YACT: Battery light and brake light came on today

[djheater]

Tell me what you think

I know the guy, and he'll give me about 25% off.
Plus I get $500 in maintenance expense from my employer...

I wanted a tune up anyway, and did notice an oil leak...

The alternator is overcharging... :roll:
One master cylinder is blown and the other is leaking.
...

I'm not a car guy, and I really need this car to last, so I just decided to take the hit.




~~~~~~After reading replies telling me how fvcked I'm getting~~~~~~
Damnit.

I already authorized the work, and he started.

This is from a chain store, I've done some work for.
The brakes became super soft on my commute this morning and I dropped it off to this guy.

Not having a car is not really an option, as it is I'll be taking a cab home and to class tomorrow

Looks like I'm learning a nice lesson. I don't know any good/honest mechanics. I used to go to my Dad's but he died.

Thanks guys...
Bye, bye tax return

2000 Dodge Neon manual

 

[iamwiz82]

What kind of car is this?

EDIT: $350 for a reman'ed alternator?! ACK!

EDIT 2: $6 each for plugs? Jesus, those prices are really high.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
What kind of car is this?

EDIT: $350 for a reman'ed alternator?! ACK!

:brokenheart:

 

[K1052]

I hope they at least kiss you after.


take it to a different mechanic to have it looked at

 

[iamwiz82]

I find it HIGHLY supect that a 2000 Neon has a head gasket issue. By that time things were sorted out with them. Did you look at it? Is there oil in the coolant?

 

[buck]

Dodge Neon? Seems about right.:evil:

 

[nweaver]

bend over, here is how your "friend" is giving it to you.

 

[goodoptics]

Why do they need to replace the head gasket?

Battey and brake light probably caused by an bad alternator, but dang! $350 for a reman. alternator??!!!

Get an estimate somewhere else.

 

[Lotheron]

Autozone shows 109.00 for an alternator.. $75 core.

I also think you can do much, much better. OR even try it yourself if you can.

 

[Unheard]

Take that car somewhere else!

Unless of course you like getting f*cked in the arse.

 

[Lotheron]

Agree, the head gasket issue was fixed before the 98 model year.

 

[NuAlphaMan]

you should have gotten a honda!

Edit: or a Toyota even!

 

[Lotheron]

Wait, you have a motor mount going bad? Does your engine feel like it's lurching when you're taking off? If not, then your motor mount is fine. That seems like an awful lot wrong for that car, even though it is a neon.

 

[djheater]

Damnit.

I already authorized the work, and he started.

This is from a chain store, I've done some work for.
The brakes became super soft on my commute this morning and I dropped it off to this guy.

Not having a car is not really an option, as it is I'll be taking a cab home and to class tomorrow

Looks like I'm learning a nice lesson. I don't know any good/honest mechanics. I used to go to my Dad's but he died.

Thanks guys...

 

[jagec]

New brake drums and shoes? I didn't know those things ever went bad. I had an '89 Celica with rear drums, I don't think they had ever been touched since the car was made.

Sounds like he's reaming you. If that timing belt change includes labor,that's a good price, but the rest...

Oh, and unless you drive a manual, you only have one master cylinder.

 

[iamwiz82]

Alternators are about $125, brake shoes are $15 each, Timing belt with components is $50, etc etc etc

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: jagec
New brake drums and shoes? I didn't know those things ever went bad. I had an '89 Celica with rear drums, I don't think they had ever been touched since the car was made.

Sounds like he's reaming you. If that timing belt change includes labor,that's a good price, but the rest...

Oh, and unless you drive a manual, you only have one master cylinder.

Timing belt labor is in the supposed head gasket repair. So he only gouged him for $100 in parts for it. :roll:

 

[NuAlphaMan]

Originally posted by: jagec
New brake drums and shoes? I didn't know those things ever went bad. I had an '89 Celica with rear drums, I don't think they had ever been touched since the car was made.

Sounds like he's reaming you. If that timing belt change includes labor,that's a good price, but the rest...

Oh, and unless you drive a manual, you only have one master cylinder.

See, he had a Toyota!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Is a 2000 Dodge Neon even worth $2500?

Edit-Apparently not.

Edmunds.com trade-in value: $2,094

 

[Heisenberg]

Holy jeebus. :Q

 

[thirdeye]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Is a 2000 Dodge Neon even worth $2500?

I was wondering the same thing. I figured you could get a handful of them for that.

 

[jtvang125]

Holy cow. You got F'ed in the A. Hard!

 

[nweaver]

timing belt is often worth a bit (not parts, but labor) as they can be a real pain in the neck (thinking about getting my 88 cabby done, but not sure if I can find a mech that won't screw it up)

 

[djheater]

I've got to many other issues in my life going on to be indignant about this.

I'm glad you guys can fill in.

Damn this sucks.

What do I do? I don't know any good mechanics, nada, zip.

How do you find a good mechanic? In my position what would any of you have done? With malfunctioning brakes?

Usually I ignore all the reccomendations, from these guys, and do the routine maintenance, and the odd jobs myself. At this time in my life I'm way to busy to mess with anything, and I need a car.

One day, one glorious future day, I'll be able to buy a decent car with an actual warranty, take it to the dealer and get a rental.

But that won't be for another six or seven years....

Blargh.

 

[Preyhunter]

Just going down the list...

1. These cars run best on plain copper plugs. For about $7, you could have done the tune up yourself in 10 minutes.
2. You could have had the brakes done cheaper than that, but ok.
3. Same with the brake system flush.
4. Don't know why the headgasket needs replacing, but that seems steep. Not hard on a Neon.
5. WAY too much for a reman alternator.
6. Belts are about half that much.
7. Not surprised that the motor mounts need replacing, though it's easy to do. That price seems high and I'm surprised it's not the upper needing replacement.
8. If timing belt component kit includes a new timing belt tensioner assembly and not just the tensioner pulley, that's a decent deal. I doubt this is the case. Also, there's no labor for the timing belt replacement listed. This labor would not be included with the headgasket replacement since they have nothing to do with each other.

I would recommend that you become familiar with your car. Get a Chilton's manual and read up at Neons.org to help you learn to do this stuff yourself. As little as these cars are worth, it's not worth it to pay someone else labor and double the retail price in parts.