So I finally had time to go and get my state inspection taken care of this morning. It expired 3/31 so I figured I'd have addt'l fees to pay. I have never been late so I was expecting to pay $45-50. They pulled my car around and charged me for the inspection, I thought I was about to be on my way. But no... after charging my card, they explained that I FAILED the inspection! I didn't panic too much... I just kept thinking it's probably not that big-a-deal. It was something with the coolant temp not reaching the regulated temp... or something to that effect. And they said I needed 2 new tires and an alignment. So I took the car to Kenneth's, they called and gave me an update.
2 new Tires = $350
1 alignment = $75
1 Replacement Thermostat = $300
And by the way ma'am, you've got about 10% of your brakes left. You don't have to do anything today, but you will need new ones rather soon. I said, well I'm about to travel to New Orleans 3 times within the next 6 weeks. He said never mind, you may want to take care of it now. I said what anyone would say ... "how much"?! It's going to be $475 for the brakes. I said "SAY WHAT NOW?!" I said "what about those $99 brakes commercials I always see?"!?!?! He explained that's just a way for those quick brake shops to get you in and then they'll tell you so many things are wrong with your car when there's nothing wrong. I called one before agreeing to the work and it sounded like they just wanted to get me in the door, he was a super fast talker and he made me feel a bit leery. So... I called Kenneth's back and told them to go ahead and fix it. So yes folks, just to get a $40 state inspection sticker (aka - brake tag), I had to get $1200 of work done on my truck!
2 comments:
I HATE THAT! we did those $99 brakes one time. 1 month later, we paid $1500 in repairs for all the damage they did to teh whole under neat of the car. We are firm believers in taking it some place reputable now- we even pay dealership prices b/c its done right! Im so sorry- NOT what you wanted to spend your money on rihgt now, Im sure! miss u!
Thanks for sharing your experience with me on the $99 brakes. Kenneth was telling me the same thing. He'd see people pulling out of the "Just Brakes" shop and drive directly over to him or come back within a week's time. You just never know who to trust. It does drive a lot better and I feel like we can trust him.
We have been saying we'd like to save money and take Phoebe on a vacation or Disney cruise... so I would've LOVED to have spent this money on that. Maybe I should start looking at vacations as a necessity! Lol! Miss u 2!
Post a Comment