Many years ago, my dad took his car into a chain brake repair place.
Same thing happened to him as many other folks on this thread. They claimed that he needed repairs that would cost something like 4X what he was originally quoted. He told them to put it back together and he would come and get it. They were not happy.
He went to the garage and they gave him the car. On the way home a wheel fell off. They hadn't tightened the lug nuts on the wheel.
Same happened to my grandmother. rear wheel fell off.Originally Posted by ChrisCBX
1998 VFR800 Interceptor - resurrected and custom tail http://vfrworld.com/forums/5th-gener...98-vfr800.html
1999 DR650SE
I went to breaks plus for front pads and left with pads, rotors, drums and shoes. They also flushed the break fluid. All this "had to be done". The car stopped great and the pads wore like iron. It cost just over $500. About 2 months and 1000 miles later a spring slipped and killed the drum. When I took it back to them they told me I was SOL but they could fix it for 200. I had a buddy's dad help me take it apart and it looked like they reused the springs. I was 18 and didn't know what I was dealing with. I do most of my own work now.
A good long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith and use up a lot of fuel.
A good rider has balance, judgment, and good timing. So does a good lover.
I do most of my own work. I didn't always, because I didn't have good access to the kind of information needed to take on those kinds of jobs with confidence (yay internetz!) I think about it now, how much more it costs and the total crap-shoot it can be with the quality of the work compared to doing it myself.
When I do need to see a mechanic, I don't go to a chain. I suck at dealing with sales people. I go see Doug Lappe (Doug's Automotive Service in Arvada). I went to him once thinking it was time for my timing belt replacement. He looked up my car in the manual to find the service interval and said, "You don't need it yet, come back when you hit 90K". (My previous car, an earlier generation of the same model, needed it at 60) He didn't try to sell me an oil change or blinker fluid. I went away and he didn't make any money from me that day. I'd recommend him to anybody.
Due to economics back in the day and experiences like the ones mentioned, I learned to be my own mechanic. I then became a true motorhead over time.
While I can afford to have a pro repair my vehicles these days, I still prefer to do it myself.
I'm getting ready to redo the brakes on our Tundra.
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