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I hate this

S

Suspicious-Teach8788

Lifer
Post oil change:

- power steering rack and pinion leaking - $1.2k
- Oil Pan reseal - $415
- Brake fluid exchange, coolant flush - $108 ea.?
- E-brake adjustment - $70

I call my mom for advice (I have the money no problem, but I guess it makes dropping $1k on camera equipment in the past month look kinda dumb), and she gives me a bit about not asking my uncle to help use his vehicle as a clunker to get me a new car.

I drive quite a bit ~400 mi/week. 220 or so is just commute, and my gf lives in Berkeley which is an hour away, so I spend some weekends there. I did a 120k maintenance in December and some of those repairs made sense ($500 worth), but now there's another $2k? Gah. I know my parents are gonna say how it's not worth it to fix this car anymore (98 Toyota Camry), and just to get a new car. I don't know.

I'm no car expert so I feel like the guy paying Geek Squad to do work.
 
Most of those can be tackled by anyone, they aren't complex. The steering rack is the tricky one. The prices seems outrageous though - most of the time it isn't the rack leaking, it's the pump, which is cheap.
 
Seems a little high.
I just got a brake, coolant and tranny flush for my 98 Cavvy for ~$40 each (not including fluids - which I supplied).
 
You have two choices. Pay up or get a new or different car.

Make up your mind. Sorry to be harsh, but that's it in a nutshell.

BTW, your parents are right.
 
Originally posted by: dainthomas
Wow, did you go to the dealer or something?
Click to expand...

Yeah I did. Closer to work, I figured I could use my lunch break to get stuff done there. I don't get out of work till 630-7 usually so going to our local guy would be out of the question since he closes shop around 5.

Figured I was past due for a month now and with this weekend and the long weekend looking busy again I figure I'd take care of it now instead of waiting yet another 2 weekends.

Originally posted by: boomerang
You have two choices. Pay up or get a new or different car.

Make up your mind. Sorry to be harsh, but that's it in a nutshell.

BTW, your parents are right.
Click to expand...

Yeah... I suppose I have to sit down tonight and work out the details (finances) to see what's wiser.
 
Get a second opinion.

Does the rack leak or have problems you can feel?

Is the oil pan leaking a lot or just a little drip/wet?

When was the last time the coolant was changed?

Does the E-Brake work or none at all?
 
E-brake is usually just a cable adjustment, you can do yourself. So $70 for that is out of line.
$108 for coolant flush is what most dealers charge, but you can get that done elsewhere for less.
Brake fluid change is suggested for cars with antilock brakes every 2 years or so, but could be done for less.
Oil pan leak, depends on how much it is leaking. See how bad it is and how much / often you need to add oil.
If less than say 1 qt per month, leave it be and just keep an eye on the level of engine oi.
Power steering, again, see how bad the leak is and keep it filled up. Fix it when it gets to be losing a lot of fluid.

 
It's no surprise you're getting anal raped going to the dealer.
My miata has the same rack and pinion leak. I got quoted $250 to fix it. I went to another place that quoted $375.
I ended up just letting it run dry and going without power steering. But then again, my car is light as hell and doesn't really need it to begin with.
If it's not leaking that badly, you could buy the power steering fluid by the gallon for like $6 and just top it off every time your power steering starts getting weak. A gallon of that stuff should last you several months.



 
$108 ea. you mean $216 total or what...?

I'd get an ebrake adjust only if you need it for inspection. I wouldn't bother with a brake or fluid change at this point for coolant.

Oil pan I wouldn't bother I'd just keep topping it up with oil.

You probably do want to have your steering work properly, though.
If it's not leaking that badly, you could buy the power steering fluid by the gallon for like $6 and just top it off every time your power steering starts getting weak. A gallon of that stuff should last you several months.
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If that's all that will happen--he'll simply lose power steering and won't have some catastrophic failure, you're right. That's what I'd do, too. Power steering fluid is just auto transmission fluid; you can buy a gallon of it for $10 at walmart. You'd have to be spurting it in vast amounts to go through a gallon.

Repairing leaks on an old vehicle is not necessarily worth it.
 
Those fluid-flush machines only cost like $300-some, so you can imagine how much profit they are raking in just for hooking your car up to one. Never seen a fluid flush top $100 before, of course it's been five years since I got service from a dealer.
 
Originally posted by: JLee
$415 for an oil pan gasket? Holy hell! :Q
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I was thinking the same thing. 10-16 bolts and a rubber gasket. Holy fsck!

You ARE getting raped. Walk away quickly and find a servicer who is actually worth his salt and not trying to screw you.
 
Originally posted by: Pulsar
Originally posted by: JLee
$415 for an oil pan gasket? Holy hell! :Q
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing. 10-16 bolts and a rubber gasket. Holy fsck!

You ARE getting raped. Walk away quickly and find a servicer who is actually worth his salt and not trying to screw you.
Click to expand...

Seriously...$15 max in parts and an hour of work. Unbelievable.
 
On the oil pan, it is not the cost of parts. On some cars, you can't get the oil pan off or out without lifting the motor or removing other parts
that may be in the way.
 
Yeah I wonder if it's some silly PITA because of the car. What car is it? You can easily find online what effort it should involve to do the pan reseal. Seriously, though, if the car is old you're better off just buying one of those large mats and always park over it and refill fluids when they need it.
 
E brake just forget about.
As far as the oil pan, get under the car and just check if all the bolts are tight. You just might find out that a socket wrench is all you need.
 
Camry oilpans are a bitch. I once asked my guy to change the gasket along with my oil change, thinking it'd be a half hour job. He calls me back saying it'd be 3 or 4 hours of labour and $600. No thanks, I'll just add oil once a week.
Front wheel drive sucks.
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
$108 ea. you mean $216 total or what...?

I'd get an ebrake adjust only if you need it for inspection. I wouldn't bother with a brake or fluid change at this point for coolant.

Oil pan I wouldn't bother I'd just keep topping it up with oil.

You probably do want to have your steering work properly, though.
If it's not leaking that badly, you could buy the power steering fluid by the gallon for like $6 and just top it off every time your power steering starts getting weak. A gallon of that stuff should last you several months.
Click to expand...
If that's all that will happen--he'll simply lose power steering and won't have some catastrophic failure, you're right. That's what I'd do, too. Power steering fluid is just auto transmission fluid; you can buy a gallon of it for $10 at walmart. You'd have to be spurting it in vast amounts to go through a gallon.

Repairing leaks on an old vehicle is not necessarily worth it.
Click to expand...

I think it's $108 each. Maybe it's for both.

As for the power steering stuff, I was told fluid is leaking so some part will swell up (from my own reading it seems like it's the bellows). My initial analysis is that if I keep leaking, I'll just lose power steering right? It's not like my car will break down into pieces?

I'm going to get a second look at it by our local mechanic and see what he says tomorrow morning.
 
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