Took the car to be fixed today. We thought it was the alternator. It wasn't The nice man said that it was just the battery. I knew that we had bought the battery somewhere else and I am sure it is still pro-rated but just having it fixed and with a battery holding a five year free replacement warranty seemed worth it just to get it done. We also needed an oil change. Then he offered a $28-28 point inspection. It does have 80,000 miles on it so I said. Which apparently resulted in an additional fee of $45 in "shop" materials- that's fancy talk for fluids I found out.
So now...a battery that had we replaced it on our own would have cost less than $100 plus the cost of an oil change $40 (because our Korean car has a stupid filter) is now roughly $280 after all is said and done. $280 is fancy talk for "it's a good thing my kids like pasta because meat is no longer in the budget for this week."
And to add insult into injury, the nice man says that I need to have the constant velocity something or others repacked with grease that will cost 15.75 times four. It took me a minute (or 5) until it dawned on me that constant velocity something or other is fancy talk for cv boot. So with labor at $80 per side, plus the grease that job will also run us $260. Which actually is a rather fair price but that's gonna have to wait a week or two because I am stubborn and smart enough to know that my car will be just fine without that grease for quite a while longer. Just goes to show that working at Sears all those years ago was a job that just keeps giving.
After picking up the car, paying the damages, and retrieving the youngest from preschool I headed to an old favorite of mine and said, "I'll take a small butterfinger blizzard." That is fancy talk for "it has been a long day to heck with the calories." :)
So now...a battery that had we replaced it on our own would have cost less than $100 plus the cost of an oil change $40 (because our Korean car has a stupid filter) is now roughly $280 after all is said and done. $280 is fancy talk for "it's a good thing my kids like pasta because meat is no longer in the budget for this week."
And to add insult into injury, the nice man says that I need to have the constant velocity something or others repacked with grease that will cost 15.75 times four. It took me a minute (or 5) until it dawned on me that constant velocity something or other is fancy talk for cv boot. So with labor at $80 per side, plus the grease that job will also run us $260. Which actually is a rather fair price but that's gonna have to wait a week or two because I am stubborn and smart enough to know that my car will be just fine without that grease for quite a while longer. Just goes to show that working at Sears all those years ago was a job that just keeps giving.
After picking up the car, paying the damages, and retrieving the youngest from preschool I headed to an old favorite of mine and said, "I'll take a small butterfinger blizzard." That is fancy talk for "it has been a long day to heck with the calories." :)
