Don’t Ignore Car Maintenance! - A Cautionary Tale - Part I
I just took my car into the shop. It’s a 2001 Nissan Altima SE, manual. It’s been very faithful to me, however I’m not so great at taking care of it. I’ve had to replace the rotors because I didn’t replace the brake pads soon enough. I think I have to replace them again today because they’ve been pretty mushy for a while.
The mechanic just called, my rear brake shoes also need replacing. This is going to get pricey and I know it’s my own fault. How did I get here? It goes back to the annual inspection I put off for a month last November after getting a ticket for it being expired in a different jurisdiction. ($50) There’s an auto shop across the street from the house. I took my car in for inspection, oil change, and alignment and they said they don’t do alignments, & that everything was fine except one lightbulb. One would think that they would have actually checked the brake pads for some wear. I suspect they should have been replaced then.
Finding a reliable mechanic is hard. I got a recommendation, but the shop isn’t open on weekends. I called Midas, an Exxon station with service bays, and a Nissan dealership. I got a parts only estimate from Nissan. Rotors were $105.60 apiece. That already placed it out of the running. I went to Advance Auto Parts to see exactly how much rotors should cost, and found an overwhelming breadth of options. My pop used NAPA and Bendix, which were in the $70 range. The Midas quoted me a whole package for $415 + tax, and the Exxon $335 + tax. The Exxon quoted me rotors at $64.00 each so I decided to take my car there.
When I started my car, it had a hard time starting. It was turning over, but I had to give it a little gas to get going. That has never happened before and it occurred to me that the spark plugs probably haven’t been changed. I make a mental note to ask about this at the shop.
For some reason Arlington as a lot of auto shops that aren’t full service. It’s weird and annoying since there are very few one-stop shops, just like the place that did my inspection. The Exxon however does nearly everything. They make you fill out a questionnaire when you arrive. I note that my mileage is 85K+ miles and mention the spark plugs. The mechanic tells me that I should have replaced them at least once long before I got to 85K miles.
So while I’m there I ask him to do lots of other work. Really I just want the car to run a good long time more before it needs a new clutch. I’ll update you when I get a final price after picking up the car this afternoon.
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