Katy McKenna Raymond  
Personal blog of christian writer Katy McKenna Raymond in Kansas City, Missouri

Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri


Katy is represented by
Greg Johnson at
WordServe Literary

Read more Katy at
LateBoomer.net

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Fool Me Twice? I Don’t Think So!

Seven weeks or so ago, the catalytic converter went out on our 2002 Saturn wagon. You might remember the story of how the mechanic insulted me and all “little women” everywhere when I asked if I could take a diagnostic message for my soon-to-be-home husband and he said, “Well, if you DO, will I just have to say it all over again when he calls me back?”

Insults are not a deal breaker for me, though. I am WAY too mature not to be ultimately swayed by competent work at a fair price. So I attempted to buck up and take it like a….girl.

But when he told us that catalytic converters for our car could only be purchased through the dealer and we found him to be lying, well. For me, when that happens, all bets are off. Anyway, we ordered the HUGELY-less-expensive-than-he-quoted part online, had it delivered to his shop, where he marked it up as much as he dared and installed it. As far as I was concerned, we’d never be dealing with him again.

Last Saturday, the same car died right after we’d gotten off I-70 and onto a road with significantly slower moving traffic. I mean, we were driving along just fine, with the car making no strange noises and behaving exactly as it should, and then—-nothing. The car just stopped running and we were fortunate to slide into a parking lot before every last ounce of forward momentum came to an end.

We’ve got AAA, so we called a tow truck after realizing that the car would simply not restart. But, silly us, we had no idea where to have it towed, except for to the place I swore I’d never go again.

Plus, we were fully 30 minutes from our home AND my back was COMPLETELY out to the point that I could barely get in and out of any car much less the tow truck that I was going to have to climb into AND we’d just driven 2 hours surrounded by 18-wheelers which is not my idea of fun AND the Xanax was running awfully low. Suffice it to say, I was in a weakened condition, and poor Doug had limited choices.

Monday morning, Doug checked in with the mechanic, who said he’d check the car out and let us know. Took him till Tuesday to call back with the news. It’s the timing belt (or is it the timing chain?), a problem that TONS of Saturns have been recalled for. The happy owners of Saturns ranging in birth years from 1998 to 2001 had their repairs done for FREE, since the part is defective. But not so with the 2002 owners! That’s what we get for driving a new car! Ha.

Said mechanic quoted us a price of $2060. DOLLARS! Doug actually felt desperate enough over that amount of moolah to ask the guy if he might want to purchase the car as-is. “Sure. I’ll give you $600 for it.”

The car only has 100,000 miles on it! I planned to drive it several more years, or longer. It’s one thing to be insulted because I’m a girl, but quite another to insult the value of my perfectly-fine-till-last-Saturday car! Once again, I’d had it.

“Get the name of another mechanic,” I told Doug. “Maybe Fred knows somebody….”

Fred is a good friend from church, and why didn’t we think of him sooner? Fred doesn’t just know somebody. Fred knows everybody!

Turns out there is a mechanic approximately 40 feet down the road from The Mechanic Formerly Known As Ours. The new guy hauled our car to his joint yesterday. He feels certain, if the first guy’s diagnosis turns out to be accurate, that he can do the job for $1200.

I don’t know about you, but to me, the difference between $2060 and $1200 is WAY more than $860. All of a sudden, I feel like we’re hooked up with someone we might be able to trust. And someone who maybe, just maybe, won’t diss me or my personal property.

In certain scenarios, I might pay extra for that kind of treatment. But it looks like, at least this time, I won’t have to.

Posted by Katy on 05/22/09 at 12:39 PM
Fallible Comments...
  1. A good mechanic is hard to find, especially if you're like me and know zero about cars. I'm glad it looks like you found someone you can trust. :-)
    Posted by Stacey K  on  05/22/09  at  02:20 PM
  2. the alternator on my Miata went out at 9:45 pm on the entrance ramp to I-470 west. It was the last night of class and I was feeling elated...until I realized I was sitting in the dark and had no cell phone, fully 55 miles from home. I shouldered my book bag and began the hike back to campus--probably a mile and a half. A man and his young daughter in an upscale SUV stopped and gave me a lift and offered to let me use his Blackberry to call home. Keith surmised it was the alternator as the battery was only a year old. He bought the part and installed it himself. The part was $200 and we figure that labor on it would have driven the installation over $600. He's not working these days, but his DIY skills are invaluable!
    Posted by Terri  on  05/22/09  at  10:35 PM
  3. car mechanics everywhere in the world are famous to mislead their ignorant customers for short term profits.

    I think you need to choose a well established mechanics that have plenty of customers and regarded well by your friends.
    Posted by Joko Suyanto  on  06/03/09  at  10:38 AM
  4. A good mechanic is hard to find, especially if you’re like me and know zero about cars. I’m glad it looks like you found someone you can trust. :-)
    Posted by nonamez  on  07/06/09  at  04:39 PM
  5. Best thing to do is by the part offline and then call places and get quotes on how much the labor would be. I have friends who are mechanics so I'm kind of in luck.
    Posted by Erik GH  on  07/09/09  at  12:33 PM
  6. C'mon guys, you Know it's the evil aliens among us who are preventing our cars from starting. That's so they can have a little more time to stalk and EAT us!
    Posted by forum  on  07/12/09  at  04:42 PM
  7. The car only has 1,00,000 miles on it.I planned to drive it several more years, or longer.
    Posted by birmingham car recovery  on  07/30/09  at  08:11 AM
  8. I'm glad you decided to find another mechanic. $2060 is a major rip off!
    Posted by Laris.tv Iklan Baris  on  08/05/09  at  07:43 PM
  9. Maybe next time, try to canvass for rates for particular labor so you'll get to know fair rate based on your worker's job. It's very sad to know that there are still people taking advantage to others.
    Posted by Gilbert  on  08/08/09  at  11:57 AM
  10. Another mechanic - true way : )
    Posted by Andrew  on  08/25/09  at  04:17 PM
  11. Hello guys!

    Keith surmised it was the alternator as the battery was only a year old. He bought the part and installed it himself.
    Posted by Freelance Jobs  on  09/19/09  at  04:10 AM
  12. This is very interesting. I think this is really a good idea. I hope this went well.
    Posted by blackberry pearl accessories  on  11/25/09  at  09:44 AM
  13. I think you need to choose a well established mechanics that have plenty of customers and regarded well by your friends.<a href="http://www.claims4negligence.co.uk/personal-injury/road-traffic-accidents/">Road Accident Claim</a>
    Posted by daniel  on  12/01/09  at  09:42 AM
  14. I feel delighted to read such a good post, I would like to thank the Author for this marvelous efforts.
    Posted by myspace profile layouts  on  12/21/09  at  10:00 AM
  15. Good to hear that. Yeah I think $860 is very different. It's a lot of money here in my country.
    Posted by Portable external hard drives  on  12/22/09  at  03:46 PM
  16. You should be more careful next time. But I think you've learned from this one. Great!
    Posted by Comforters Bedding  on  12/22/09  at  04:18 PM
  17. check your Car before taking it out opf town for a long journey?
    a) tyre pressures
    b) engine oil levels
    c) coolant levels
    d) carry the spare wheel, jack, electrical fuses and headlamp buld
    Posted by car recovery  on  12/23/09  at  08:16 AM
  18. A man and his young daughter in an upscale SUV stopped and gave me a lift and offered to let me use his Blackberry to call home. Keith surmised it was the alternator as the battery was only a year old.He bought the part and installed it himself.
    Posted by Facebook Layouts  on  12/28/09  at  09:20 AM
  19. interesting and informative article thanks
    Posted by rj performance  on  12/29/09  at  08:43 PM
  20. Interesting post and topic,thanks for sharing.
    Posted by James  on  01/16/10  at  03:41 PM
  21. Yes you have to be really careful around mechanics these days. It's too easy for them to say something needs replacing and charge you a fortune.
    Posted by Best Laptop Review  on  07/31/10  at  05:07 PM
  22. hi, really thank you very much, i was looking for this subject long time ago.
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  26. proper investigation should be conducted to find the reason why in the future as such tragedies could be avoided. thanks for sharing. nominal.
    Posted by dodge turbocharger  on  01/17/11  at  06:08 PM
    27. Page 1 of 1 pages
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