Can someone recommend a mechanic?

[pasithea]

Anyone know a decent mechanic?

Dealership just quoted me a thousand dollars to replace the power steering pump and one engine mount on a 7-year-old Nissan Sentra.

If you aren't familiar with cars, a power steering pump is about 80 bucks rebuilt and requires about half an hour to replace.

The engine mount is a chunk of rubber and a bolt. No fucking way that combination of stuff is a thousand dollars. Even if you put the most extreme possible price on each part, we're still talking about less than $300 in parts and at MOST 3 hours of labor. Absolute tops that's $600.

So... Anyone know a mechanic who isn't a fucking scumbag?

If not, I'll just drive with it for a couple of weeks and do the replacements myself at a friend's house when she gets back in town.

Edit: Just checked. I can get a power steering pump for $60 and the entire set of engine mounts for $25. (Exactly what I thought)

Comments

[sci.livejournal.com]

So they're doing what? Parts + labour + $115 for each year old the car is?

[paka.livejournal.com]

I've had okay luck with Rick Marchetti's auto service over on Evelyn. But, I still think you have enough technical ability that you can probably do as good a job on your own.

[sci.livejournal.com]

($25/hr is a pretty good rate in the US still?)

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I could do the work. I just don't want to impose on my friend quite that much. It's not a hard job but without a proper shop it's about 4 hours of wrenching and knuckle busting and swearing. So I'm going to look for a more reasonable prices first. I don't mind paying someone else to do miserable grunt work, I'm just not going to pay them $300/hr to do it.

[yetanotherbob.livejournal.com]

Okay, I talked with my mechanic friend (He's the one that works with me on maintaining my El Camino) and he owes me work/money and he's willing to do it if you so desire. We will need to get a cherry picker, as it's probably a straight 4 engine, and so it does mean taking the engine out of the car in order to replace the pump.

[ff00ff.livejournal.com]

You're the archangel of a digital dreamworld, how dare this skilled laborer who maintains the transportation system that our wasteful arrogant self obsessed culture has chosen charge a steep rate in a place which has one of the highest costs of living in the world. Hasn't Northern California transcended material reality by now?

[yetanotherbob.livejournal.com]

Also: It's a dealership. The rule of thumb I've found (which is scarily accurate) is that a dealership's rates are three times the rate you'd get at a repair shop.