Car Trouble: A Real-Life Lesson in the Value of an Emergency Fund
Published on - January 9th, 2008 (Modified on - October 14th, 2009) (by J.D. Roth) 
I drove south yesterday morning to meet with Mac, my partner at Get Fit Slowly. Between Portland and Salem, a warning light came on in my Ford Focus — the temperature gauge had risen into the red. I pulled to the side of the road, called to cancel our meeting, and cursed fate. I hate my car. After the engine cooled, I nursed the vehicle to the local Ford dealership. I gave them the keys, and then drove off in a service rental, marveling at how fine it was to be in a car with a working heater.
In the afternoon, the shop called with the damage. (I’m half-remembering this conversation — I don’t know anything about cars, so I probably have the details wrong, though the numbers are right.) “Your coolant system is shot,” the woman told me. “There was a crack near the thermostat, which apparently allowed the coolant to drain out completely. It’ll cost $373 to fix.”
I sighed. “That may fix the trouble with your heater, too,” the woman said. “The bad news is we found other problems. You know the airbag light that was on? That’s not good. Right now, the airbag won’t deploy in a crash. If you want that repaired, it’ll cost another $432.”
“Yes, I definitely want the airbag fixed,” I said. Seven years ago an airbag saved my life. Call me superstitious, but I won’t drive a car without one now.
“There’s one more thing,” the woman said. “The key is stuck in the ignition. We can’t get it out.”
I sighed again. This has been a problem for over a year, but I’ve always managed to work around it. The shop, however, was stymied. “We need to replace the ignition. It’ll cost $135 for a new tumbler, and about $225 for labor. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to get into the steering column to replace it.”
She clicked her keyboard. “The total so far is $1165.”
I was silent for a moment. $1165. That’s a lot of money, especially for a car I don’t like. (It’s 5% of a Mini Cooper!) But what other choice did I have? “Go ahead,” I said. “Go ahead.” Though I’m certainly not happy about this situation, I know it won’t lead me to financial ruin — I have an emergency fund.
Back when I was living paycheck-to-paycheck, $1165 in car repairs would have been a devastating blow. It would have put me into a panic. I wouldn’t have had any idea where to get the money, and likely would have charged the repairs to a credit card. Today, my mind is more at ease.
I have about $1500 saved in my savings account. The car repairs will drain this money, obviously, and I’ll have to restart from nearly zero, but I won’t have to get a loan or use a credit card. Best of all, I won’t have to divert money from my existing financial goals. (Yes, I’ll need to rebuild the emergency fund, but since increasing that to $10,000 is one of my goals for 2008, this should happen quickly.)
This is yet another instance in which I’ve been able to appreciate a real-life application of the Get Rich Slowly philosophy.
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Oof! I am afraid you may have been ripped off by the dealership. Yes, you may have had these problems, but it is always better to get a second opinion from an independent shop that you have a good relationship with.
They don’t call them $tealers for nothing.
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You may want to question them a little more on the ignition repair. There are known issues with them, but Ford refuses to recall apparently.
http://www.fazmiclaw.com/focus.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_focus_ignition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/FocusIC/petition.html
No matter what you should call Ford customer service and let them know what you think of the quality of there vehicles. Sometimes they will help you out with the cost of repairs.
Good luck.
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JD — I feel for you — my car needed nearly $1500 worth of work right after Christmas. It’s a 1995 Volvo and I don’t hate it like you hate your car — but it did occur to me my repairs were a big part of the value of the car. But hey — it’s still a heck of a lot cheaper than a new one. And yes — an emergency fund kept this from being a disaster for us as well. Having that cushion makes all the difference in the world.
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Sorry to hear about the Focus. Both of my brothers-in-law own or have owned Foci. Michael’s we used to call the “Silver Bullet”, and Trey’s we call the “Red Dragon.” Obviously, these are “pet” names that indicate performance and prestige that actually does not exist. I can honestly say that the Ford Focus is a cheaply made, unreliable vehicle that I am very sorry you have to drive and now have paid for this large expense.
FYI, the Silver Bullet engine “blew up”, or otherwise required complete replacement (a couple grand). After the expensive repair, Michael sold it not too long ago and now drives a used 2002 Camry. The Red Dragon is still in service, albeit the A/C compressor does not work, and the blower only works on max flow. Both Trey and Michael dispise the Focus.
This is a good time to point readers to the book you recommended previously, “How to live well without a car” by Balish. I recently checked this book out, hoping to a) get inspired to start bike-commuting to work again b) look for tips on saving money and c) get information to decide if my wife and I truly “need” 2 cars or if we can go down to one. I know now after reading the book that a car-free lifestyle isn’t possible for everyone. However, the information in that book makes you think ahead about different ways of doing things. I believe one of the most useful tips is the backup plan for getting to work. For example, if you normally cycle to work, how else might you get to work (i.e. public transit, carpool, walk, cab, work from home, etc.). I’d venture to say that perhaps this information might enable someone in a predicament like this car emergency to have options that they might not have thought of. This could enable one additional time to get secondary estimates on auto repair, or time to think about what they really are better off doing (repair, or selling/trade-in). Also, for those who are mechanically inclined, this may give you time to locate parts, and do the repair yourself at your own pace. Quite possibly, you might end up completely free of a car expense after reading this book!
Incidentally, today is my 3rd day of bike commuting, and I have already saved almost 3/4 a gallon of diesel fuel…
Good luck with the Focus… You’ll need it!
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Not sure but you may want them to check head and gasket if it got hot. Many times this blows out.
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Emergency funds are such a great idea. Sorry to hear you’re having car trouble though, at least the service rental is nice.
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Sorry to hear about your car problems
We recently had to have new brakes among other things and it went on the ole credit card since we lack an emergency fund. On Monday we cashed in $17,000.00 worth of stock options and it will go directly into savings for future emergencies. Even though we have significant debt we realized we would never get ahead w/o a cushion. It is tempting to pay off a big chunk of debt w/the money but we decided we need to pay it off w/blood, sweat & tears since we got ourselves into this mess in the first place!
Thanks for being such an inspiration JD!
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Sorry you are having car trouble, J.D., but how great it is that you can deal with it without derailing your PF strategy!
Still, I can’t help but agree that you should not have authorized the repair, at least not yet.
I only second-guess you because I have learned the hard way.
I suggest:
1) For a repair this expensive, get a second opinion from another repair shop or a knowledgeable friend.
2) The repair was $1165. Take a little time to see what kind of used car $2500 could get you.
3) If you like taking your car to a dealership, ask to speak directly to the mechanic for any significant repairs. I’m not saying service managers try to talk you into unnecessary repairs, but, well…
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Wow. Sorry to hear that JD. How much is the car worth? After you get it fixed, at least you’ll have more peace of mind!
Having an emergency fund has saved my neck on many occasions but is sure is a pain anyway.
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I can sympathize! I’ve been blogging the past week about my car repair woes. In my case though – I have (had?) the emergency fund, but only had $1266 in it and my car repair…. $3700. Yes… $3700. Well, it might be $3600 now, my spouse negotiated a discount after calling a billion other places.
My engine died. My I thought ultra-reliable Saturn killed its engine. Now I find out that my model Saturn is kind of a lemon among Saturns. But I still owe $3300 on the car so, well… we sucked it up and it is being fixed right now.
We are faced with financing a portion of the repair. it is the first time I have used a credit card to get me out of a problem in more than 4 years. We are paying ~$2700 up front (by draining just about every resource we have) but we just can’t come up with more than that in a week’s time. So the other ~$900ish is being same as cash financed for 90 days, and I will throw every penny at it I can and IT WILL BE GONE long before my time is up. The snowflake revolution continues.
I’m glad your emergency fund was enough to fix your car! And I hope next time, mine is too. That’s my goal.
Good luck and enjoy your working heater
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I do admit that at times like this, I worry that I’m getting “taken” by the dealership. I’m too ignorant to know, and it’s frustrating. I have to trust that because they’re a local business with a big role in the community, that they treat their customers fairly.
This does reinforce my desire, as Dan mentioned, to reduce my reliance on my car. Once my transition to full-time writer has been completed, I’ll use a vehicle much less. This will be a good thing.
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Yeah, I’m afraid of what a local place would have saved you.
I bet you could have gotten all that done for $500.
I absolutely hate dealerships. They are the worst place to do pretty much anything.
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Kevin brings up an interesting point — I might have been able to save if I had a local garage that I knew and trusted. But how do I find such a place. I suppose word of mouth is the best place to start, but what else can I do? Are there web sites devoted to reviewing mechanics? Is there some way to tell if a shop is trustworthy? I’ve been taking my car to the dealership ever since I bought it. Maybe that’s not the best choice.
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JD–Oh, that stinks. The Subaru needed quite a bit of work earlier this year and we had to suck it up and pay for it. Much of it was maintenance–hit that 90,000 mile mark–that will hopefully get us through the next few years! If you find a good, local mechanic, please let us know. We are still using PDX Automotive–they offer great service–but they are a bit far to go now that we live on the south end of town.
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JD,
Unless your car is still under warranty, it’s always better to go to an independent garage than the dealership.
Dealership garages tend to have higher per-hour charges, inflate the hours needed, and always charge more for parts (your ignition tumbler, for example, can be purchased online for $60). Often independent garages will install parts that you provide or work with you on what repairs are absolutely required and what you can defer or repair to the point that “it looks bad but works fine”.
It also pays to shop around! My wife recently backed into another car, denting the hatch on her Subaru Forester and rendering the hatch inoperable. Estimates ranged from $400 to $1600 (the most expensive was from a dealership who wanted to replace the hatch). We ended up finding a local mechanic that pulled the dent and replaced the hatch latch for $225! It definitely doesn’t look factory-fresh, but it works great.
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The Ford Focus has a reputation of being an inexpensive but unreliable car. Sometime paying more for a better quality item ends up being the more frugal decision in the long run. If you truly hate the car so much personally I’d think about upgrading to a more reliable used model that you actually enjoy . . . maybe a used 2-3 year old Cooper?
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Glad you had an emergency fund but – please stop getting your car fixed at a stealership! You could have spent half that at a reputable mechanic.
I’m not saying to learn to do it yourself, I’m not saying to go to some hick who works on the cars in his backyard – I’m just saying there are plenty of great mechanics (get referrals) who will do quality work for less money.
Many of them are former dealership mechanics who realized how much the dealership is making while paying them pennies and struck out on their own (and, are more experienced at fixing YOUR car than the mechanic at the dealership)
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my parents always told me this every time I start talking about cars
“Ford = Fix Or Repair Daily”
After reading this story, that phrase fit!
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Start saving for a new car — this one could bleed you to death. Focus on reliability when you do (check out Consumer Reports before you buy.)
Sorry to hear about your bad luck. I’ve been there and know how you feel — like you’re pouring money down a drain.
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Did the dealership tell you what caused the crack in the coolant system? If it was caused by a collision (like with a curb or something) or by a flying rock then you might consider calling your insurance company. Depending on your deductible amount they might could help cover some of the cost of the coolant system and possibly that air bag light. Those things don’t just come on. It may have come on as a result of whatever caused that coolant leak.
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I had a similar situation about a year ago; the car needed repairs and it cost more than I was expecting. Unfortunately I was living paycheck to paycheck at the time so I know exactly the type of panic you were referring to. The emergency fund is for exactly this type of situation. Hope the car doesn’t break further.
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J.D., my husband and I started “the mechanic test” by sending me in alone when our car needed something minor. (You know what they say about women and cars.) Any place that was condescending, or outright lied or made things up, was eliminated. It was only a starting point, but it helped weed out a few jerks.
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I’m sure every person on this blog has a car repair horror story, so I won’t go there.
I still get my oil changes at the local Saturn dealership because their prices are competitive and the mechanics work Saturns all day. At first, I fixed everything they told me because I wanted to take good care of my car.
But now, when I take it for a change, I know the phone call is coming. I have it rehearsed.
“You need to have your steering column fluid flushed.”
“No.”
“Your motor mounts are broken, do you want to go ahead and fix that?”
“No.”
And so on. I can really sympathize with you, J.D., because they give you the same “You’re lucky you even got here in this thing” urgency every time, and you feel like if you don’t do what they say, it’s like saying your relative can get by without that transplant.
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like it or not cars need regular repair. whatever your current auto repair budget category is multiply it by two.
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@Eric – what a great idea to call Ford customer service! Why didn’t I think of that with Saturn…. I went to their website and shot them off a long detailed email about exactly my opinion. (They didn’t have a customer service phone number). Thanks!!!!
@JD – I have the same problem – I don’t have a trusted local mechanic. This is what we did (but it might have been easier for our repair, because it was “replace the engine”.
I took at face value what our dealer said needed to be done. Then we called every place in the phone book and said “We have a 2001 Saturn L300 and it needs a new engine. Can you give us a quote unseen?” and almost every place would. Then we took the lowest quote, went to our dealer where the car was, and said “We can get it done for 10% less somewhere else, can you match that or do we need to get it towed there instead?” and after about 14 seconds of the “discuss with manager” they matched our quote.
So it is being fixed at a dealership but at the best price we could find. Still outrageous but…. heh.
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I have to be the devil’s advocate here for the Focus . . . I’ve driven mine to 75,000 miles so far and never had a problem–just regular maintenance. My aunt has well over 100,000 miles on hers and it’s the same story.
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I recently had a test of my emergency fund. I have $2000.00 for my emergency fund and the engine in my truck blew up over the weekend. I still owe $11,000 on the stupid truck and they want $4000 for a used engine.
This leaves me wondering what I should do next!?
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Sorry for your troubles.
General Rule #1 in car ownership – NEVER go to the dealer for non-warranty work.
You can find a good trustworthy shop through word of mouth. If you can’t find out through friends, family, or coworkers go online and find some local auto-club and ask them.
Even picking a shop out of the phone book is a safer bet than going with the stealership.
Better luck next time.
…again, sorry for your troubles. Even with that bill Click’n'Clack (CarTalk) say fixing your car is ALWAYS cheaper than buying new.
Ian
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My wife’s car had a similar problem with the ignition except in her case the key would not turn unless she slamed it pretty hard into it (which was exceptionally unfortunate because she has problems with her wrist and the hitting probably did not help). Anyway, eventually one day all of a sudden, it would not turn at all. We had to talk the convenience store we were at into not towing us before morning and get it towed then to the dealer. Thankfully, her dad paid for it (we were only dating at the time) because I know she could not have afforded it.
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As an aside, I am torn on the issue of dealers. You are going to pay more, but I have been slowing learning that you are more likely to get the problem fixed correctly if the problem is non-obvious and requires a lot of diagnostic work.
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Two points to address.
1. I can testify to having an emergency fund and to budgeting everything on paper. I live in the Denver area and we had some serious snowfall a couple weeks ago. I slid off the road driving home and plowed my car into a tree. Since it was a $3000 car, we didn’t have collision coverage, and the damage would have cost at least half the total cost of the car. So we replaced it with a $2000 car. Emergency fund plus reallocating money we budgetted for something else paid for the replacement, within a week of the accident.
2. I found our current mechanic through our church. He’s on the church board and is highly recommended from other people. It also turns out the guy I bought the replacement car is a mechanic and has slightly better rates for labor
.
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I really like my mechanics. They take the time to educate me about my car when I’m there, they never leave my car until the last minute (like most dealerships I’ve known), and they always come in under their estimates on both time and money. Often the same guy works on my car every time I bring it in, which means he has some history with me and my car. He knows that I’m likely to not repair things and he has learned how to let me know which problems really are serious enough to get my attention. I’d rather run a car into the ground than pay to have everything repaired all the time, which is why I love my 1995 Toyota Corolla. It already had 165,000 miles on it when I got it and all I’ve really had to repair was the brakes (and the ignition, which I have now had to replace in both my Focus and the Toyota. My mechanic told me it might be the weight of my keychain, so I’ve lightened it up).
My mechanics are great guys. It took a while to diagnose the actual problem when my Focus finally did die catastrophically. When the final verdict was that the engine needed to be completely replaced they actually gave me the option to sell them the car for the cost of repairs already done. I gladly did so. They saved me from having to figure out what to do with a completely dead car.
The Car Talk guys have a section of their web site dedicated to helping people find and recommend mechanics. When you decide to escape the clutches of the dealership you might start there: http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/
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@Debby – that stinks. Ugh. If you are me, you’d replace the engine, finance the extra, and cry a lot. You might not be me.
Good luck, whatever you decide!!
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In terms of checking out mechanics, we’ve used a few different places for routine service: oil changes, etc. to see who had the best prices, did the best job and we trusted the most. Then, by the time an emergency came up, we had a place ready. (And we don’t really use the car, so we never really have an “emergency.”)
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You guys are awesome.
When people ask me why I keep this site, what my goals are, I tell them, “First, to teach myself about money. Second, to share what I’ve learned with other people. Third, to make a living.” Often I focus on the second and third part of this equation.
I love it when you guys are able to school me. This thread has made me resolved to find a good mechanic close to my house. I didn’t realize dealerships charged inflated prices, though I suppose it makes sense.
Also, because Kris listens to Car Talk every Saturday, I’ve hear Click and Clack’s “It’s always cheaper to repair than buy new” litany a million times. I keep repeating that to myself.
I like Ian’s comment above: General Rule #1 in car ownership – NEVER go to the dealer for non-warranty work. It makes me think I should piece together general rules of car ownership #s 2-10.
Finally, thanks for that link, Amber!
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JD, try http://www.yelp.com to look for honest recommendations for mechanics (and for just about anything else you could think of… restaurants, hair salons, etc!)
I’ve been building up my emergency fund based on stuff I’ve read on this site and others, and it definitely gives me a comforting feeling to know that if I suddenly get a 1k car repair bill, I have it covered.
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I sympathize–don’t have a mechanic we like right now and it’s so maddening to feel like maybe you are being taken advantage of but you have no way of really knowing.
Only place I know of to go for customer reviews of mechanics is the Car Talk site: http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/
Good luck! I really enjoy your blog.
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Also, cars ALWAYS break down. Shouldn’t we have a modest car maintenance/repair fund so that we don’t have to use our emergency fund for this? It would depend on the car, but how many cars don’t cost at least $300 or $600 per year minimum in maintenance and repair? Sure, you’ll buy a used car and then go two years without any problem, but then you have to replace belts, plugs, wires, tires, brakes–not to mention random exhaust, electrical, radiator, or fuel system problems that seem to randomly happen.
Beyond gasoline and oil changes, your car is just like your furnace or your ISP–it costs money each month. It just doesn’t bill you in nice steady intervals. So bill yourself.
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Do yourself a favor and next time do not buy another Ford – or any american car – Try a subaru for your next ride…my beater has 220K and I only need to change the oil…
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This happened to me three times last year, and I was in the very rare position to pay cash for each one. It didn’t affect my finances other than it drained my emergency fund a bit. It was a fabulous feeling. I had been saving money for a while and actually having money when I needed it made a bad situation (car breaking down) less of an ordeal.
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Luckily we have a friend at our dealership who gets us good prices/no labor charges on work! Plus we have a friend who knows our brand of car inside and out, we save a lot of money on doing repairs ourselves.
As for finding a mechanic, you could maybe check out your local CitySearch (ie, detroit.citysearch.com) and look up mechanics there. We came upon ours on accident – my car’s drive shaft broke on the way home last year and my husband called the Aamco near us to see if they could get it towed to their shop. They towed it for a cheap price (from one side of town to the other), told us not just what we needed fixed, but what was necessary NOW and what could wait a while, and charged us a fair price (we checked around). They were a gem to find! People aren’t always so lucky, I know. Good luck, I know how it sucks to fix cars – after plowing about $3k into my old car we finally bit the bullet and bought a newer (used) car. The peace of mind is worth having a car payment again.
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I’ve heard some strange theories on how to find the best mechanic. One of my old professors told us (in a class on ethics) that whenever he moves, he looks for a mechanic that is a practicing Jahova’s Witness.
The best indicator for me is the same one I use for finding good restaurants. Whenever I call my mechanic, I tell them what’s wrong and they say “I’m really busy right now, I can’t get you in until Monday of next week” (or something). They are busy because they are a good value, and they have a strong customer base. This mechanic isn’t super close to my house, he (Larry of L & L auto in lakewood, CO) has his shop on a lower income area, and I think that makes his prices more competitive, as well as increases the experience of his mechanics (because there are lots of old cars around).
At any rate, even the worst deal on an independent mechanic (as long as it gets fixed) is going to be better deal than any dealership.
I hope you save at least half of that money after everything is settled.
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@Debby, you’re in a tough spot. I think what you just discovered is that you aren’t going to be able to afford a new car or truck anytime soon. So make sure you get it done right now, and remember this incident whenever you get that urge to “upgrade” to a newer vehicle with expensive financing. And $2000 isn’t enough for an emergency fund. It should be at least 6 months of your salary after taxes. If you can’t afford that, then you certainly can’t afford your truck.
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My sister-in-law’s 2003 Focus had the same problem where the key wouldn’t turn in the ignition two weeks ago.
After some quick Googling by wy wife and father-in-law, we discovered this was a common problem with the Focus.
The solution is to tap the key (toward the steering column) with a hammer until the tumblers engage. This worked like a charm and saved my sister-in-law a few hundred dollars in repairs.
Now she keeps a hammer in her trunk just in case it happens again; it’s not the greatest situation in the world, but she’ll get by.
As an aside, my wife also has a 2003 Focus and we haven’t had any problems with it.
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I just discovered this site today. This is a wonderful site that I plan to visit often.
When it comes to buying an inexpensive car, I have some ideas I can share from a recent experience.
After totaling a car, I wanted to pay cash for my next ride.
I went to all of the local dealerships and asked, “What do you have for $3,000?” Some of the commission-based sales reps looked a surprised and one even asked if I meant $3,000 for a down payment. I just smiled and said that was my price range and told them it was fine if they didn’t have anything available.
Surprisingly, there were a few good reliable finds. I finally ended up with an Infiniti Q45 with only 119,000 miles for $2,400. It is older but it runs like a champ and is even a hot rod when you step on it.
The point being, by being non-conventional, one can save some dollars and put money in more meaningful places.
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I share in your Ford-driving woes. At the time we bought our Taurus, it was the best we could afford (lowest miles for the price). Anyway, I have two thoughts that may help you next time. First, have them only repair the thing that needs repaired to get the car running (the cooling system), then call around about the ignition, air bag, etc. Second, to find a good mechanic, have your car towed and ask the tow truck driver. Those guys know who’s slime and who’s great more than anyone else.
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I traded in my old car. It was a disaster for me, one repair after another it seemed. I kept telling myself that all of this stress, money for repairs, etc. was a lot easier than paying for a new car. I don’t think that’s necessarily the truth.
If you find yourself in the position frequently of making car repairs, getting stranded in the middle of nowhere, risking your livelyhood and more–consider the peace of mind of actually buying a near new car (LOW miles but used).
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Another acronym for Ford – Found On Road Dead.
I’m a firm believer in regular maintaince. Even if you go to a dealership for regular check-ups, they will probably point out sommething else that needs to be done, but at least you know it’s driveable and it will give you time to get a second opinion.
I bought a used Saturn in 2006 (my second one). I took it to the dealership for it’s 40K check-up and they said the brakes would have to be done next time around. They said it would cost something like $250.
This is a great help because it gives me a head’s up and a chance to shop around or save the $250. It also gives me a chance to have it fixed before more damage can occur making an even larger bill. Saturn and their dealerships have been really good in this respect. I’ve never felt screwed. I drove my last Saturn until it had about 189,000 miles on it and I sold it for $750.
Best way to find a reliable independent garage is word of mouth, but you may also find something in CraigsList. My BF found a motorcycle mechanic looking for side jobs that way. They will usually charge half of what the dealerships do.
It’s always good to try to know a little bit more about your car. As a female, you get a lot of people trying to pull the wool over your eyes so I made a point to know as much as I can about my vehicle. I’ve suprised a few garage guys in my time.
If nothing else, read your owners manual and learn how to do a few basic things like changing your own oil, replacing lights, etc.
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First of all, is it truly cheaper to keep repairing your car? I ask b/c in 2002 we were given a 96 Ford Taurus. We spent over $5000 in trying to repair it before the transmission fell apart in our driveway. At the time, we already had a 2001 Taurus. The first three years we owned it, there were no problems, but after that we literally were paying over $3000 a year in various repairs, and there were still outstanding issues that we couldn’t afford to fix. The kicker was when we realized that even with car payments, I was paying less for my newer Civic yearly than we were for the Taurus which we owned outright. When we traded it in, it needed over $2500 in repairs just to keep it on the road. In looking around at postings on Edmunds, it seems that about 66% of 5+ year old Fords are fairly reliable, but the 33% that aren’t reliable fail miserably, and continue to have one problem after another. You may find yourself with another expensive problem before you’ve had a chance to replace the emergency fund money that you had to use.
Secondly, not all dealers are horrible monsters looking to rip you off. Our local Honda dealer is very reasonably priced, and provides great service. We did use a highly recommended local garage when we first got here, and we found that we could never get out of there without ending up with a $750 bill or higher, even when it was just supposed to be an oil change on a newer car. They’d always have something that ‘had’ to be fixed, and generally it would be something that you can’t easily check on. Just because some or many dealers are rip offs doesn’t mean that all of them are.
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My sister recently took her 2 year old leased Nissan to Nissan for repairs because it would not start. Nissan called her back to tell her she needed just under $800 of repairs. She decided to get a second opinion, towed the car to PepBoys and fixed the car for less than $100. She wrote a written complaint to the motor vehicle dealer board because the major repair they suggested & quoted could not have been diagnosed had the car not been running according to PepBoys.
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