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Topic: Car repair cost question
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Urk_VN
Title: Orderly Randomizer
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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So I took my car (93 Honda Civic LX) to Midas, and they said I'd need to replace the upper/lower ball joints as well as the control arm assembly on my front wheels (they were sort of loose when they looked at it), and they said it would cost about $1200.
I plan to ask around other car repair shops when they're open, but in the meantime, does that sound about right, or is the price kind of high? My car seems to drive fine, but when I make sharp corners the driver side front wheel wobbles a little bit (not so much when I'm driving straight such as on the freeway).
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Fat_wong
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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first mistake is going to midas.
go to a real mechanic
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Bjorvald
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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You probably won't get it done much cheaper (assuming you're doing upper and lower, both sides). Actually that's a pretty decent price. Get at least a couple of estimates though.
I just did this job on an old BMW I have. Parts were around 400 bucks. I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you have the garage space, tools, some knowledge, etc. Not an easy job.
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CinoBite
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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To much, the parts for both side should be around 400 bucks.Job time at worse should be 2 hrs per side.If they up the cost to 500 total you are getting charged about 175.00 per hour for labor.
PS Have your wheel bearings changed as well.
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Seething199
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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midas ruined my entire brake system. take it to the dealer to get your baseline and then go to other places. check yelp for good mechanics.
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Elkad
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Upper control arm and ball joint are an integrated assembly on a lot of Hondas, so that drives the price up a bit. Most ball joints are like $15
Quick look at RockAuto says $50 for Moog (middle of the road brand) for your car.
Can't get to the Mitchell Guide at home, but I'm guessing installation is 1.5hrs per side tops.
We'd double the part prices, and then charge $62/hr for labor. So $380, plus $70 for a 4-wheel alignment(which you'll need, new parts will change suspension geometry), $15 in "shop fees", and sales tax. Under $500.
And we aren't the cheapest shop in town.
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IMHO
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Find a back yard auto mechanic and then ask him who he uses. If you live in Denver I know of a couple of honest mechanics.
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Urk_VN
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Well, I ended up going to a local mechanic that's like half a mile from where I live. He replaced my muffler for $129 (Midas wanted $180 for it), and then when I told him about the ball joints, he said he'd do it for $800. Since that was roughly the quote I got from other local mechanics ($800-900 was the range), I figured I should just do it here since it meant I didn't have to drive my car further away.
He told me that the labor cost for the ball joints/control arm assembly could've been $300 easily, but he decided to only charge me $140 for it. Considering how fast he did it, and the savings he gave me, I definitely will come back for service on my car again.
I took my car to him on Friday morning, and he was done with it by noon Saturday. Pretty happy with it for the most part. And it's nice not having a loud muffler, nor having to worry about my wheels wobbling when I'm on the freeway going to work.
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Elkad
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Get an alignment if he didn't do it.
New ball joints changed your steering geometry. You don't want to have to buy new tires in 3 months.
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Urk_VN
Title: Orderly Randomizer
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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He did do an alignment, but it veers to the left slightly and I have to turn my steering wheel slightly to the right to get it to go straight. I'll drive it for a week, and see what its like, and if it's really bad, I'll have him look at it again.
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eodoll
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Check out a gas station mechanic.
Midas charges high prices almost like a dealer.
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Elkad
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Urk_VN posted:
He did do an alignment, but it veers to the left slightly and I have to turn my steering wheel slightly to the right to get it to go straight. I'll drive it for a week, and see what its like, and if it's really bad, I'll have him look at it again.
Ahh, a mechanic from the "set the toe and let it go" school.
If it's pulling, the caster is off.
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__Bonk__
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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How can anyone afford regular car repairs?
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Elkad
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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He's driving a 93 Honda. No car payments, no need for full coverage insurance, 35mpg+, uses $40 tires, etc.
Tell yourself your car payment is $50, and put it in the cookie jar every month. That's far less than an actual car payment. But that $600/year will pay for a heck of a lot of repairs.
Even better if you do some of the work yourself. Brake pads are $20, but the shop charges at least $80 in labor on top of that. For 5 minutes worth of work that takes one wrench.
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Urk_VN
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Elkad posted:
He's driving a 93 Honda. No car payments, no need for full coverage insurance, 35mpg+, uses $40 tires, etc.
Tell yourself your car payment is $50, and put it in the cookie jar every month. That's far less than an actual car payment. But that $600/year will pay for a heck of a lot of repairs.
Even better if you do some of the work yourself. Brake pads are $20, but the shop charges at least $80 in labor on top of that. For 5 minutes worth of work that takes one wrench.
Yeah, the car's paid off, so the only thing I need on it for now are regular maintenance (aka oil changes), gas, and the occasional car repair (the mechanic said the ball joints were the originals, which I suppose is possible since I didn't drive it very much until I got my new job a few weeks ago, and it only has about 128k miles on it). I probably won't give it up until it literally starts falling apart on me and I have a hole underneath the driver seat where I can stop the car ala the Flintstones.
My insurance on it is also only $112 every 6 months through Geico (switched to them from Progressive because they kept jacking my rates up and when I inquired about it, they basically told me "because the drivers in your area suck at driving, we're raising everyone's rates), thanks I think largely to the age of the car, my relative safe driving, and probably most importantly (sadly), my fairly decent credit score (don't think credit score should affect your insurance rates even though my score is fairly decent).
My brother said I should just get a newer car, but this money I just spent on the repair is cheaper than paying $150-300 a month on a loan for a newer one, which will probably still break down and need repairs anyway. Not to mention the insurance rates going up because it's a newer car and therefore would cost more to fix/replace if it did get wrecked.
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sweeny_comodore
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Elkad posted:
Urk_VN posted:
He did do an alignment, but it veers to the left slightly and I have to turn my steering wheel slightly to the right to get it to go straight. I'll drive it for a week, and see what its like, and if it's really bad, I'll have him look at it again.
Ahh, a mechanic from the "set the toe and let it go" school.
If it's pulling, the caster is off.
I love watching people talk about things they dont understand.
If its pulling, check you tire pressures. Caster is usually built into the geometry of the frame and struts and can't be changed.
Ball joints dont affect alignment anymore on modern cars.
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imaloon1
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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Urk_VN posted:
So I took my car (93 Honda Civic LX) to Midas, and they said I'd need to replace the upper/lower ball joints as well as the control arm assembly on my front wheels (they were sort of loose when they looked at it), and they said it would cost about $1200.
I plan to ask around other car repair shops when they're open, but in the meantime, does that sound about right, or is the price kind of high? My car seems to drive fine, but when I make sharp corners the driver side front wheel wobbles a little bit (not so much when I'm driving straight such as on the freeway).
I got the ball joints done for about a hundred bucks on my little dodge 4 door. I'd say if you were paying 200 it'd be too much.
There's literally nothing to them.
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Elkad
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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sweeny_comodore posted:
Elkad posted:
Urk_VN posted:
He did do an alignment, but it veers to the left slightly and I have to turn my steering wheel slightly to the right to get it to go straight. I'll drive it for a week, and see what its like, and if it's really bad, I'll have him look at it again.
Ahh, a mechanic from the "set the toe and let it go" school.
If it's pulling, the caster is off.
I love watching people talk about things they dont understand.
If its pulling, check you tire pressures. Caster is usually built into the geometry of the frame and struts and can't be changed.
Ball joints dont affect alignment anymore on modern cars.
I assumed the obvious crap was checked, like tire pressure. A half-degree of cross-caster will make a car pull noticeably. Camber not usually, unless it's negative on one side and positive on the other. And of course toe never causes a pull.
And you can change the caster/camber on everything. There may not be an adjuster on the car, but you can buy one, or shim/sleeve something, or even drill out the strut mounting holes so you can move the top.
Our shop isn't very busy, so I've only done about 500 alignments in the year I've worked there, but the concept is simple.
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IMHO
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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sweeny_comodore posted:
I love watching people talk about things they dont understand.
 That almost reaches the level of Fist_de_puma irony.
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You're Right ~ Koneg
He's [Manegarm] like the Fred Phelps of atheism. ~Bubbledude
many of you are in the Republican boat, aka the ship of fools. ~Modeeb
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sweeny_comodore
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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If you have to buy aftermatket parts or modify the existing bolts and or holes, then it is not adjustable.
anything can be broken/modified to do whatever you want with it.
Toe can cause a pull on roads with excessive road crown.
Also, a lot of the time, the pull can be imagined since the customer isn't used to a properly aligned vehicle and expects it to behave like it did before the repairs were made. In the 15 years I spent working on cars and doing alignments, that was the usual cause for post alignment complaints.
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Elkad
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Subject:
Car repair cost question
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sweeny_comodore posted:
If you have to buy aftermatket parts or modify the existing bolts and or holes, then it is not adjustable.
anything can be broken/modified to do whatever you want with it.
Toe can cause a pull on roads with excessive road crown.
Also, a lot of the time, the pull can be imagined since the customer isn't used to a properly aligned vehicle and expects it to behave like it did before the repairs were made. In the 15 years I spent working on cars and doing alignments, that was the usual cause for post alignment complaints.
Aftermarket parts like ball joint sleeves for every F150? Or adjustable camber kits for the rear of about every FWD car? Either a cammed strut bolt, or a control arm replacement. How about shimming the A-arms on a 68 Chevelle.
It's all adjustable. Some of the factory stuff is just stupid. Why a Stratus doesn't come with the adjustable link in the back instead of a solid one I don't know.
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