Car Repair - Jackson,NJ

My experience has been that my local mechanic charges less than Pep Boys, but it may take a few days to get an appontment with a good local mechanic, while Pep Boys does the work on the spot. Also, if you need a national warranty because you may be moving or travelling a lot, Pep Boys and the other chains offer those. I only use Pep Boy swhen time is of the essence, otherwise I go to my trusted local mechanic.

How much is the car worth????? I traded my car last summer because it was only worth about $400.00 (if the gas tank was full) and needed about $1500.00 in repairs.
A private mechanic is cheeper than a dealership. But ask around. See if they will work a deal with you. Check on used parts if possible. Check a trade school and see if they have a program to fix anyone's car or if you need to be a student to have your car worked on. They may also have a student who can fix it for you.
Contact places like Catholic Charties or Salvation Army some of them have funds to repair cars for low income people.
Get it done in stages the brakes first--Steering pump and spark plugs.

Try this...go to an auto parts store and ask about spark plugs. You might have to admit you don't know anything about spark plugs but tell him you are trying to find someone to replace them for you. Anyway, most likely the auto parts store guy will find out what kind of plugs your car needs and can tell you how much it will cost in his store. Ask him if he would have any idea how much a mechanic might charge to change out spark plugs. He will probably give you a realistic answer, and if you add the cost of the spark plugs, that should give you an idea of when someone's quote is reasonable or not.

gl and hth

We never do our own brakes, because that is the most important part of the car. If you mess up, you can get in an accident. Especially if you own a foreign car like a Toyota, because sometimes the drums have to be sanded down if that is part of what you are having done. Also there's the ABS to worry about, if you don't have the equipment to check it. I find that the various companies charge the same for parts, but some are more expensive in the labor charge. Also, they usually guarentee their work for the life of the car and certain parts have a better guarentee than if you buy it yourself. You'll want to look for coupons and check out the labor charge. If you know what needs to be done, then call around and talk professional to them. Use their terms to get an estimate.

If you were down here you could use my husband to fix it!

hehe

Local mechanics will charge less most of the time. My dad is a out-of-his-garage local mechanic and will research how much stuff costs and charge half or 3/4 most of the time (depending on what it is) but he has a soft spot and doesn't like feeling like he's ripping people off. I would call everywhere to get quotes. What was your spark plugs quote? Just curious because that is a relatively simple job. I'd ask around about quotes.

only 1 way to find out go get estimate or maybe call I would take a male friend i feel like a female gets taken advantage off

Hello,

I would be very careful about those places. They usually tend to try and upsell you. Sometimes they'll tell you that you need something and you don't. My father has been a mechanic for almost 40 years. He had fixed something on someone's car . . . and then the customer needed something easy done so he decided to bring it to one of those National chains instead of going to my Dad. Well they told him that the part my Dad had just replaced was bad and needed to replace it . . . the customer came back to my Dad upset that my lied to him and never replaced the part . . . well, you can't accuse my Dad of something like that. He's the most honest businesman I know. He took the receipt of the item that he had replaced . . . and with his customer went down to the National chain and asked to speak to a manager and showed him the receipt and expained that he just changed the part. My father was fuming . . . they apologized and gave the guy back his money. My brother is also a mechanic and the mechanic working for him now came from "Quick Lube" . . . he said the employees are told to try and find things wrong with the cars . . . that's how they make they're money. I'm not saying they're all this way . . . but if you have major work that needs to be done . .. I would get a couple of different quotes. The best thing to do is ask around and see if you can find a good mechanic through word of mouth. I hope this helps. Good luck. :)

T. M.

When my husband doesn't have time to fix the vehicles due to travel. We have an in-home travel mechanic. All we do is buy the parts, which are quite cheap and he will install them here at our home and we pay him $50-$100 for labor. Example: my vw needed a valve replaced, vw quoted $180, the part cost $4 and my husband replaced it; my husband's Yukon needed a service visit the dealership quoted $650, my husband bought all that needed replacing for $100 and the travel mechanic charged us $100...savings of $450. Maybe you can find a good traveling mechanic by referals in your area.

Pep Boys will most likely rip you off. They tried to tell me things were wrong with my car that were NOT. (my Dad works on them for a living, and said what they wanted to replace was NOT broken, talk about a HUGE fight with them! Too bad he could not do the work for me as he was too far away and cant bring a lift to my house) We finally found a local mechanic that is reliable, cheap, and not ripping us off. But yes, get your own prices for parts, then call and see how much labor is an hour, THEN you can call a dealership and ask what the "book time" is for the job. (talk to the service manager to get that answer) then when you get your estimate you will know if they are trying to rip you off. I have had a mechanic tell me "I have never had someone ask me to put in their parts for them" I refused to use him. And sadly, as women we can get taken advantage of in this area. I am glad that I helped my Dad when growing up and know enough not to. Good Luck!!!

I am going through this right now to. The garage quoted me $583.53 to get the repairs done needed for my vehicle to pass inspection.

I went on AdvancedAutoParts.com to check to see how much the parts cost. The garage was charging almost double for the parts. So I am going to buy the parts and have the garage put them on. That way I will only be paying them for labor...which I have the estimate so I will know if they try to increase the labor because I purchased the parts.

Get an estimate and find the parts yourself. Advanced has a sale until 5/28..15% off orders over $100 and Free shipping on orders over $75. Have the parts listed to pick up at the store. I have one sent to my house because it has to be sent from the manufacturer.

Good luck.