More adventures in the Valley of Sunk Costs

[drscott]

So I took my car into the nearest smog station (the 76 across El Camino.) I ask them to change the oil at the same time -- I only drive about 5K miles a year, so I have trouble remembering when the last one was. I'm told they can get it done within two hours, so I walk home.

Three hours later, I get a phone call from a mechanic -- he says they've found my front brakes are dangerously near to being worn out. Will I authorize repair? That will be $150 plus $40 to just adjust the rear brakes. I figure this will save some time since I'm vaguely aware the brakes are getting tired. Okay, now the time for completion is advanced an hour to 5PM.

An hour later, another call from a different mechanic -- he says they found the rear brakes also need work, but just one side, probably because they had been adjusted wrong in the last brake job. But the front ones are okay and they won't charge anything to adjust them. Okay, I say... now the car's to be ready at 6 PM.

6 PM rolls around, and I go to the garage. The bill is displayed: $550. Both front and rear brakes completely redone plus the other work. Huh? After some discussion it's determined there have been "communication problems." So I wangle $20 off the bill and pay it. Another lesson: do not authorize work beyond what you intended at a non-trusted shop. I have a preferred mechanic for non-routine work, and I'd have been much happier taking the work to him.

Good news: my car is among the least-polluting on the road even though it's 10 years old ('94 Geo Prizm, basically a Toyota Corolla from the NUMMI GM-Toyota joint venture plant in Fremont.) Bad news: it's only worth about $2,000, so putting $400 into repairs was painful.

Lifting note: another personal best on the leg press Monday; 830#, 5 sets, 18 reps. excessor was hanging around looking impressed, and we went to Togos afterward for a celebratory dinner.

Comments

Sunken costs

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

If I can, I will change the oil myself when I can, I've also done the brakes, both front and rears. But, for anything else of for more routine jobs I just can't/don't have the time to do, I go to my prefered mechanic that specialises in Hondas in particular, but most major Japanese models.

At 171K+ miles on the old beast (a 1988 Accord), it still isn't burning any oil - yet.

The last major thing done to the car was the timing belt package and possibly a new oil pump as well. fortunately, that was OK, but I did have the valve cover gasket replaced instead as it was leaking in the area of the new belt. The timing belt package included new service belt and the water pump since all are right there and it costs less to them all at once, rather than one at a time. All to the tune of $450 or so, which in the ballpark of what they had estimated ($400-600).

[excessor.livejournal.com]

It was amazing to see the weights on the press. And yes, I was impressed. I can only press about half that.

It's too bad that I “lost my wallet” and you had to pay. :-)

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Not always is pouring money into a car that has little book worth such a bad thing. I recommend that if a car has been good throughout the time that a person has owned it and is not in general falling apart, 'normal' costs such as your brake job are acceptable if you arent planning to get rid of the car anytime soon. A reliable car has worth beyond it's book value, even if it aint very pretty.

Great work on the leg press! I'm a sucker for powerful legs and... er...

Damn, it's getting hot in here!

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

You do have a point there and I agree, but up to a point. There comes a time when you need to get something newer with lesser miles on it and maybe has more safety features than the present car.

My '88 Accord, while it's the top o' the line LX-I 4door, it lacks airbags, abs and anything else that is safety related - and to play CD's, it's the ol' portable with the cassette adaptor.

But, it's reliable as all get out, probably more reliable than most even if it doesn't look as good as it did when I got the car some 5.5 years ago.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm with you on that. It's only got 77000 miles and runs well, so it's far cheaper to keep it going than any other alternative. Besides, it suits me in Silicon Valley (which is full of flashy luxury cars owned by people living beyond their means) to own something so declasse. It's a badge of distinction, but it also has ABS and airbags (unlike the Tie-man's vehicle.)

And if you're too hot I could fan ya. :)

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I've heard you say, "any old trick will do," but now I understand what you meant by that....

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

>but it also has ABS and airbags (unlike the Tie-man's vehicle.)

That, I intend to remedy within the next couple of months or so hopefully.

Perhaps a used VW Golf, or a used Passat wagon? One that's oh, 5 Y.O. at best.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

LOL

I doubt it, if you thought I was talking about the wallet.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

The problem with VW is very poor long term frequency of repair records. They were trendy for awhile, but having to make 2-3 times as many repairs past year 5 makes it a bad choice for the buy-it-used-and-run-it-a-long-time strategy. You'd be better off with any Japanese nameplate.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Well, if I can buy a decent small wagon or hatchback that's no more than 5 years or so old that can be had for 8-10 grand, fine. The Accord wagon is one, but so popular and hard to find on the used market, and was dropped in 1997.

Except for the Matrix and tne new Prius, Toyota hasn't had a hatchback or small wagon since the very early 90's that I know of.

I think ditto for most other Japanese makers, except in very recent years in some models.

I'm trying to stay away from 4 door sedans.

That leaves me with the Focus, and I know the early years were not so good.

Anyway, we'll see. Even Honda dropped the Civic hatchback in 1997, but has brought back the Civic SI hatchback in 2003 and that's too pricey for me right now.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Consumer Reports shows a '97-'98 Honda CR-V (car-based SUV) as under $10K and a good bet. There's also the Subaru Forester or Outback in the same range. These tiny SUVs are really just wagons.

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Last night, after shutting down for the night and fixing the coffee, I suddenly remembered Subaru. They are inexpensive, relatively speaking when new and quite affordable on the used market. Why I keep forgetting Subaru is beyond me.

Hmmm, the Legacy wagon may be intriquing, we'll have to see when the time comes I guess.