blkboxster,
Well, it started off with a ticking noise when the car warmed up. I took it to my mechanic and he told me the "transmission flex plate" was cracked and needed to be replaced. Good news, part is cheap, bad news, need to drop the transmission to fix, so he quotes me $1800 for the repair
Like an idiot, I bring the car to a friend of a friend who is a mechanic. He quotes me $1000 to fix the trans. After
5 weeks in the shop, he calls and tells me that he needs to replace the power steering pump and water pump as well
When I finally pick up the car, total bill is $2200 ( he charged me $1200 to fix the power steering and the water pump ! ) What I think happened is he got to the trans, realized it was a lot more work than he anticipated, so he decided to rape me on the other stuff ( I talked to my mechanic today and he agreed that $1200 was WAY too much for the work considering the parts only cost about $400 ).
Lessons learned :
- I should have picked up the car after the trans was done and had my mechanic look at the power steering and water pump
- Always get a written quote for any work to be done before giving the ok
aren040,
Price quoted is just for the privilege of driving the cars, lodging not included.
This is a moving tour, with locations all over the US :
http://www2.wcdriving.com/events/year_2007/
Nick