Lowrange2

Whew, been diggin for threads?

2WDUnderachiever

Oops. Lol, this showed up on the homepage of the app. Weird.

rgs80074

hello everyone

not sure why this thread was resurrected but

if anyone wants an update

i've not gone back with that mechanic at all even though he wanted to do other work.

i did get another mechanic to give me an estimate on the rest of the ac work, he said around 500 dollars to take remove the dash to get to the evaporator and heater core, but i have to get the tools like the vacuum and maybe gauges. but he said this upfront he don't do much ac work due to not having the tools and don't really like doing it but said he would if i can't find anyone else reasonable. He was over checking out noises from the brakes. not the same as before this happened while driving but went away when breaking. nothing wrong with the brakes, calipers or rotors. i guess somehow the dust shield got bent and was hitting the rotor but funny thing is during the test drive we couldn't get the noise to happen even though it had been doing it almost non stop for the last two days of driving but when under neath it he noticed the shields on both sides hitting the rotors.

for comparing these types of mechanics to shop prices really isn't fair to a point. if shop prices was reasonable for the average person there would not be a market for all these mobile mechanics like there is. i would not take my vehicle to a shop for a majority of these repairs just becasue they are to expensive.

so next tax time i will hope to get the ac work finished either via this mechanic or if his price is close to a shop price but at this point i am thinking his is still low compared to a shop.

still need to put in new speakers in the back of the vehicle and use new speaker wires to the stereo for them.

then i want to get the headliner redone i've been quoted by a company that does those for 145 which sounds fair to me, i know i can pick up the material to get it done for about 40-50 bucks but getting it done timely and correct is important.

i'm thinking early next year will be time for a tune up as well, i have to check when the wires and plugs was bought last.

i need this vehicle to last a while yet i can not afford a vehicle payment.

kgm

Shop prices are nice because when you pay them, they usually finish the job. Can't say enough good about a local Denver shop I have found to work on the lady's VW. Reasonable rates even for a place that deals with imports and **** where sometimes they jack up the price.

rgs80074

some shop prices are reasonable especially in small towns for a lot of stuff not so much in big cities where you'd think volume could make up for it.

but i guess smaller towns has shops that possibly have been family owned for a while so there is less overhead.

i am going to check with a local shop there was a couple offering free ac checks and estimates for repair.

and really the only difference between a shop and a mobile mechanic (assuming he's done everything above board, license insurance, etc) is the amount of overhead.

the only over head a mobile mechanic would have would be the cost of the license and insurance needed as well as any advertising if any, most rely on word of mouth).

the mechanic i used originally supposedly had over 300 clients in jersey that pretty much kept him busy all the time all from word of mouth, that took him a few years to get to that point and then he came to florida and had to start all over. other than a few things and attitutes he pretty much knew what he was doing. if he does not have to read stuff to figure it out he can change stuff but reading was not his strong suit or trying to do stuff fast thats how he made the mistake on the door but he did offer to fix it but i told him it was fine.

the brake issue he should have checked it out and resolved the issue (even if it resulted in more parts and labor assuming it was not something he was already paid to replace) but instead he stated if parts are bad that's not his fault, that one statement alone will keep me from using him unless i have no choice. a good mobile mechanic should stand by the work even if the part is defective for some reason.

i originally started this thread wondering if i got a good deal on everything but this was before everything was completed and for anyone who wants to go back and look at everything this was not a simple case of him coming to the house and doing the work i ran all over town for him getting stuff, probably 20 bucks worth of gas maybe more plus a couple of hours driving.

as for him being robbed, for those who thought i had robbed him on the price, first of all he set the price and wouldn't' even give me estimated charged up front except for the one thing he didn't do (tear the dash apart), some of the work i would have done myself and a few things i ended up redoing myself and will be redoing it soon. but to the point he spent a day and a half working on the vehicle and he was paid 550. so he worked about 10-12 hours. thats 45 bucks an hour or more, i don't think mechanics working in shops are paid that much by a long shot especially in florida where they don't always make much more than minimum wage (thats true of a lot of jobs here though) but maybe a florida mechanic could chime in on what a starting wage is and an average or something.

i mean i'd like to make 500 bucks for two full days of work let alone 12 hours.

if i had a working spare vehicle i'd do more work myself knowing if i can't get it done i can call someone to fix it.

in fact the mechanic i had over the other day told me if i get my old vehicle back or take him to it, he will test it for whats wrong for 50-60 bucks, he would do all sorts of tests and inspections etc. if he does repair work then he'd take that fee off the price.

so now its to get the 99 escort back to my house and cleaned up and checked out some myself

anyways i hope everyone here is having a great holiday season.

ryan from orlando