Ray used to say something to this effect on the radio program; i.e. shop customers who prefer the shop take the quick-fix, inexpensive repair route often end up paying more than the customer’s who follow the shop’s “do it right the first time” advice. Wondering if posters here have their own stories to share on this topic?
I got to thinking about this while reading an article on a classic Bentley repair, misfire on two cylinders, coil & spark plug replacement requires removing the intake manifold from the twin-turbo 12 cylinder engine. Should all the coil packs and all the spark plugs be replaced? Or just the two coil packs and the two spark plugs?
Sometimes the extra “cost” is in time or frustration.
I see a lot of posts on here along the lines of, “The mechanic wants $XXX to do the job, I can do it myself for 1/2 that!” Folks like that usually end up spending 2-3X the time, and possibly even end up taking it to the mechanic to “finish” anyway.
I used to change the oil in my cars. One day, I was draining the oil in my car, in the garage, on a Saturday afternoon. The oil got away from me and started draining down my arm and all over the floor of the garage. Suddenly it hit me… what am I really “saving” here? I’ve ruined a shirt, made a mess in my garage, and STILL have to do something with this nasty used oil. Ever since then, I have a local mechanic I go to, where I drink his coffee in the waiting room. If you value your time, there’s really not a lot of difference in the price on an oil change nowadays.
Yes because the labor to do all 12 isn’t much more than 2 and VAG products have somewhat problematic coils. They’ll all need to be replaced soon enough.
I bought a 97K mile Suburban many years ago with a new alternator in it. It failed in a couple thousand miles. I bought what turned out to be a non-functional one from Pep Boys. I brought it back and got my old one back a d bought a rebuild kit for it. That lasted 4 months upon which I bought a more expensive AC Delco rebuilt. Problem solved. But I got VERY good at replacing those alternators.
That’s a torture that would keep me doing it myself.
A passerby saw a farmer holding his pig up to the apple tree to feed her apples. He told the farmer he’d save a lot of time if he knocked the apples down. The farmer asked, ‘Sure, but what's time to a pig?’
I build wheels for my bicycle. Because at least 5 years elapses between builds, I forget how to do it, pull out the instructions, make mistakes. Even if I make no mistake my saving is less than minimum wage for the time it took me. I like to do it.
I recently replumbed my bathroom and kitchen. I made a ton of mistakes. I discovered code violations that I had to throw a bunch of stuff away to remedy. I showered at the gym. No doubt plumbers would have been cheaper. (Though the ones who built my house didn’t follow code, so not them.) I’m glad I did it.
I started married life so broke I had to borrow the money for the marriage license. I worked and my wife took care of the house and the kids (4). I did not have the money to pay anybody to do anything. I learned to do plumbing,carpentry, electrical and auto and appliance repairs. Sears used to sell repair manuals for their appliances for $2.
Value my time? I used to enjoy fixing things every bit as much as watching TV…
Our cars used to go to the junkyard after about 8 years if used as a daily commuter because of the rust in the 50s,60s and 70s. That made buying a car for its engine or transmission, incredibly cheap, plus you could usually drive them to access the condition. Used cars with blown engines were also very cheap. Result, a good car for almost nothing. I never replaced an engine or transmission without replacing the rear main seal or the front seal on the transmission. I also stripped the cars of all easily removable parts for spares and I would give the cars to the junkyard if they let me take back the wheels and tires.
I no longer have my houseor garage and am living in a senior complexand I wouldn’t be changing engines or transmissions anymorem not because of my age (I work out at the Y 3 times a week, something I did not have to do when I was working and fixing things) but because used engines and transmissions are not cheap anymore.
It’s the cheapskate that spends the most. I had a friendly service station that would cut off the old pair of shocks and let me drive off and install the new ones. Rear springs would bounce the most.
I used to go there for state inspection and gladly pay for headlight alignment. $3.50 was reasonable back then and I could see the road!
The classic car restorer decided to replace all 12 of the spark plugs , but just the two coil packs (corresponding to the cylinders that the scan tool said were mis-firing). Apparently new coil packs for the Bentley are very expensive. Used are available for less, but they are used. What would I have done in that situation? No used coil packs, that’s out. So how many new coil packs I’d install would depend on how much the new ones cost. If I could replaced all 12 cylinder’s coil packs for $500, I’d go along w/ that. $1000 for all 12? Probably just the 2.
I changed my timing belt. Had front of motor tore down. Would have been easy to replace my oily alternator. But aftermarket alternators are sketchy quality.
Replacement alternators and starter motors seem pretty much like a crap shoot. Given the wasted time if you replace one with a faulty version, may make more sense just to keep the oem versions that came w/the new car and when they eventually fail, hire someone to rebuild them, or tool up & learn how to rebuild them yourself.
When I had my 2012 Toyota Camry and needed new brakes, I took the car to an independent shop to save money. But after the service was completed, the brake began to scream. I took it back and Was told the problem was corrected only to realize it never did. The problem was finally corrected at the dealer by swapping out the aftermarket parts to install OEM ones.
Annoying braking sounds after installing after-market brake parts is a pretty common experience expressed by the Car Talk radio program callers. Was on a recent Best of podcast in fact. However I’ve installed both aftermarket shoes and pads for 50 years, and never noticed any brake noise problem. My shoes and pads tend to last a very long time, gentle on the brakes, maybe that’s part of the reason. I also condition the surfaces as part of the job, another theory why I don’t have the noise problem.
