Semi-final update on the vehicular repair frenzy. 
The second emergency brake cable came in today (Tuesday) instead of yesterday, and I took that and the other replacement parts to the repair shop and made sure under no uncertain terms what exactly I wanted done. I had visited the parts store earlier and spoke with their main manager, making a deal where they'll 'eat' the costs of the labor and replacement parts. I didn't mention this to the repair shop manager, but he decided to call the auto parts manager to complain about the shorter wheel studs (which was nice of him). When done he said the parts store will deliver replacement studs to go into the new hub assembly (this is probably all Greek to many of you, lol) and was grinning widely, until I mentioned that I had spoken to them already and between us they were going to cover the labor costs for it (which made his grin lopsided). The guy agreed since they had already told him that over the phone it seems.... Heh! No overcharging me and then charging the parts store twice over! Nopers! It also turns out that the guy had told me my original passenger rear tire replacement lugnut was bad, and changed his story to the new stud being too thick. So I took that back to the parts store and found out there was no other size for my make/model of wheels. So I trundled my borrowed monster $UV ($-using vehicle) back and told him what for. He then agreed to get everything done in two hours and call me (*edited to add that he never did!). *This guy at the All Tune and Lube in Harker Heights gave me the runaround all day long, having me drive from his shop back to O'reilly's around no less than eight (8!) times today. This completely wasted my day, since I was going to inquire about a job with a land surveyor company....
Okay, final tally on costs for the day are: $132 for various parts, $160 for various labor. Parts purchased: front wheel assembly hub - $60 (labor $70), two emergency brake cables - $32 (labor $70), a lugnut & wheel stud - $4 (FREE), misc. expenses - $20 (grumbles), oil filter & 5 quarts oil w/labor - $16. >>>>>Total: $292.<<<<<
Amounts saved: $170 on the hub, $165 on the e-brake cables, $15 on the nut/stud, and $25 on misc. expenses. >>>>>Total Savings: $375<<<<< (NOTE: This does not include additional markup costs for 'tech manual guesstimates' on multi-repair servicing, which would perhaps add another $300 to the total.)
The second emergency brake cable came in today (Tuesday) instead of yesterday, and I took that and the other replacement parts to the repair shop and made sure under no uncertain terms what exactly I wanted done. I had visited the parts store earlier and spoke with their main manager, making a deal where they'll 'eat' the costs of the labor and replacement parts. I didn't mention this to the repair shop manager, but he decided to call the auto parts manager to complain about the shorter wheel studs (which was nice of him). When done he said the parts store will deliver replacement studs to go into the new hub assembly (this is probably all Greek to many of you, lol) and was grinning widely, until I mentioned that I had spoken to them already and between us they were going to cover the labor costs for it (which made his grin lopsided). The guy agreed since they had already told him that over the phone it seems.... Heh! No overcharging me and then charging the parts store twice over! Nopers! It also turns out that the guy had told me my original passenger rear tire replacement lugnut was bad, and changed his story to the new stud being too thick. So I took that back to the parts store and found out there was no other size for my make/model of wheels. So I trundled my borrowed monster $UV ($-using vehicle) back and told him what for. He then agreed to get everything done in two hours and call me (*edited to add that he never did!). *This guy at the All Tune and Lube in Harker Heights gave me the runaround all day long, having me drive from his shop back to O'reilly's around no less than eight (8!) times today. This completely wasted my day, since I was going to inquire about a job with a land surveyor company....
Okay, final tally on costs for the day are: $132 for various parts, $160 for various labor. Parts purchased: front wheel assembly hub - $60 (labor $70), two emergency brake cables - $32 (labor $70), a lugnut & wheel stud - $4 (FREE), misc. expenses - $20 (grumbles), oil filter & 5 quarts oil w/labor - $16. >>>>>Total: $292.<<<<<
Amounts saved: $170 on the hub, $165 on the e-brake cables, $15 on the nut/stud, and $25 on misc. expenses. >>>>>Total Savings: $375<<<<< (NOTE: This does not include additional markup costs for 'tech manual guesstimates' on multi-repair servicing, which would perhaps add another $300 to the total.)
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
adeluxe:
Dude, gimme the name of the place and I'll make sure I stay as far away from it!
element_103:
All Tune and Lube in Harker Heights. They've stores in various locations also in Central Texas. Another female friend of mine had issues with them years ago, but they were offering decent deals and I mistakenly figured something might've improved since then. 