I mentioned my tire troubles last week, and am happy to report that some good came of the whole mess. While I may have had to buy a new tire because of my own stupidity (for not stopping sooner and thus saving the old tire), I have found a trustworthy mechanic.
Jack's the father of two boys, one of whom went to pre-school with my son, and the other went to pre-school with my daughter. His older son is in Cub Scouts, and we ran into the family at the Pinewood Derby Regionals last month (his son was the Tiger Cub First Place winner).
Jack's a mechanic, and had worked for a local dealership for years when he decided to strike out on his own last year. His wife mentioned it to my wife when they were picking the kids up from pre-school, along the lines of "it's exciting but a little scary", and we had been meaning to look the garage up the next time one of the cars needed work.
Well, enter the tire. Called Jack up, he tells me to swing by the garage after work last Friday (even stayed late for me!), I drop the rim off. He tells me it'll be done Monday; I swing in after work and he apologizes profusely - he hadn't gotten the tire yet, as he found a different supplier that was $30 cheaper that would have the tire in stock Tuesday. I swing in after work yesterday, the tire's all done. He gets it back on the truck and the spare safely stowed away, and presents me with the bill.
Now... keep in mind that I priced out these tires from about 10 different sources. The cheapest price I found for a single tire (i.e. not price per tire if you buy 4) was ~ $160 from Sam's. So I'm expecting the bill to run ~ $200 - $230, figuring $160 for the tire, + markup, + $20-$30 for mounting and balancing.
Nope. $178. Mounted, balanced, and put back on the truck. That's cheap money to find a good mechanic IMHO.
Needless to say, we're bringing my wife's Honda in on Friday so that he can rebuild the suspension - after 8 years and 90K miles, it finally needs new stabilizer links/bushings. The Honda dealer brought them to our attention after the state inspection last month (it's a free-state-inspection-for-life deal when you buy a new car there). Their quoted price to repair? $504. When I showed the invoice to Jack, he laughed... More than likely, we're going to save enough on the Honda repair to make up the truck tire...
So, this cloud does have a silver lining. Still doesn't get me a 10/22, but at least we've got a local mechanic we can trust. Which is nearly as good.
That is all.
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8 comments:
hey - would you email me his number? we usually go to price rite... but he's always SOOOOOOO busy that we don't see the car again for days.
i wicked need an oilchange and there are no jiffy lubes or anything between here and my job.
There should be a verse in the Bible about the value of a good mechanic.
Right after the verse on plumbers.
Hold the phone .... you don't have a 10/22?
Sweet Creamy Jesus, that's absurd! Every gun owner is required to own one!!
amusings_bnl,
E-mail sent. Tell Jack I sent ya...
buck,
Amen to that, brother. I'm in the market for a good plumber, too - all three bathroom sinks leak, and I am afraid of what hilarity will entail if I try to "fix" them myself...
weebs,
Nope, no 10/22 in the armory. Problem is, I have like 7 or 8 .22 LR rifles as it is right now. Adding another one just didn't seem right... Until this year's BAG Day, when it looked like that was all I could afford. Well, until the tire, that is...
I'll take a picture of the new tire for my BAG Day purchase...
bass pro shops has 10/22's for $160 here locally... im going to go pick one or two up tomorrow... check if there is on near you
New stabilizer bushings at 90K? And here I've been swearing at my Subaru for needing them at 108K... I was thinking that it seemed unusual for a car that's supposed to last so long to need them. Right after I had to replace both front axles because the CV joint boots cracked and let road crap get on them. *rolleyes*
OTOH... Price for new axles at Village Subaru? $900. At MJ Auto in Marlboro? $470. Price for the bushings at Subaru? $500. At MJ? $160.
MJ Auto in Marlborough rocks!
Ross,
That actually makes me feel a lot better about the bushings. For ~ 4 years, that Honda traveled over roads that could charitably be called "scarred". A more honest assessment would be pothole-strewn wasteland that one would expect to find only in war-ravaged corners of the globe without access to modern road repair machinery...
Not that I'm bitter or anything...
(Side note: Saw a recent Subaru commercial where they make note of the "boxer engine" - if I were to follow your lead, I'd have to either find a truck with a V-twin or trade the Harley in on a Boss Hoss... *g*)
Good god man,
Here's a free tip, when you find a good mechanic DO. NOT. TELL. ANYONE.
If he's actually good, he'll have customers coming out of his ears without your help. With your help he'll be so successful you'll have to wait a year just to get an appointment to get an appointment.
And then, by necessity, he'll have to start hiring less than reputable help and sooner than later the quality of their work will slip.
So....when you find a good mechanic, mums the word.
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