Mild badassity saves $580 in car repairs

[El Marinero]

I had my 9 year old car into the dealership to address a manufactuers recall.  That is a bit of an inconvenience to get the car into the dealer 10 miles away, but it is done at no cost to me.

Here's where it gets a little interesting.

The dealer calls me during the day, and say they found a few issues:
Leaking axle shaft seal  -- $495 to fix
Dirty air filter               -- $55 to install
Dirty cabin air filter      --  $55 to install

I knew it was about time for the filters to be changed, so I wasn't surprised at that.  But I hadn't seen any fluid drips on the driveway, so I wasn't too sure about the axle leak.  Google informed me it was a fairly common issue with my model, though.

I politely decline the offer of their services, and 1) order the air filters from Amazon and 2) call my experienced neighborhood mechanic and arrange to bring the car in.

The outcome:
1) Air filters cost $25  total and took at most 5 minutes to replace, requiring no tools. 
2) My exceedingly honest mechanic saw no sign of an axle leak once the car was on the lift. He thought that there might be a slight oil leak from the oil pan, and tightened the bolts there.  He REFUSED to take any payment for his services.  We'll keep an eye on the axle seal.

Net result - $580 more in the stash, and it all took less time that a one way trip to the dealership. Did I mention that my mechanic is a 5 minute walk from home? That's about as convenient as it gets.

I can't claim much in the way of badassity - I just know that independent mechanics are much cheaper than the car dealership service.  If the seal had needed to be replaced, the quote from my mechanic was $240 - less than half the dealer's price

[backpacker]

Nice work!

[MandalayVA]

Independent mechanics rule.  Our guy Tony lives three blocks from us and has done super work on the older of our two cars, a 2001 Honda CR-V.  As a great unknown pundit once said, middle managers are a dime a dozen but a good car mechanic is worth his/her weight in gold.

[Exhale]

Any recs for good independent mechanics in Seattle?

[AnonymousCoward]

Check out Car Talk's Mechanics Files. That's where Car Talk listeners recommend mechanics.

If you're not familiar with Car Talk check it out too. It was a radio call-in show that ran from 1987-2012. They still air reruns and re-edits on NPR and on their website. You can learn a lot of general knowledge from listening. It's also pretty funny usually.

[socaso]

A good mechanic is worth their weight in gold! We love our mechanic and my parents have a great shop they use. My mom was so pleased with her mechanic she baked him brownies! I asked if he was pleased and she said he was more confused by the gesture.

[Elderwood17]

Nothing beats a good, honest independent mechanic!

Nice work.

[Cressida]

Any recs for good independent mechanics in Seattle?

We used to use Champagne Service in Lake City when we lived up north. We live south of the ship canal now, so had to find a new one but haven't had a lot of luck. I will say, I'm no expert on this topic, but DH seemed pleased with their work.

[frugi]

I had my 9 year old car into the dealership to address a manufactuers recall.  That is a bit of an inconvenience to get the car into the dealer 10 miles away, but it is done at no cost to me.

Here's where it gets a little interesting.

The dealer calls me during the day, and say they found a few issues:
Leaking axle shaft seal  -- $495 to fix
Dirty air filter               -- $55 to install
Dirty cabin air filter      --  $55 to install

I knew it was about time for the filters to be changed, so I wasn't surprised at that.  But I hadn't seen any fluid drips on the driveway, so I wasn't too sure about the axle leak.  Google informed me it was a fairly common issue with my model, though.

I politely decline the offer of their services, and 1) order the air filters from Amazon and 2) call my experienced neighborhood mechanic and arrange to bring the car in.

The outcome:
1) Air filters cost $25  total and took at most 5 minutes to replace, requiring no tools. 
2) My exceedingly honest mechanic saw no sign of an axle leak once the car was on the lift. He

I bet the service upsell for otherwise free recall repairs is common- I got a cabin/air filter replacement offer for the same price when I took my Hyundai to the dealer for a minor recall issue a while back.  Amazon to the rescue here, too.

[isbjshaffer]

Excellent work! Now you have a new life skill that you can use forever!