Linda Puts on the Brakes!
Linda is an attractive lady, late twenties, with an uncanny
ability to buy one unreliable car after the other. We work on her car from time
to time, often after her current boyfriend or a big chain car repair shop has
"fixed" it first.
"I'd like a price on brakes" said Linda.
"$75 per axle" I replied.
"Alfred Discounting Tires & Stuff has LIFETIME GUARANTEED BRAKE JOBS for $19.95!!! Linda, this guy's trying to rob you!!!" grunted the new boyfriend.
"We'll have to think about it." said Linda.
A couple of weeks later I saw Linda at the grocery store.
"How's the car running?" I asked.
"Oh, O.K. I guess. I sure wish we had let you do the brakes.
Alfred Discounting Tires and Stuff charged me $500 for the front brakes."
"That seems a little steep! Do you have the bill with you?"
Linda had the bill for her front brake job. At the top it had
"BRAKE JOB: $19.95". Below that it had "EXTRA CHARGE FOR SEMI-METALLIC
PADS: $25. That's more than the pads for her car cost. Moreover,
all cars made after 1980 have semi-metallic pads, so it's hard to see
what kind of car could get out of there without incurring this extra
charge. In addition they had sold her new rotors ($85 x 2 = $170),
bearings ($25 x 4 = $100), new grease seals ($12), and rebuilt calipers
($65 x 2 = $130).
I was amazed at this. I had inspected both of the rotors and neither
one of them was scored deeply enough to warrant replacement. In any
case used rotors are easily obtainable for this car for $35 or less.
Linda said, "By the time I found out, they already had it apart!" They said it would be unsafe to put it back together.
I asked Linda what she thought. She said, " Oh, I don't think it would
work. People know you can't get something for nothing."
The Economechanix Cyber Mall
We also serve the surrounding communities of Alachua, High Springs, Hawthorne, and Newberry!
Thank you for visiting the ECONOMECHANIX WEB SITE. Please feel free to comment. We also serve the surrounding communities of Alachua, High Springs, Hawthorne, and Newberry! Gainesville has been my home since 1974, and I've loved Gvl and the Gators since I came here in the fall of 1974 to attend the University of Florida. I loved it so much I stayed and opened my car repair business. Originally it was out of the back of a 1963 Chevrolet wagon, but in 1977 a fellow mechanic and I opened an auto repair shop with actual walls, etc. I stayed in the same location for 26 years, and recently moved my operation to property I bought 15 miles east of Gainesville. I am doing most all the repairs myself now, having reduced my overhead from $1500 per month to practically nothing. I do work by appointment only. I mostly work only on my established customers cars, but I will occasionally take on new clients. E-mail me and I will either make arrangements to look at your car, or I will recommend you to someone who will.
George G. Scott, Jr.