For the past little while I've known that my car has an oil leak. I can smell it once the car heats up and burns up whats leaked onto the engine.
I finally took it to a shop just around the corner to have them diagnose how bad the situation was. According to them it was $2365 worth of bad.
OUCH!!
In case you're wondering (I'm sure you were), this is what, according to this one shop, needs to be done.
Rear Main Seal on the engine - This is the most expensive procedure since they have to take the transmission out to get to it. ($900 labor/$50 part)
Valve Cover Gaskets - This one isn't too bad, but what chaps me the most is that I just had these replaced less than 6 months ago!! GRRR! I get seriously pissed off when I figure out I've been taken advantage of because I'm a chick. ($293 labor/$60 part)
Transmission pan gasket - This is another thorn in my feminist side!! The same time I had the valve cover gaskets done, they also did a transmission overhaul which included this gasket!! What in the name of all that is good and holy did this shop actually do for the $450 I gave them??? ($175 parts and labor)
It took me about an hour to recover from the shock and begin to look for places to get a second opinion, but once I did, I was on the phone with several shops that specialized in my make of car.
I tried calling West Houston VW, but all they wanted to do was keep me on hold for 10 minutes.
GOODBYE!
From word of mouth, I found two shops that specialize in German made cars. I called both; one gave me a quote over the phone, the other said they'd call me back. Never heard back, so I'm going with the shop that gave me the quote (Swiss Garage - Swiss because the guys that run it are from Switzerland).
For those of you who can add in your head or actually pulled out a calculator, you will note that the amounts I quoted above do not add up to $2365. The amounts above are what were quoted to me over the phone. Granted, there's always "extra" charges and tax to add onto that, but even so, it's a darn sight less than my original quote.
Yesterday on the way home I stopped to buy a quart of oil to put in my car to tide it over until the work could be done.
$4 FOR A QUART OF OIL!!
I'm sorry, how much?!?!
3 comments:
OUCH! I once cracked my oil pan- a $400 repair if I remember correctly. Darn speed bumps!
Sherri-Lynn
Don't you love being an adult? We get to make money just to see it spent faster than we'd like on things we'd rather not have to spend it on. Sorry about the car troubles.
I hate cars! I'm going to run away to a place where they don't need to use them. Seriously, it always seems to be something and I always feel like people are not being honest with me.
Post a Comment