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Man, I knew that owning and maintaining a car is expensive. I don't know how I can justify the cost, other than that I'm too lazy to walk.
So I neglected maintaining my car (Toyota Avalon '97). It's been almost a year since I changed the engine oil, so I figured I can spend $100 for it to happen.
The mechanic tells me I need new front tires. I knew about this, because 2 years ago when I tried to have them rotated, the mechanic told me they're too worn, and it would be dangerous to rotate them to the back, and I should replace them within the year. Okay, $70 for each tire. This costs more than 2x what I expected.
He also tells me I need new transmission fluid. Oops. I didn't change it since I got the car, about 5 years ago. Okay, another $100.
He replaces a headlight lamp. $50. (Another reason I put my car in the shop; the left headlight went out sometime last week.)
Miscellaneous repairs, such as power window and power lock on the passenger door being unresponsive, and the side-view mirror that was vandalized a year ago; tack on another $100. It's fucking expensive to get a foreign-made car repaired in Korea.
Basically, I'm out $500 when I was expecting $100 in expenses.
On the other hand, my car is definitely in better condition now. The vibrations from the engine are much, much smoother and the wheel alignment is no longer bugging me.
But, shit, cars are expensive!
 
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It's true. In order to work out a car's true efficiency, you need to work out the actual running cost per M (or K depending). It's all well and good to get a fuel efficient car - but it may cost much more to maintain than a gas hog.
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Well, this is to be expected with 10+ year old cars.
You actually got off pretty light thanks to the car being a toyota.
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you spent $100 for an oil change?
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That's why I kept telling the mechanic "what, I need that? Okay, do it." But it sucks because my income is $700/month, and my rent is $300 of that. 
And, I didn't know it would all add up like that... I ended up giving him the $400 I got left after my rent, with a promise to pay the rest tomorrow (calling parents tonight  ). Blech. Good thing he was so nice about it.
Maybe it wasn't $100 for the oil change, but I'm sure it was over $50. He didn't give me an invoice, he just gave me a few running totals in between asking me if I wanted more stuff done, so I'm working off guesstimations and memory.
I don't feel ripped off, because this is Korea and people tend to get ripped off bad with foreign-made cars. As far as I can tell, he overcharged me by 10% at most if at all. You keep hearing these horror stories about $300 tires being charged to foreigners who bring their cars over. (Yeah, racism is rampant here. Good thing I look Korean.)
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#1 reason why I'm learning to work on my own cars 
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Wow thats got to suck, wouldnt there be cheaper modes of transport? at least until you have enough money to be able to afford a car comfortably?
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T.O.P.
Hong Kong4685 Posts
On November 04 2010 15:29 BottleAbuser wrote:That's why I kept telling the mechanic "what, I need that? Okay, do it." But it sucks because my income is $700/month, and my rent is $300 of that.
The problem is this, not the car. You shouldn't drive a car if that's your income.
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Also the "money hit" would be a lot more easier to cope with if you just changed your oil/transmission fluid at the expected intervals, instead of waiting to take the big "$500" hit all at once.
Not to mention that the problems are only going to increase exponentially if you don't even change the oil and such!
edit: learning to change your own oil (fairly simple) can save you a lot too.
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$50 to replace your one headlight? more than $50 to replace your oil? I dont know what its like it korea, but in canada thats just brutal
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you drive a car with that income? your fucked... tires cost a hefty amount of money... sell your car unless you need it for your work.
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Be glad you're not driving some stupid Mercedes or other European, 'luxury' class cars.
A power window button snapped off in my Benz. I had to spend $357 to get that replaced.
Now I'm having issues with the starter. I'm going to ballpark at least $400 for that. Not to mention the fuel economy kind of blows.
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Yeah, I know. If I spent $50 a month for a year, this wouldn't have happened. Lesson learned.
At least I wasn't stupid enough to keep driving it until something important broke. I suppose it could have happened and I just got lucky. =\
I'm actually driving my car much less these days, on the order of 3 5-mile round trips a week or so (down from 15-ish). The rest of the time I'm using my gf's bike. Saved me maybe $200 in gas for the car so far.
I usually spend like $10 a day for food, $100 a month for gas, so it works out fine until I have to pay for something else, like maintenance. Bleh.
Maybe I should learn how to change the oil. It could get messy though, because I would have to work in the small parking area for my place (no garage, it's just a flat open area big enough for 4 cars for the building). I don't even know where to toss the old oil. Wouldn't that just save me like $50 a year anyways?
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On November 04 2010 15:29 BottleAbuser wrote:That's why I kept telling the mechanic "what, I need that? Okay, do it." But it sucks because my income is $700/month, and my rent is $300 of that. And, I didn't know it would all add up like that... I ended up giving him the $400 I got left after my rent, with a promise to pay the rest tomorrow (calling parents tonight ). Blech. Good thing he was so nice about it. Maybe it wasn't $100 for the oil change, but I'm sure it was over $50. He didn't give me an invoice, he just gave me a few running totals in between asking me if I wanted more stuff done, so I'm working off guesstimations and memory. I don't feel ripped off, because this is Korea and people tend to get ripped off bad with foreign-made cars. As far as I can tell, he overcharged me by 10% at most if at all. You keep hearing these horror stories about $300 tires being charged to foreigners who bring their cars over. (Yeah, racism is rampant here. Good thing I look Korean.)
I agree that racism exists in Korea.. but another thing to keep in mind is that it doesn't matter who you are, if you bring a foreign car..it's is going to cost you a lot more than it will to work on a Hyundai. Doesn't matter if it's a BMW or a Toyota.
Then again, like somebody mentioned above.. you might want to rethink your transportation method if you have $400 of spending money a month especially with the killer gas prices we have here
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On November 04 2010 15:37 Graham wrote:Also the "money hit" would be a lot more easier to cope with if you just changed your oil/transmission fluid at the expected intervals, instead of waiting to take the big "$500" hit all at once. Not to mention that the problems are only going to increase exponentially if you don't even change the oil and such! edit: learning to change your own oil (fairly simple) can save you a lot too.
it's almost not worth it for the average person to learn to change their oil considering an oil change these days is like $18 and 5 qts of oil is already like $12 not to mention the cost of a filter, tools, and time. i guess depending on how much you drive you could save like $20+ a year or something ~_~
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Haha man, I've needed my front right wheel bearing done for a long time now. The nearby shop wants to charge me waaay too much for it, so I've been holding off getting it done. My buddy keeps telling me that my wheel is gonna fall off and I'm gonna die one day, but I don't want to pay that much money haha.
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I can't exactly sell it. My dad "gave" it to me, but it's still legally his, and he wants to keep it around. I do hope he'll help me maintain it. He already foots the insurance bill (another $300/year or something, might be as high as $500). This is why I use bike unless gf is using it. Good thing our schedules work out so nicely this semester.
Hope I didn't give the wrong impression with OP. This was more of a realization of the cost than bitching about it. I think I can handle the cost for now, I can still eat. Plus, it impresses girls.
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On November 04 2010 15:47 mahnini wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 15:37 Graham wrote:Also the "money hit" would be a lot more easier to cope with if you just changed your oil/transmission fluid at the expected intervals, instead of waiting to take the big "$500" hit all at once. Not to mention that the problems are only going to increase exponentially if you don't even change the oil and such! edit: learning to change your own oil (fairly simple) can save you a lot too. it's almost not worth it for the average person to learn to change their oil considering an oil change these days is like $18 and 5 qts of oil is already like $12 not to mention the cost of a filter, tools, and time. i guess depending on how much you drive you could save like $20+ a year or something ~_~
Haha yeah i used to change my oil but it takes up too much time so now i just drop it off and get it done cheaply. + i don't need to store then dispose of the oil same deal with things like transmission fluid etc, all the crap i learned from my dad which at the time was the way to be a cheapskate. Things add up like windshield whippers air filters etc all the expected maintenance. I can't want for some full electric cars that don't need oil changes so maintenance can be lax.
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at least you guys don't have to pay COE. in singapore cars cost like 5x what they do in the states.
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My dad had to use 3k euros once to fix everything in Croatia -> And that's cheap.
All he had to do was paint the car and some more things
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Lol, I dropped 1k+ (tax return) right after I got it to get 4 new tires, new break pads and rotors. Getting mad about 70 bucks per tire is funny .
On November 04 2010 15:47 mahnini wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 15:37 Graham wrote:Also the "money hit" would be a lot more easier to cope with if you just changed your oil/transmission fluid at the expected intervals, instead of waiting to take the big "$500" hit all at once. Not to mention that the problems are only going to increase exponentially if you don't even change the oil and such! edit: learning to change your own oil (fairly simple) can save you a lot too. it's almost not worth it for the average person to learn to change their oil considering an oil change these days is like $18 and 5 qts of oil is already like $12 not to mention the cost of a filter, tools, and time. i guess depending on how much you drive you could save like $20+ a year or something ~_~
Takes 20 minutes to change your own oil. Put a pan under it, unblock the hole, walk away and do something else while it drains. Come back close it up fill it up, boom.
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On November 04 2010 16:24 Pioneer wrote:Lol, I dropped 1k+ (tax return) right after I got it to get 4 new tires, new break pads and rotors. Getting mad about 70 bucks per tire is funny .
You know you have a beater when you don't have matching tires imo.
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just wondering but what are you doing in korea making only 700/month,
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On November 04 2010 15:39 bobalo wrote:
$50 to replace your one headlight? more than $50 to replace your oil? I dont know what its like it korea, but in canada thats just brutal
Cost of a bulb = $5 dollars
Replacing the bulb = 15 minutes
The Toyota place gave me a quote to replace my headlight because I wanted to see how much I was actually saving by doing it myself and yeah holy crap it was a lot.
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On November 04 2010 16:26 semantics wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 16:24 Pioneer wrote:Lol, I dropped 1k+ (tax return) right after I got it to get 4 new tires, new break pads and rotors. Getting mad about 70 bucks per tire is funny . You know you have a beater when you don't have matching tires imo.
What does this mean? Many cars have staggered and double staggered setups.
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On November 04 2010 16:41 XCetron wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 16:26 semantics wrote:On November 04 2010 16:24 Pioneer wrote:Lol, I dropped 1k+ (tax return) right after I got it to get 4 new tires, new break pads and rotors. Getting mad about 70 bucks per tire is funny . You know you have a beater when you don't have matching tires imo. What does this mean? Many cars have staggered and double staggered setups.
Think you might have to explain what staggered means to him. 
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On November 04 2010 16:24 Pioneer wrote:Lol, I dropped 1k+ (tax return) right after I got it to get 4 new tires, new break pads and rotors. Getting mad about 70 bucks per tire is funny . Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 15:47 mahnini wrote:On November 04 2010 15:37 Graham wrote:Also the "money hit" would be a lot more easier to cope with if you just changed your oil/transmission fluid at the expected intervals, instead of waiting to take the big "$500" hit all at once. Not to mention that the problems are only going to increase exponentially if you don't even change the oil and such! edit: learning to change your own oil (fairly simple) can save you a lot too. it's almost not worth it for the average person to learn to change their oil considering an oil change these days is like $18 and 5 qts of oil is already like $12 not to mention the cost of a filter, tools, and time. i guess depending on how much you drive you could save like $20+ a year or something ~_~ Takes 20 minutes to change your own oil. Put a pan under it, unblock the hole, walk away and do something else while it drains. Come back close it up fill it up, boom.
you also have to change the oil filter though, and you need a special wrench to do most of the time. i'd still pay for someone else to do it even though i've done it tons of times. i don't think i can count the number of times i've busted my knuckles (even through gloves) changing things on my car/changing oil from pieces being too tight.
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On November 04 2010 16:43 Nitrogen wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 16:24 Pioneer wrote:Lol, I dropped 1k+ (tax return) right after I got it to get 4 new tires, new break pads and rotors. Getting mad about 70 bucks per tire is funny . On November 04 2010 15:47 mahnini wrote:On November 04 2010 15:37 Graham wrote:Also the "money hit" would be a lot more easier to cope with if you just changed your oil/transmission fluid at the expected intervals, instead of waiting to take the big "$500" hit all at once. Not to mention that the problems are only going to increase exponentially if you don't even change the oil and such! edit: learning to change your own oil (fairly simple) can save you a lot too. it's almost not worth it for the average person to learn to change their oil considering an oil change these days is like $18 and 5 qts of oil is already like $12 not to mention the cost of a filter, tools, and time. i guess depending on how much you drive you could save like $20+ a year or something ~_~ Takes 20 minutes to change your own oil. Put a pan under it, unblock the hole, walk away and do something else while it drains. Come back close it up fill it up, boom. you also have to change the oil filter though, and you need a special wrench to do most of the time. i'd still pay for someone else to do it even though i've done it tons of times. i don't think i can count the number of times i've busted my knuckles (even through gloves) changing things on my car/changing oil from pieces being too tight.
Screwdriver + rubber hammer! Who needs the custom wrench lol
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Brake flush costs $90 here and doing it yourself takes about an hour or less if you have a friend to help. Not counting standard equipments (floor jack/stands/lug wrench) the actual brake fluid costs $9 at the store...... People should definitely learn basic car maintenances.
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I'm a college student. And I'm not really bitching about the tires costing $70 each, I'm just kind of struck by how much it all adds up to. Not the kind of money I was thinking when I was going "oh free car awesome." Good thing it's not breaking my back, would have hated for this to happen in a situation where I can't afford it.
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On November 04 2010 16:43 Nitrogen wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2010 16:24 Pioneer wrote:Lol, I dropped 1k+ (tax return) right after I got it to get 4 new tires, new break pads and rotors. Getting mad about 70 bucks per tire is funny . On November 04 2010 15:47 mahnini wrote:On November 04 2010 15:37 Graham wrote:Also the "money hit" would be a lot more easier to cope with if you just changed your oil/transmission fluid at the expected intervals, instead of waiting to take the big "$500" hit all at once. Not to mention that the problems are only going to increase exponentially if you don't even change the oil and such! edit: learning to change your own oil (fairly simple) can save you a lot too. it's almost not worth it for the average person to learn to change their oil considering an oil change these days is like $18 and 5 qts of oil is already like $12 not to mention the cost of a filter, tools, and time. i guess depending on how much you drive you could save like $20+ a year or something ~_~ Takes 20 minutes to change your own oil. Put a pan under it, unblock the hole, walk away and do something else while it drains. Come back close it up fill it up, boom. you also have to change the oil filter though, and you need a special wrench to do most of the time. i'd still pay for someone else to do it even though i've done it tons of times. i don't think i can count the number of times i've busted my knuckles (even through gloves) changing things on my car/changing oil from pieces being too tight.
Oil filter goes into the pan. I drive a 95 Ford Econoline sometimes and that is one the hardest vehicles to get to the oil filter in (don't need a special tool it's just way up there and near impossible for a normal human being to get a grip on), still done in 20 minutes. (Oil filters are a pain true but it's one of those things where you spend 10 minutes driving to walmart or w/e to get what you need, 20 minutes to replace, you cut out the time that a mechanic/oil place will take and the labor costs).
I might be a little to critical, learned how to change a flat, change the oil and other standard repairs/fixes when I was young so it's not a big deal. At the very least people should know how to do it even if they don't always exercise that knowledge. Always amazes me when friends tell me they had to call their Dad to help them fix a flat.
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I guess the real lesson here is not to drive a foreign made car in Korea. My dad got me a bag of oil filters during a trip to the states. Just used the last one today actually. They cost $10 at Walmart, as you said, but impossible to find here. And the local ones don't fit the Toyota.
And yes, I know how to change a tire... anything more complisticated and I'm going to call the insurance company, which will send out a mechanic to where I am for free I'm told. Did it for a dead battery a couple times before I got off my ass and paid for a new one.
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When I first got my car and didn't know anything about them (AT ALL) in general, I had to pay $1200 for 4 new rotors and pads at the dealership. Looking back at it now that should have cost somewhere in the range of $200 - 400 for high quality parts (better than OEM). I've been learning and slowly fixing up my car and definitely never taking it to the dealership again unless its something really major.
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On November 04 2010 16:55 BottleAbuser wrote:I guess the real lesson here is not to drive a foreign made car in Korea. My dad got me a bag of oil filters during a trip to the states. Just used the last one today actually. They cost $10 at Walmart, as you said, but impossible to find here. And the local ones don't fit the Toyota. And yes, I know how to change a tire... anything more complisticated and I'm going to call the insurance company, which will send out a mechanic to where I am for free I'm told. Did it for a dead battery a couple times before I got off my ass and paid for a new one.
This. Lesson learned. (unless you can afford it of course!)
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thats insane... the oil change should cost less than 20 bucks... and you should never do it yourself. Whatever you think you're saving it's really not that much. They can usually change other things at the same time... I think a fluid change is like 50 bucks max and they do most of them... replacing a headlamp is soo easy... 10 minutes max. A couple of clips and screws and you're done. It sounds like you should shop around for a new mechanic
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Ah last week, nearly the same happened to me, was driving to buy some food, when suddenly out of nowhere the engine oil warn lamp started blinking in my face TT
i thought " well ok, if i refill now, it wont be much needed"
so after buying food, i bought 1 litre oil >.< - i was like hell yeah, i will only need bout 250ml and this oil will last for several years, which would be nice due to the fact that it cost 25€ ~ 40$ (pretty much for a jobless student :D )
But then i refilled and i needed to put the whole can in to satisfy the cars needs...
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United States24768 Posts
Yeah as someone else said, if you wait a year to do maintenance the amount you'll need to pay when you go in will just accumulate... no surprise you spent that much. And yea older cars require more dollars per mile to keep them running.
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konadora
Singapore66358 Posts
you think cars there are expensive?
come to singapore, then we'll talk.
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You think cars there are expensive?
come to the moon, then we'll talk.
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A headlight takes 5 minutes to change... Look it up thats not a difficult change, saves you a few bucks.
Not doing the oil for a whole year, are you nuts? Your allowing the oil to become excessively dirty and it will start to bog your car down. Recommended changes are 5000k for that year of car or every 3 months whichever comes first.
Transmission fluid well lots of people forget about that.
Also those are some cheap ass tires
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On November 04 2010 18:53 meeple wrote:
thats insane... the oil change should cost less than 20 bucks... and you should never do it yourself. Whatever you think you're saving it's really not that much. They can usually change other things at the same time... I think a fluid change is like 50 bucks max and they do most of them... replacing a headlamp is soo easy... 10 minutes max. A couple of clips and screws and you're done. It sounds like you should shop around for a new mechanic
Actually Oil changes are government regulated at approx 45$ per change for crude oil/filter.
Transmission flush normally costs around 90.
Brakes around 75.
Not those are costs from a dealership
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On November 04 2010 15:29 Nitrogen wrote:
you spent $100 for an oil change?
Indeed? I changed the oil on my car myself a few weeks a go. Total cost: like $15 for the oil, and about 10-15 minutes of my time.
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Honestly a car is just a hole that you throw money into.
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Lmao oil & filter change is like 15$ MAX . Learn to do it yourself if you have to, it's easy as fuck to do anyways. I think I made a blog about how to do it long time ago.
And seriously, change your oil every 3 months or so, it's so fucking dumb not to.
But also lol at me having the same income and paying 600$ of it to rent and bills T_T
PS- I can't afford a car either.
PS- if you call around in the phone book or whatever, you can usually find a used tire place where they will do the work plus get you the tire for like 25$ each.
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I thought my complaining about spending $1000 on tires alone was a bit silly. Cars are expensive to maintain, always put aside $50 of each pay to go towards maintaining your car. It sucks when a car eats more than half your pay a month. Mine did this to me 3 times and I had to wait 3 months to get my engine fixed.
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Go to a garage, expect to pay 100$, end up as 500$
Happens everytime lol so fucking frustrating.
Not long ago I had a flat tire. I went to the garage and expected a patch for 30$, I ended up buying used winter tire cause mine were done.
30$ --> 300$
Last Fall I went to the garage cause there was a sound in my front wheel, I was thinking of something stuck that would cost me 100$, needed new brakes.
100$ --> 450$
I still got a shit tons of problem with my car but I've found adopted a new mind set :
If it aint broke, don't fix.
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how on earth did you think you'd get away with $100 in expenses with all that done???
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You should definitely learn to do some of these things yourself. The headlamp change for $50 is ridiculous!
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I thought I'd just go for an oil change and headlight lamp. All the other shit that was broken didn't come to mind until the mechanic reminded me. Actually, the shop is called "Hankook Tire" so I didn't think he'd be able to do anything with the electric system (power window and lock).
Waiting until shit breaks to fix it is a bad policy. Transmission oil change: $100 per 5 years. Putting in a new transmission: $2000 after maybe 15 years. Huh?
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EPT
