Car repairs and the uninformed - how?
 

The wife took the family truckster (Honda Odyssey) in for state inspection. It passed but they gave her a couple page list of recommended repairs - rear brakes, lower control arm, wipers, power steering flush, brake flush all for the low low price of $1,800. And they missed the clearly blown rear shocks that due to work I hadn’t had a chance to replace yet.

She’s dealt with me for long enough to say thank you, take her inspection sticker, keys and leave.

Got all the work done, plus a bunch of other deferred maintenance completed this afternoon for a few hundred $ in parts and a couple hours of my time. No big deal, but how on earth do those who go into the shop blind manage to keep cars on the road? To be fair - she took it to the nearby chain tire joint rather than my local mechanic who is awesome, but not everyone has a local mechanic who is awesome.

Finished up, made myself a drink and sent my dad a message thanking him for teaching me how to do this stuff decades ago.

I had some concrete work done at my house and the contractor brought his 14 year old son to help. That kid worked his butt off. I was so impressed. I talked to him at the end of the day and he pulled out his phone( the only time all day) and showed me pictures of a 67 mustang he is restoring. Sure was nice to see!

I'm with you, do it yourself. However how much should it cost at a pro shop? 1800 doesn't seem that crazy, dealership would probably be 2x honda is pretty high on factory parts. e

Yeah - I don’t know. Certainly I may be out of touch with current shop costs. Honda genuine parts are definitely not for the faint of heart- the shop was quoting aftermarket, and I suppose parts costs have gone a bit nuts lately.

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I don't hold Honda to the high bar I used to.
Now, at times, I can't even get Parts for it at the dealer !!. ( I have quit flaps)
The latest is the washer pump for the windshield, which is backordered for an indefinite time!
This is a 2017 Hatchback.
There are other problems too...
Blah blah.

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My wife has a 2011 Odyssee (purchased new) that has 158K absolutely trouble free miles. It’s been to the dealership about 3 times, once for the timing belt/waterpump at 100K miles and a couple of times for recalls for a spring under the back seat. I’ve done all the oil changes, brakes, filters and other maintenance items.

Pmax, what site did you use to estimate ownership costs? TIA

Wow, my 2012 Honda pilot just keeps going. 130k miles only done service and brakes. That includes towing small trailers.

As to mechanics, my sis once called me in tears about her car. All the studs were broken on a rear wheel that she had a shop put new tire on a week before. Then they wanted a ridiculous amount to do new rear wheel bearings because they claimed they had to pull the axle to change the studs.

I went down while the car was on the lift, and showed them how pop out the old studs without. Then reminded them that the likely cause was not torquing the wheel when replaced. You could see they were fresh snaps, not rust or cracks.

They did it for free, and I checked torque when she got it back.

I have a local mechanic that specializes in tire sales and brake and shocks. But, he will do more if needed.
I had 115k miles on my Prelude and I figured it was time for it's first new pads...at a minimum. I dropped it off at his place...didn't want to mess with the brakes myself.

I got a call back later and he said "you have over half of the pad life left...we can do new ones, but you should get a few more years before needed. Rotors look good" I thanked him and picked up the car.

It would have so easy for him to just 'do it, for the sale'...but he was honest about it.

Being a manual....saves on brake work.

Wow, 54 grand just to own a Honda for 5 years. Astonishing.

I just ran a report on my automotive spending for both my 911 and my El Camino. Over the last 5 years for everything, including tools I have bought, and everything but insurance for the two cars it came to $14,650 bucks.

Of course depreciation is not an item as both cars have increased in value. And they are fairly cheap to insure as I have a pristine driving record, and keep them at home in a garage at night.

I had no idea owning new cars cost that much. I don't track my wife's Macan as it is her car and her money for maintenance. The Macan has bee totally bullet proof, and only routine maintenance has been done. I have done the oil changes, and battery replacement.

It’s quite funny watching Porsche owners worry about car depreciation costs.

Treat it as an appliance.
Like your GE or Miele white goods, they are all the same. They all break. You just buy at the price point you are comfortable with.

Hell the analogy is unintentionally apt - the Miele stuff was 3x the price and broke down 5x as much as the GE chez nous.

A lot of people have to pinch pennies in other aspects of the financial life in order to afford a Porsche. I'm not surprised to see Porsche owners being financially conservative .

Was hoping this might be a thread about blatant rip-offs by repair shops. Example:

My daughter has an older Honda Civic (2015). Took it to a Meineki (sp?) because of a “funny noise” while rolling along. They told her she needed new brakes, rotors, alignment and shocks…$1400. I had put new brakes on it less than 5k miles earlier. Went to a Walmart service center and they diagnosed a bad tire (belt separation) that she bought there. Tire replaced under warranty. Problem solved.

A similar story when my son took his car in for tires while away at school. The thievery seems commonplace and almost expected.

240k on Our 2017 hatchback civic.
For sure I don't count soft parts as being a problem. In the old days we consider soft parts as belts ,hoses,Tires brakes, stuff that wears out.
This civic has had endless little problems with hashback opener, air conditioning problems. A Myriad of other little things...like a fiat lol

55K miles on my 22 Civic.....not one problem so far.
One recall for the steering rack needing grease...done.

My trade in for the Civic was a 2010 Honda Fit with 260K....never had a problem with it.

.

Lol
No thanx!
I bought a new fiat Abarth.
Was a large pile of junk.

Many/most places that work on cars are, IMO, crooks. Many, MANY years ago, I worked at FLAPs and saw many, many instances where shops were trying to screw people over for something that should have been a cheap, easy fix (in one case, it was total fraud for something that I fixed for free by screwing the oil filter on). I've had several shops recommend work to me that was either their fault or completely bogus. I don't think they are all malicious or fraudsters. Many may be crooks due to incompetence.

If/when you find a trustworthy shop (they are out there), hold on to them as they are rare.

I suspect this could be the same story just replaced with any other maintenance item on houses, appliances, etc that people who are uneducated in repair work.

I’ve heard similar outrageous quotes and cost for window and furnace replacements.

We can’t forget that there are many honest people doing work for others, but how would the uneducated consumers know? I’m so glad that my path in life gave me so many learning and skill gathering opportunities.

I have a great muffler place a few miles away who have done great by me several times, offerings to weld in new sections rather than selling me a whole factory piece.

Yep, I've had quotes for all sorts of stuff that were silly. I'm glad that my dad was mechanical. His main thing was cars, but he was willing to tackle other stuff too, electrical, plumbing, etc... We didn't have the opportunity to do much of that together as I was growing up because being in the military, we didn't own the house that we were in, but he still fixed a lot of little, simple stuff.

So I'm usually happier trying to fix many/most things myself. Most of the stuff that you hire someone to do around a house isn't rocket surgery or brain science.