I Inadvertently Saved a Ton of Money
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (96698)
United States
February 27, 2025 6:32am CST
I forgot to mention that on Tuesday I took my truck for a much-needed oil change, and a few days earlier, I noticed the engine light came on and it was running a bit rough. Nothing major, but noticeable enough to decide I'd be taking the truck in very soon to have it looked at.
In my mind, I was setting aside at least $1500 for a repair job. Can anyone ever take their vehicle in for repairs anymore and NOT walk away with at least a $1000 bill?
As they always do at the drive-in oil change locations, they brought me filters and suggested this upgrade or another. I let them change the wipers, which was needed, since it was only $24 installed. It seemed reasonable even if I can do it myself.
When the tech brought me the air filter, I told him I could just pick one up and install it myself, or worst case scenario, I said, I have to get the truck into the shop since the engine light had come on and I could check their price.
"Do you want me to hook up my code reader and see what codes come up for the light?"
I hesitated a bit.
"It's free."
Those were the words I wanted to hear. "Sure, let's do it," I told him.
He hooked up his reader and it turns out I have about three or four cylinders misfiring, which means, it's time for a tune-up.
In that moment a $1500 set aside went down to about $250, and so right there I saved a ton of money. And who knows? It's not to say mechanics are liars, but sometimes I do wonder, and if I don't know what's wrong, I have no choice but to take them at their word when they tell me what's wrong and how much it will cost to fix it.
Now I can just go in and say, "Give me a tune-up, please."
9 people like this
7 responses
@lilacskies (6490)
• United States
27 Feb
Wow, you saved a lot of money! Way to go!
1 person likes this
@porwest (96698)
• United States
6h
Saving money is not only a relief. It's fun. I do wonder, if I'd have taken it to the dealership to determine why the check engine light came on, what they'd have told me. I am almost tempted to see what they might say, but I'd rather just get the tune up and be done with it.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (142192)
• United States
27 Feb
Sometimes soon I'll need to call and get our car in for some work, too. I'm almost positive we need a new alternator. The brand new battery we had installed at Christmas isn't holding a charge and we need an oil change, too. I'm sure we're looking at less than $700 total for this...
It annoys me when I have to take the mechanic's word for something. I KNOW some of them lie just to pump up the price...
I hope you have a great day.
1 person likes this
@porwest (96698)
• United States
6h
Car repairs are always annoying because they are rarely cheap. But of course, we have to get around and so it's also necessary. $700 is painful, but not awful.
But yeah, you really don't have much of a choice when it comes to mechanics but to take their word for things. What alternative is there, really?
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (142192)
• United States
6h
@porwest $700 is a small fortune to us... But I still have to be able to reach doctors 70 miles away.
@LooeyVille (42)
• United States
21h
That's a great service he offered you to read the car's codes to diagnose the problem
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (83844)
• United States
27 Feb
That was a lucky break to know that when you bring your truck in it will only need a tune-up. I have to agree that it's rare for any repair to be less than $1000 these days.
