Expensive Lesson

I smelled coolant. Then I saw just a very light puff of steam vapor coming from under the hood. My taxi was vacant, and I was right next to a Ford dealer, so I figured I would have them at least diagnose the problem and decide from there what to do.

It was Monday, after 5:00pm, and all of their mechanics had gone home for the day. I couldn't find a spot from where the vapor was escaping, and it wasn't coming out with pressure, so I chanced it on the road to the nearest Pep Boys, and was told the same thing: mechanics went home. It was too late in the day for me to go to Golf Mill Auto Center, where I have been taking the taxi for maintenance, and I was afraid I wouldn't make it the 15 miles or so to get there anyway. I was out of options, so I headed home. The steam stopped, but I still occasionally smelled coolant.

The next morning I started the taxi, drove it for a while, and checked things out. No vapor and only occasional whiffs of coolant. I made a note to myself to take it in to Golf Mill to have it looked at. Business was exceptional this week, so I continued to put it off. Then, Thursday afternoon, after taking the daytime off and planning to shift to nights for the weekend, I walked out to the car, ready to work, and saw that a large puddle of liquid had formed beneath the car and had oozed down the slight slope of the parking lot at my apartment complex. I dipped my finger in the liquid, believing it was motor oil. It didn't smell like motor oil...or anything I could identify. In a bit of a panic, I drove the car to the nearest garage, a local chain called Casey Automotive. I had taken a car to one of their other locations before; wasn't impressed with their work, and was even less impressed with their rates. But I'm even less comfortable with Pep Boys, so to Casey it was.

They told me it was a head gasket, and that it would be a minimum of $1800! I probably wouldn't get it back until Monday. It was not one of my better moments, and I did a mild internal freak-out. And I said, "Do it." I never even asked for a written estimate, nor did they offer me one! But they did give me a ride home.

Friday I went to the taxi office to take care of some other business, and I mentioned in passing to one of the guys from whom I had bought the taxi about its current status. When he asked me what they were charging, his eyeballs fell out of his head. He told me that Golf Mill would do it for way less. He even called them, and they said they could do it for around $500. Then he relayed their question: "Which side?"

I didn't have an answer, for the guy at Casey never told me. The guy at the taxi office said that for a hundred-dollar tow I could have saved a bunch of money! Part of me wishes he had never told me that, or that I had never mentioned it. Suddenly I had a headache!

After several minutes alone in my personal vehicle I became very angry, not only at the guys at Casey, but at myself for not thinking things through and at least calling Golf Mill myself to see what they would charge.

Second opinion, you fucking moron!

But my anger grew. Casey had been working on my car for about five and a half hours at this point. I felt... I knew I was being taken advantage of, knew I was being ripped off. I went back to Casey and talked to the manager(?). He took me to the car. Half the engine was sitting on the floor! I asked him on which side the head gasket leak was. He said, "It doesn't matter, we do both sides. He has both heads off, now, and it's only a half-hour more labor...."

But if they only needed to do one side, it would only be half the labor they had done, since they would only have had to remove the one head. I called Golf Mill Auto myself and told them the situation. They told me that, at this point, it would cost me less for them (Golf Mill) to put in a used engine than for Casey to do the whole job! I asked him if I should have Casey stop the work and tow it to Golf Mill. He said, "YES!"

I told the manager at Casey to stop the work and put all the parts in the trunk of the car, paid them for the labor to that point (about $600) and I called the number that Golf Mill gave me for the tow truck.

The mechanics at Golf Mill were all visibly stunned at what Casey had done to the engine. They all agreed that, even if they had to replace both head gaskets, they never would have needed to remove the front components of the engine, such as the timing chain and gears! They all looked at me with pity and, it seemed, mild disgust. What an idiot they must think I am.

So, for the labor alone, it would still cost me more, at this point, for Golf Mill to replace the gaskets and put everything back together than to just replace the engine with a used one. All told, I'll still wind up paying about $1800 for this repair. I keep trying to console myself with having denied Casey automotive the whole chunk of change they were going to charge me and instead giving it to Golf Mill, who I know aren't trying to rip me off.

So, lesson learned: don't panic. Ask questions. Trust the guys you trust, and do everything in your power to let them work on your car. Idiot.

Second lesson: Casey Automotive is a scheister operation. Tell everyone you can reach not to take their cars to them. They may repair your car, but you're paying not only too much for the work, but possibly for work you don't even need done!

Now I just want to cry!