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Ask, ask, ask!

August 30th, 2006 at 08:19 pm

Now, maybe I was just in the dark all these years...or maybe there are a number of people out there who might not have thought of this. Whenever I took my car in for repairs, I just agreed to the total, sighed, and signed over my first-born. Last year, I was given a very high price to get my car in line for inspection - so high, that I told the repairman that I would need to check out a few things before authorizing the repairs. I started to call around to check out prices - lo and behold, within ten minutes the original mechanic called me back and took $70 off the repair bill. Just like that. He "said" he happened to call around and find a part cheaper, but I wonder if they quote to maximum just to see who will pay it before lowering their estimates.
So...inspection time again. I just got the call about when needs to be repaired (wiper blades, wheel cylinders, rotors) to the tune of $345. I had already told the guy that I would probably get the wipers myself, so when he called me with the total, he had discounted the wiper blades already ($45 to $22 for three - about as good as I can get in an auto parts store). I told him I would need to check around and get back to him before authorizing anything. I called another chain store just down the road and got a price quote of $30 less. I then called the first place back and (screwing up my courage because this is never easy!) asked them to match it. He said yes without hesitation (makes me wonder if I could have gotten away with more???). Anyway, I am happy because I am going to get out of an inspection for $300ish (not so bad - I do not take good care of my cars and, I admit, drive quite hard). And I saved myself $53 ($30 + $23 on the blades), just by asking. Never hurts to try Smile

2 Responses to “Ask, ask, ask!”

  1. spendless Says:
    1156972144

    FYI....Itake my vehicle to a super Walmart for wiper blades and oil changes, etc.

    They just charge for cost of material....no labor to install.
    Not sure if everyone does that......seems reasonable.

  2. jodi_m Says:
    1156979420

    I used to take my car there for oil changes - great prices! But it was a pain to have to sit there for an hour or more if I didn't need to shop. Now I take my car to the place next door to my work so I can leave it there all day and walk over to get it when it's done. They have a lot of deals on oil changes, so I rarely pay more than $15 anyway (what I pay at Wal-Mart).
    Normally I wouldn't get my wiper blades installed, but since they need to be on to pass inspection...it's easier to get it done rather than take it back. I was glad that they knocked a chunk off though, or else I would have been doing it myself!

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