I personally am no longer willing to feed the troll.
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For all that I share your idea about not further beating a dead horse, I donāt consider Mr. Quinlan a troll. Rather, he seems convinced his viewpoint is totally correct, seems unwilling to allow for differences of opinion, and felt compelled to keep arguing and not let go. As someone noted a ways back in this thread (apologies, Iāve forgotten who and am too lazy to scroll back) Mr. Quinlan seems to have linear thinking.
My comment that he simply must have the last word was a bit snarky on my part. If the conversation were exploring new ground as it piled up back and forth responses thatās great. But it wasnāt. Hey, I almost posted gifs of popcorn eating and cats looking back and forth like watching tennis players lob shots at each other. 
okay, Iāll make one more contribution.
First.
I think that there are a lot of overly sensitive people responding here. If Mr. Quinlan has two shops who wants to take him in - good. If all other shops denies that kind of work - good.
Second
If - as in my country - a part cost the same whether you buy it through the shop or yourself and all differences will be in the labour, youāll get a better transparency with regards to prices. Here the shops get parts at a discount as I stated in an earlier post.
The conditions are the same as at your place. I buy, I warranty and pay again - they buy, they warranty and do it over.
Thatās simple and logic.
Third
As an example (I get shops discount at a few parts shops) I bought a Varta 95 amp battery a few weeks ago. Out the door price for a ordinary person was 1050 money, my price via the discount was 500 money and he still made money on the deal. I think that is enough money to the shop and there are parts they make even more money off - and less. Off course they should make money on the parts, but if A marks up X% and B Y%, you donāt get a fair picture of where to get the best deal.
Nevertheless, as John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons in the British parliament often says The nays have it, the nays have it. 
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Lost a weight on a rear wheel, got both balanced, new weight added, no parts markup as no parts charge. $9.98 per wheel, what a deal.
Marnet, I donāt think you could ever be snarky. I, on the other hand, am not so well behaved.
Thank you, sir. But, trust me, I can be very smart mouthed and get in trouble from it on occasion. 
Donāt get me wrong. Marnet CAN be snarky. Problem is that she is so darned charming when she is. When she is, listen (read) carefully, because she is one very wise lady.
and I have highest respect for her as a person.
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Marnet won me over with the tenacity and charm she demonstrated with that business of her Toyotaās torque converter. If I thought my wife wouldnāt kill me, Iād try and get @Marnet to move in with me!
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Hey, You better keep Your place in the line-up. Iām in front of You. 
Gentlemen, thank you for your compliments. You are very kind.
I try to conduct myself as a lady and accord others courtesy. I VERY MUCH appreciate that I am treated well here in this forum. Thank you for that.
My brothers and I were blessed to have parents who both taught us and modeled for us how to conduct ourselves and treat other people with respectful courtesy.
My mother was every bit a lady but could quell anyone with just a look. When dealing with the torque converter problem and again the hubcab issue my patience reach its limit such I didnāt dare say anything I was so mad but apparently I must have my own version of āThe Lookā because my glare ended up getting results. 
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I know of what you speak. Around here they are $2500 plus another $1000 for the eventual crown, but worth it. Then I did the math for number of teeth times $3500 so Iām thinking maybe get a dog. Some would say elder abuse.
@Marnet. My parents were a lot like your parents. Treating people with dignity and respect pays off. For instance, I had to have a water pump replaced on my previous Sienna. A couple days later when I opened the hood, I found a ratchet box end wrench that the technician had left. I returned it to the service department. When I took our 4Runner in a couple of weeks later because I to charge the battery to get it started, the shop checked the battery and alternator and advised me to take the 4Runner for a 10 mile drive. My wife had broken her ankle and wasnāt able to drive and I hadnāt used her 4Runner very much. There was no.charge.
I got to know a lot of the service staff at the university where I was on the faculty. I hired some of them to do work around my house and at the church I attend. At the church, we had a leak in the roof. We had a roofing company out several times and paid over $400 and the roof still leaked. It was decided that the only thing we could do was to have some of the drywall removed from the ceiling and then we could find the leak. I asked one of the service staff to come and give me an estimate on removing the drywall. I met him at the church and showed him the problem. He asked if he could first go up on the roof. He went to his truck, got a ladder, went up on the roof, came down, went to the truck and got a caulking gun, and went back up on the roof. When he came down, he said āI think I fixed your problemā. The roof hasnāt leaked since. When I have seen him at work and asked him for the bill, he just laughs and walks on.
However, there is one service staff employee that cost me over $4000. He helps the woman across the street who lost her husband. He drove past my house one day when I was up.on a ladder cleaning the eaves troughs. He stopped his car, got out and yelled at me for being up on a ladder at my age. It became so inconvenient to clean my eaves troughs because I would have to have Mrs. Triedaq be a lookout and if she saw the man driving down the street, I would have to scurry down the ladder and hide it in the bushes. This was so inconvenient that I had new eaves troughs and leaf guards installed. I let this man know every time I see him at a ball game how much it cost me not to get up on the ladder.
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@bing. I think my implant was $1750 plus $1250 for the crown.
I have had trouble with my teeth and my feet. I have to wear orthodics in my shoes. My regular doctor diagnosed my problem as Hoof and Mouth disease.
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Are peopleāindividuals and business entitiesānot able to charge whatever they want for their items where you live? Brake pads, televisions, steaks, shoes, whatever? What kind of price regulations are there?
Off course you can - and would most likely drive your business into the ground. Europe and european countries has several international and even more national consumer protection organisations.
But it is not very often they have to take action. The markets regulate themself as price levels can support the business if you are an intelligent owner whether you sell burgers or brakepads.
They also know that āIā, as a customer, will scrutinize the market before I do any deals and āIā want transparency and quality for my hard earned money.
376, only 24 more.
No matter what service I am requesting; furnace repair, roof replacement, automotive repair etc, I donāt ask what they are charging for the parts. I could care less. All I care about is the total charge to get the service completed. I donāt need any transparency on parts and/or labor costs. I get one price to do the job and if I intend to shop around, I go to the next place and compare that same total price to the previous quote. What could be simpler than that?
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āI thought Quinlan was getting the last word? 
ā
He said ten posts laterā¦
Well I just got caught up on this marathon thread and feel compelled to say that obsessing over torque specs can be a losing proposition. My best example seems to be the intake manifold on a small block Chevrolet which uses some peculiar threaded pieces in various positions and if not properly seated all kinds of problems can occur. But a ātalentedā mechanic, sans torque wrenches, can consistently install the manifold without ever having a failure.
Like so many jobs thereās a great deal more involved with repairing cars than meets the eye.
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I donāt deal with the public, but do understand that my buying volume gets me cheaper costs on parts.
Just thought Iād say that and get comment #380 at the same time
Post #400 should get a prize.