After a particularly stressful few weeks, my husband and I learned a few very important things about marriage, communication and cars. First of all, we learned that if most of the money you set aside for a tune-up is gone, don't assume your spouse took the car in for a tune-up. A few dollars snuck out of the envelope here and there for lunch with the guys really adds up! We also learned that if your spouse isn't nagging you to bring the car in for a tune-up, don't assume that she did it herself - especially if you have been sneaking money out of the pot. Chances are, even if you are married to the most understanding and generous woman in the world, if you haven't been subjected to an interrogation about the missing money, she is not aware that there is any money missing. (Which means she did not have the tune-up done herself.) Finally, we learned that a tune-up is vital as it can catch a problem when there is a $400 repair instead of letting it grow into an estimated +/- $5500 repair.
So... our car overheated and promptly quit working a few weeks ago. We called a mechanic neighbor who, to save us money on towing and shop up-charges, was willing to perform a weekend house call - for cash, of course. (Okay, go ahead. Insert an ethics lecture here but desperate times call for desperate measures!) Unfortunately, because he didn't have all of his diagnostic tools, our neighbor caught only part of the problem. We bought a new thermostat and paid him $250 to install it on a car that was still not able to be driven. He did recommend we have it towed to his shop where he estimated that it would cost us around $3000 to repair unless the engine was trashed (which it was) in which case it would cost around $5500.
This was slightly problematic as we were working on our debt snowball and had only our $1000 emergency fund in savings - $250 of which had already gone to replace the thermostat. I work only 8 miles away from my home - an uncomfortable but do-able pedestrian commute (at least until the snow flies.) My husband, however, has a round trip of 46 miles each day. And, we live 12 miles away from the nearest bus stop. We made some phone calls and received some guestimates based on our neighbor's assessment and our car's symptoms. All of the other quotes we received were from between $4000 and $6500. The hobby mechanics we knew didn't want to touch it with a ten-foot pole.
We considered buying a cheap car until we had saved enough to bring it in for repairs. In fact, we found just such a car for only $500 on Craig's list that the owner claimed ran well - if we were willing to overlook the bullet hole and stains on the seat. (Seriously!?!) We considered moving closer to my husband's job - or at least the bus stop. We considered taking taxi cabs. We considered bumming rides off friends, family, and co-workers. We considered selling our household goods. We even considered performing a car jacking. But, none of these things seemed like very viable options. The only option that we felt we had left was to fix it ourselves.
Neither of us are mechanical (obviously!) but we bought a repair manual specific to our car. (Which we should have purchased as soon as we obtained the car as it tells you things like how often to get a tune-up and reminds you of the importance of things like monitoring the coolant levels instead of waiting for an idiot light which may never go off. Anyhoo...) We spent hours reading, contemplating, pricing parts, making phone calls for tools, estimates etc. However, we still didn't know exactly what was wrong for sure. So, we did what any self-respecting adult would do - we called in the parents. Luckily, my father-in-law is mechanically inclined and he generously shared the secret of his infinite automotive wisdom with us - a handy web service called
Just Answer. To use it, you simply log in, type your question, indicate a price you are willing to pay for an expert answer (as cheap as $9.) An expert in the field generally answers your question within the hour and most times within minutes.
In our case, for $250, our car-mechanic neighbor told us that the thermostat was out, that the new thermostat we paid him to install may or may not be faulty, that the head gasket may or may not be leaking, that the water pump might or might not be out, and that the aluminum engine may or may not have cracked from driving it home too soon after overheating. However, for a mere $9, the expert on
Just answer.com correctly predicted that our cooling system had an undetected leak which, if caught right away, would have been able to be repaired for under $400. This leak, left unrepaired, ultimately caused the thermostat to go out, a head gasket to blow, water to begin leaking into our oil, the contaminated (and slightly gummy since it wasn't changed in time) oil to flow through the engine, completely trashing it (not necessarily in that order.) Our expert indicated he would be willing to walk us through all of the repairs but did indicate that, as the repairs were complicated and would require specialized tools, mechanical expertise and tons of time, we may want to consider finding an independently owned auto body shop or mechanic in an outlying area or a mechanical friend willing to assist us. At first, we assumed our expert was drumming up regional sales and trying to frighten us but in the end, he was completely and entirely correct. And, we really appreciated his honesty, forthrightness, and advice.
To make a long story a little shorter (and a lot less whiney), we found a mechanic outside of the suburbs with a privately owned auto body shop in his immaculate pole barn, a stellar reputation and all the proper certifications. He charged significantly less for labor than any of the suburban shops we had received quotes from. We rented a car dolly for $40 and the fil, with his Silverado, kindly towed it to our new best friend's shop. The mechanic (
Quatmann Auto Service in Jordan by the way - I'll give him a plug since he was so kind to not ridicule us, to our face anyway, for letting this happen.) confirmed what
Just Answer told us and recommended replacing parts on or rebuilding a used engine to save money. In addition, he had a list of reputable used parts suppliers who were able to not just sell us a used engine but were able to tell us about the car it came from, how it had been maintained and how it came to be available for sale.
Quatmann's replaced the engine - with another with similar mileage, as well as all the sensors (except one), the spark plugs, the serpentine belt, the air filter and more for a total price of $2, 447.89 - parts, labor, tax, one-year warranty - provided it gets regular tune-ups - and all. Although we are now somewhat indebted to my fil and will be eating peanut butter and Ramen for a while, this repair was less than half the price other shops were quoting.
While the repairs were ultimately cheaper than other quotes, it was still a very expensive lesson to learn. Establishing a regular maintenance schedule, agreeing on whose responsibility maintenance and repair is, clearly communicating with your spouse and not making assumptions are vital to your pocketbook. In addition, educating yourself about your car, its parts and basic mechanics has nothing to do with automotive inclination but has everything to do with intentionality and thriftiness. Spending time doing some research - especially before you have a problem - is definitely worth your time and can help you make good choices.
If towing your car to an outlying shop is not an option for you, try using
Just Answer. They provide an honest opinion and good advice at a very affordable price. Just a few days ago, a co-worker used
Just Answer and was told NOT to bring his car to a shop as the repair was simple and would only cost a few dollars and a little bit of time. Also eHow has some good suggestions about how
to save money on car repairs and how to locate
used or price-reduced car parts yourself.
...You can belittle every voice that told you soAnd then the time will come when you add up the numbersAnd then the time will come when you motor awayOh, why don't you just drive away? ...From "Motor Away" by Guided By Voices
