# Car repair question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747 "2014-02-20T00:32:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/21 "2014-02-20T18:51:27Z")
Integra LS with 1.8 liter engine . Tire was left front. It has anti lock disc brakes. Manual transmission if that matters. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/22 "2014-02-20T18:55:48Z")
I think you’re being unreasonable. From Googling around, these wheel bearing are going to take a bit of time to replace. So, they fixed a flat, rebalanced a tire, replaced a wheel stud, replaced the bearing, and installed a tire for $364? That sounds completely and utterly reasonable, and you are going to sound like a jerk when you go complaining to them. Don’t do it. ETA: Gary’s post wasn’t there when I started. I see they may have replaced the entire hub, which may have been necessary. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/23 "2014-02-20T18:57:49Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > $364 total cost including $250 of labor so I am disputing this. > > Forgot the worst part - they thought it was OK for me to drive around with 1 lug nut missing. ( car has 4) They asked me if they should fix the problem. > > They also replaced the wheel bearing for some reason. They replaced your bearings and you’re griping about a $364 repair bill that may or may not have a charge for a broken wheel bolt? If I was them, I’d be glad not to have you back as a customer. ETA: I just picked up my car yesterday. I had to have the bearings replaced on left front. Parts and labor were just over $400. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/24 "2014-02-20T18:58:00Z")
Tire shops are pretty good about having their guns adjust to proper torques where mechanic shops are not often as careful because the guns are used for multiple purposes. I think it would be a good idea for mechanics to get in the habit of using whats called torque sticks when doing tire work, it greaty reduces the chance of overtorquing without pulling out the torque wrench on every tire change. You might borrow a torque wrench and test the adjoining nuts to see how hard they are torqued. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/25 "2014-02-20T19:03:55Z")
Total cost including tire was $490. The $364 was because they broke the bolt. They certainly charged me for the bolt as well as a bunch of other parts. Also why on earth did they think it was OK to drive with the wheel on 3 bolts rather than 4? That’s really bad to me, please explain that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/26 "2014-02-20T20:07:03Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I brought my car in today to get them to mount a tire that they replaced on Monday. (I brought the flat tire in off the car) > > When mounting the tire they broke off the bolt . I should not have to pay for this bolt repair , correct? Why are you asking this question when you already have your mind made up and are going to ignore any input to the contrary? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/27 "2014-02-20T20:11:17Z")
If people gave me good reasons I would not ignore input. So far all I see are bad reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/28 "2014-02-20T20:35:26Z")
Yeah, that **GaryT** is just some illiterate gearhead with no concept of what might cause a stud to snap off. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/29 "2014-02-20T20:38:39Z")
I had a similar issue on another car 10 years ago. The shop replaced my broken speedometer. A few days later the gas gauge next to the speedo quit working. So I asked them to look at why it failed so soon after the other repair. The result was they gave me a new gas gauge for free - no part or labor costs to me. I did not even ask for a free repair, they just did it for me. Of course now I tell everyone to go to that shop. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/30 "2014-02-20T20:40:04Z")
So basically you’re another one of those that is going to ignore everything everyone says until someone says exactly what you want to hear. Why do you people even bother? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/31 "2014-02-20T20:42:04Z")
Seems like GaryT did not disagree with me. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/32 "2014-02-20T20:46:49Z")
He said it may not be the shop’s fault, which is the exact opposite of what you want to hear. You want everyone to agree with you that it is the shop’s fault and you should get everything for free (except maybe the tire). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/33 "2014-02-20T20:47:43Z")
missed edit - I only want labor costs refunded, not the parts. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/34 "2014-02-20T20:50:53Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Seems like GaryT did not disagree with me. To summarize GaryT: Shit happens when you’re fixing one thing and another thing breaks. It’s not always the shop’s fault. Where are you in agreement exactly? Also, does your invoice actually say, “Replace lug bolt: $364” Or does it list a bunch of stuff and just happens to have $364 near the line itemizing the bolt? Look, no matter how you add it up, $490 is pretty much on target for what you had done to the car. You can complain all you want but I don’t think you’ve been unfairly charged for the work you itemized. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/35 "2014-02-20T20:50:59Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > missed edit - I only want labor costs refunded, not the parts. Why? Do you work for free? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/36 "2014-02-20T20:55:14Z")
I’ll go to court and let the judge decide , OK? But my guess is they will pay up once they see the small claims court paperwork hit their door. I do work for free if I screw something up. done it many times. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/37 "2014-02-20T20:57:12Z")
You have a car with 120,000 miles on it. While changing a flat, one of the bolts broke off. Surely you don’t expect the bolts to last forever do you? But while they were fixing the bolt they also discovered that the wheel bearing needed to be replaced…again not unreasonable for a car with 120k miles on it. They told you they would put the tire back on with the 3 lug nuts, and you could take it somewhere else. A car can be driven safely with just 3 lug nuts on it, especially across town, etc. I wouldn’t recommend it for a cross country trip, but it would have been fine to drive to another garage. You told them to go ahead and repair the car. You then paid for the services. Now you’re are intending to dispute the credit card charge, which doesn’t even meet the criteria for a legitimate dispute…you then say you plan to dispute it with the shop. You should have done that before you authorized them to do the work and then paid them. I don’t expect that you are going to get very far with the garage…they may agree to knock $50 off your bill as some sort of concession to try and keep you happy…but I would not expect any more than that. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/38 "2014-02-20T20:59:33Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I’ll go to court and let the judge decide , OK? But my guess is they will pay up once they see the small claims court paperwork hit their door. > I do work for free if I screw something up. done it many times. That doesn’t mean you’re right and they are wrong. In fact, I would refund you right now if it meant you would never be in my shop again. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/39 "2014-02-20T20:59:59Z")
these guys are just local rednecks who probably quit school at age 12, they have no chance in court. They will pay up. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747/40 "2014-02-20T21:03:22Z")
Nice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-repair-question/681747.md?page=3)