front end repair ripp off!!!!!

[bassman]

so i go in to get my front end aligned and as i expected it needed lower ball joints.
so i said do it as i am sure they would be cheap.
well he says he can get the parts and with install the bill would be $825.90.
$300 for each lower arm and labour.

I politly said he could eat !@#$ and i took my car.
today i bought 2 arms brand new from a parts store in the uUS with shipping for $72

I will change them in my shop and take it back for them to put on there alighment machine.

some shops are out to lunch on there prices.

shayne

[superduder]

gone

[skeeters_keeper]

yea but changing your arms should take.. um, an hour or so at the most. doing it yourself. at home. without a lift or a garage full of all kinds of tools. that is a rip off!

i just had my car 4 wheel aligned for $45... other than that kind of stuff i would never pay anyone to tuch my car

[bassman]

I have 2 parts cars and always do my own work.
in this case i will buy new as they are $30 each and i am not big on using used front end pieces.
when they said $300 a side i freaked!!!! then he tried saying that they only have 2 left and they are hard to get.
what a looser.
after that i went to napa and they have them for $80 each...

shayne

[DontFearTheReaper]

I bought my new lower control arms with ball joints for $39.00 each. It does not take very long to change if you have the right tools.

Shop rates are a rip off. There is very little on a festy that you need to go to a shop for. Pressing new front bearings if you don't have your own press.

[WmWatt]

Since buying the Haynes manual a set of inexpensive 3/8 sockets and inexpensive used tools and auto repair books at garage and rummage sales I've been able to learn to do most of the maintenance on my Festiva. It takes a lot longer than it takes a mechanic but it saves a lot of money on labour. I didn't start until I was over 40 years. It's never too late to learn.

[Tim]

Do it yourself and save money.

I've managed to do everything but change the front wheel bearings and align the wheels by myself.

When I first started I knew nothing about cars but tearing one apart sure is a good way to learn!

[mechanicaldj]

When I first started I knew nothing about cars but tearing one apart sure is a good way to learn!

and we still have to teach you how to walk, talk and chew gum at the same time

[Cancer]

Last time I tried a shop was to get my motor flushed in my EF sedan because oil was getting into the cumbustion chamber (it was overloaded when I bought it). They wanted $1800 because they said they'd have to tear the engine apart and clean it all out......haha, nope. I want home and drained it, got some motor flush, changed the oil and plugs...BAM. I drove it for another three months before the timing belt snapped on me and I sold it.

[miami man]

sometimes i go to the junkyard and practice on one of the cars there so when i get to mine it is no guess work.

[htchbck]

^^^^^ amen to that! nothing beats finding a car at the jy that is pretty much dead and practicing on it so you know where to look for all the little hidden bolts and stuff on your car at home. that way you don't accidentally break something important.

[FoxProGT]

id love to do my own work on my car but its the dam rust that makes me have to take it to shops so thay can use there torch to lossen the nuts :x