I was in Somerset, NJ for a week last month and I asked if I was in North Jersey or South Jersey. I was told neither. Is that near where you are?
Ah, yes, the old debate regarding whether Central NJ exists…
Where in Somerset did you visit?
I am in a rural section of Somerset very close to the D&R Canal, between the villages of East Millstone and Blackwells Mills.
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Unfortunately, that type of ratio is not new. My '86 Taurus needed to have the heater core replaced, and the cost breakdown (if my memory serves me…) was something like $50 for the heater core, and about $900 for labor. Then, when you added in the cost of new coolant, and a necessary refrigerant recharge–plus shop supplies–the bill was something on the order of $1,300, which would equate to about $2,800 today.
The “joke” about the heater core job on that model is that the heater core was sent down the assembly line by itself, and then the rest of the car was built around it. The bottom line is that cars are rarely–if ever–designed for repairs that can be done easily/cheaply.
Even supposedly simple maintenance procedures can assume obscene proportions on some models, due to the way that they are constructed. While it is an extreme example, an oil change on a Bugatti Veyron typically costs $21,000. That’s $21,000, not $2,100!:
Im in South Jersey
… and I’m in Central NJ–which really does exist.
Shoot, it looks like I was right in your neighborhood and should have stopped by. I was at an automotive training facility just off Weston Canal Rd near 287.
I remember remarking how poorly NJ manages their roads because the guardrails along the canal were rusty. My host told me that canal floods periodically.
That is does. There are two causeways near me that are closed to traffic after torrential downpours, due to flooding. The cost of remediating this type of situation doesn’t warrant the inconvenience of 2 or 3 days of closure after very heavy rains. I’m located about 70 feet above the canal, so at least my home isn’t threatened when these situations take place.
I’m intrigued about where you might have been getting that training!
The only place that I can think of in that area is the Nissan/Infiniti headquarters, which is about a 10 minute drive from my house. I drive past it often, on my way to I-287.
Years ago I had a friend, but who I’d never actually met, who lived in Cherry Hill NJ. Needed to go on a business trip to Philadelphia, which I discovered is near to Cherry Hill, so paid her a visit. I have to say, she used very colorful language … lol …
Im in Cherry Hill, George.
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Fixed it for ya 
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Not so much getting training as developing it for a new 2024 model that’s hitting dealers now. Now that I’m not hands on in the trenches anymore I’m a technical trainer for a carmaker (I’d rather not say which one in a public forum).
Wish I would have known you are so close to where I was. I would have made time one evening to buy you a cold one. I will say the bagels we had in NJ were a far cry heavier than what we see in the PNW.
My daughter lives in the suburbs of Seattle, and what they call a bagel there is anything but.
Around here a bagel is a light breakfast snack. The bagels I had in NJ could be used as a complete meal or to fill a pothole.
You put a BIG schmear of cream cheese on it, and you’ve got yourself a meal.
That’s because it is very difficult to get authentic bagels once you are outside of the NYC/NJ Metro area. In order to make authentic bagels, one must boil them before baking them, and few shops in other parts of the country do that. If you don’t boil them, you just wind up with bread that is shaped like a bagel.
If I had known that you were in the area, I would have treated you to dinner at my favorite little local Italian place:
That place looks fantastic. It’s hard to find any place that still has veal on the menu.
I stayed at the Double Tree Hilton. Very nice. A bevy of car dealerships just down the street. I stopped by the Porsche place for a look-see what they had on the lot during an evening stroll. I quite liked the area, mostly well-kept suburban, but with close proximity to downtown Philly in case a person had a strong hankering for a steak & cheese sandwich. Or wanted to run up those steps pretending to be Rocky … lol .