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I don't know a lot about vehicle maintenance. I usually just get the oil changed when it's scheduled and if the mechanic recommends something else I get a 2nd or 3rd opinion/quote but recently I thought I had found someone I could trust to not rip me off.

Last month, some other place tried to hose me and wanted to charge me $300 to replace the front brake pads on my Ford.

Previously, I had done an oil change at this place because I had a groupon deal. They said my pads were getting low but I would be fine until my next oil change. I come in on time for my next oil change to this same place because I had another coupon and they say that my pads are now dangerously low and I may need to replace the rotors which will raise the cost even more than $300.

6 months earlier, it was recommended to me that I change my spark plugs and after calling all of the shops that were well reviewed, I went with the one who offered the best price. He claimed that he used good spark plugs too. I think it was motorcraft brand.

Since I had a good experience getting the spark plugs replaced at a reasonable price, I went back to him to change the pads. He quoted $160 to replace pads, a lot more reasonable than $300.

He confirmed that the rotors were indeed worn but he would see if they could be machined and still be thick enough to be safe. If he needed to replace the rotors, it would be an additional $40 per rotor, $80 total. Still considerably cheaper than $300 just to swap pads.

I pick up the vehicle and he said he needed to replace the rotors. He showed me the old rotors he'd removed and explained the minimum safe thickness. He even charged me $10 less than he quoted when we settled so I was out the door with new pads AND new rotors for $230. I appreciated him taking the time to show me and the fact that I'd saved money. I resolved to use him for future work.

So today I go in for an oil and filter change on the gf's toyota sienna. I think it's a 2015. She was going to take it to the dealer and in my experience, they always overcharge for everything. So I take it to my guy and he says $90 for the oil and $25 for the filter explaining that it takes a special synthetic. I'm already there and have limited time and think that sounds really high but I say ok. I'm thinking that this sounds absurdly high though.

While I'm waiting, I call 2 different Toyota dealers and they quote $75 and 77 for synthetic oil+filter replace. I mention to him what they quoted and ask why the price is so high and he repeats himself about synthetic costing more and then says that he'll match the price this time. I must look like a big sucker. Now I think I have to start getting price quotes and multiple opinions again rather than trusting him to give me a fair price and good service.

Yes, I know I sound poor and obviously I don't know anything about cars. I just drive to get to point a to point b.

Tldr- mechanic I trusted tried to charge me $115 for an oil filter change. I must look like a sucker.
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$115 for an oil change is absurd, even if it requires synthetic. I can maybe see a Benz or BMW dealer charging that much for a high capacity oil system.. but for a Toyota? Fucking lol.

Funny you mention this because I just emailed myself a service coupon from a Chevy dealer for an eight quart full synthetic oil change for $60 that I plan on using.
 
Change your own oil bro, it's easy.

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Every dealership has coupons on their website. And they will do the work right.

Plus you can take your car to be serviced at pretty much any dearlership. Doesn't have to be the one you bought it at. That way you can still compare prices and make sure you are getting a good deal.

If it isn't too far for you look at going to dealerships in smallish towns nearby, they will probably be cheaper and more reliable than the large busy dealerships in a larger city.

This is all if you can't find a good small shop with good pricing.
 
What's the deal with this webpage? Why are they saying it costs so much more than what 2 dealers just quoted me?
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I hate car mechanics because they are like IT people. They can say whatever the fuck they want and know that you can't call them on their BS. I BS people all the time at my company and no one can say shit cause they don't know if I'm lying or not.

Luckily my dad was a mechanic back in the mother land so he knows a lot about cars. When I was in Highschool working at Hallmark the owner recommended this place for an alignment so I went there. I was on a spare and didn't have money for a new one so they gave it to me for free so they could do the alignment. Ever since then I've always gone to them and they have always been really reasonable and great prices. The only downside with them is they are so fucking packed 24/7 that it can take a while to get simple things done.
 
Looks like the Sienna holds 6.1 quarts of oil. You can buy a 5 quart container of Valvoline full synthetic for $26 at Walmart. A quart costs $7.50. To buy 7 quarts you have $41 invested. Some places buy oil in bulk so they get a better price and can sell you 6.1 quarts, instead of 7 quarts. A filter is probably around $7. Of course they will mark up the prices and charge for labor. The dealer will likely add on charges for oil disposal and shop fees.
 
No reason not to do any of this yourself unless you are at the stage in your life where an hour of your time is worth more than x per hour.

You can find a 5 min YouTube video that can tell you everything you need to know about changing out a couple of break pads. You don’t have to be a car guy at all.
 
I don't know a lot about vehicle maintenance.

Ok bro, if you are a guy, it is mandatory you know something about cars and engines. That is the one major card we have against women. Please, don't fuck this up. Read up on car maintenance 101. It is not rocket science and it helps when you have to take your car in for service.

I know cars today are entirely too electronic and rely on a computer to work. If your battery is dead, so is your ride. I was raised with engines that had carburetors -- ancient history these days.

Yeah, a lot of mechanics can be worthless pieces of shit. Specially to women. Never use the dealership unless you are using it for warranty service. The key is to find a good independent mechanic that you can trust to do everything in your car.
 
… and obviously I don't know anything about cars.

… another thing I forgot to mention. Always check the work that was done to your car. I went into a place once for an oil change where only the oil was changed, but not the filter. I could tell because the old filter was full of dust on the outside. On another occasion I found tools left over on the top of the engine. Whenever possible, depending on the work, watch what the mechanic is doing to your car.
 
Honestly all the things you just described are really easy to do yourself and the tools/parts needed on those things are really cheap. If you rely on someone else to do these simple maintenance tasks then you deserve to get ripped off.

And this is coming from someone who is in no way shape or form a mechanic.

Thank God for the internet. I've had to take my ride to the mechanic 1 time in the last 5 years thanks to the internet and that was to fix my alignment after I fucked it up fixing some shocks and struts.

This post isn't to make you feel bad but all this information is available for free on the web. The web is also filled with various auto forums that have loads of knowledgeable people to help you diagnose and fix your car issues.
 
Oil change for my GT350 Cobra was $184, on account of it takes special 10W/50 oil and needs 10 quarts.
 
That’s why I change my own oil.
Even if you don’t become a full on mechanic, I think it’s beyond worth it to learn how to work on your vehicle. Especially if you’re not old af, the money you save adds up and fixing your own problems is extremely fulfilling work.
 
Even if you don’t become a full on mechanic, I think it’s beyond worth it to learn how to work on your vehicle. Especially if you’re not old af, the money you save adds up and fixing your own problems is extremely fulfilling work.
Yep. The key to auto work is having the right tools. I’ll try a lot of things, but I don’t have a lift and many other tools. But I can change the oil, it’s very simple and it will only cost about 15-20 bucks.
 
I do a lot of my own work....alternators, brake pads, etc. I don't do my own oil changes though. I mean I can do it myself for by the time I buy the oil and filter and get dirty and have to collect and bring the oil somewhere I save like $10-$15 tops. I'd rather drive in, pay the extra $10-$15 at Jiffy Lube and be done with it. NEVER accept all the other crap they try to upsell you with though as far as filters, bulbs, transmission, coolant, etc.
 
a good mechanic and barber are the two most important, non-family, people to me.
i've been going to same mechanic for the last 20+ years. not sure what happened to my barber (maybe Trump deported him or he retired), but i had been going to the same barber for close to 30 years. it sucks that my barber is gone. the person i goto now does a decent job, but i'm always having to tell him to cut this shorter or level that out and it takes him double the time to cut my hair.
 
I don't know a lot about vehicle maintenance. I usually just get the oil changed when it's scheduled and if the mechanic recommends something else I get a 2nd or 3rd opinion/quote but recently I thought I had found someone I could trust to not rip me off.

Last month, some other place tried to hose me and wanted to charge me $300 to replace the front brake pads on my Ford.

Previously, I had done an oil change at this place because I had a groupon deal. They said my pads were getting low but I would be fine until my next oil change. I come in on time for my next oil change to this same place because I had another coupon and they say that my pads are now dangerously low and I may need to replace the rotors which will raise the cost even more than $300.

6 months earlier, it was recommended to me that I change my spark plugs and after calling all of the shops that were well reviewed, I went with the one who offered the best price. He claimed that he used good spark plugs too. I think it was motorcraft brand.

Since I had a good experience getting the spark plugs replaced at a reasonable price, I went back to him to change the pads. He quoted $160 to replace pads, a lot more reasonable than $300.

He confirmed that the rotors were indeed worn but he would see if they could be machined and still be thick enough to be safe. If he needed to replace the rotors, it would be an additional $40 per rotor, $80 total. Still considerably cheaper than $300 just to swap pads.

I pick up the vehicle and he said he needed to replace the rotors. He showed me the old rotors he'd removed and explained the minimum safe thickness. He even charged me $10 less than he quoted when we settled so I was out the door with new pads AND new rotors for $230. I appreciated him taking the time to show me and the fact that I'd saved money. I resolved to use him for future work.

So today I go in for an oil and filter change on the gf's toyota sienna. I think it's a 2015. She was going to take it to the dealer and in my experience, they always overcharge for everything. So I take it to my guy and he says $90 for the oil and $25 for the filter explaining that it takes a special synthetic. I'm already there and have limited time and think that sounds really high but I say ok. I'm thinking that this sounds absurdly high though.

While I'm waiting, I call 2 different Toyota dealers and they quote $75 and 77 for synthetic oil+filter replace. I mention to him what they quoted and ask why the price is so high and he repeats himself about synthetic costing more and then says that he'll match the price this time. I must look like a big sucker. Now I think I have to start getting price quotes and multiple opinions again rather than trusting him to give me a fair price and good service.

Yes, I know I sound poor and obviously I don't know anything about cars. I just drive to get to point a to point b.

Tldr- mechanic I trusted tried to charge me $115 for an oil filter change. I must look like a sucker.
View attachment 455423

When you get a quote on brake pads, check to see what brand/type they are. One place could be quoting you cheap chinese pads and the other is quoting ceramic pads. It's always going to cost more at the dealer to get stuff done.

As for new rotors vs getting them machined, sometimes it's not much more to get brand new ones. Last time I checked on a Ranger, a new rotor was only about $10 more per rotor.

It sounds like the first guy that did your brakes did a good job. Find one mechanic and stick with him for all your stuff. When it comes to independent mechanics you're not just paying for labor, you're paying for years of knowledge.
 
I don't know a lot about vehicle maintenance. I usually just get the oil changed when it's scheduled and if the mechanic recommends something else I get a 2nd or 3rd opinion/quote but recently I thought I had found someone I could trust to not rip me off.

Last month, some other place tried to hose me and wanted to charge me $300 to replace the front brake pads on my Ford.

Previously, I had done an oil change at this place because I had a groupon deal. They said my pads were getting low but I would be fine until my next oil change. I come in on time for my next oil change to this same place because I had another coupon and they say that my pads are now dangerously low and I may need to replace the rotors which will raise the cost even more than $300.

6 months earlier, it was recommended to me that I change my spark plugs and after calling all of the shops that were well reviewed, I went with the one who offered the best price. He claimed that he used good spark plugs too. I think it was motorcraft brand.

Since I had a good experience getting the spark plugs replaced at a reasonable price, I went back to him to change the pads. He quoted $160 to replace pads, a lot more reasonable than $300.

He confirmed that the rotors were indeed worn but he would see if they could be machined and still be thick enough to be safe. If he needed to replace the rotors, it would be an additional $40 per rotor, $80 total. Still considerably cheaper than $300 just to swap pads.

I pick up the vehicle and he said he needed to replace the rotors. He showed me the old rotors he'd removed and explained the minimum safe thickness. He even charged me $10 less than he quoted when we settled so I was out the door with new pads AND new rotors for $230. I appreciated him taking the time to show me and the fact that I'd saved money. I resolved to use him for future work.

So today I go in for an oil and filter change on the gf's toyota sienna. I think it's a 2015. She was going to take it to the dealer and in my experience, they always overcharge for everything. So I take it to my guy and he says $90 for the oil and $25 for the filter explaining that it takes a special synthetic. I'm already there and have limited time and think that sounds really high but I say ok. I'm thinking that this sounds absurdly high though.

While I'm waiting, I call 2 different Toyota dealers and they quote $75 and 77 for synthetic oil+filter replace. I mention to him what they quoted and ask why the price is so high and he repeats himself about synthetic costing more and then says that he'll match the price this time. I must look like a big sucker. Now I think I have to start getting price quotes and multiple opinions again rather than trusting him to give me a fair price and good service.

Yes, I know I sound poor and obviously I don't know anything about cars. I just drive to get to point a to point b.

Tldr- mechanic I trusted tried to charge me $115 for an oil filter change. I must look like a sucker.
View attachment 455423

You said you want your oil changed.

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