What kind of mechanic charges $100 for an estimate? I just realized that throughout the thread no-one (including me) told you not to drive the truck, except to a garage. Sorry, about that.
On another note, and this is good advice to everyone, your dash indicator/warning lights are colored for a reason. Amber is a warning that something is wrong, and should be checked as soon as it is safe to do so, Red means stop the car immediately! In either case, you should not drive the car again until the reason for these indicators to come on has been diagnosed and they do not return.
Seems high to me, but it wasn’t an estimate; it was to diagnose a problem.
Sounds like the mechanic probably charged a standard diagnostic fee.
I assumed that this was kind of “If you are just going to go off and fix it yourself, I’ll charge you for my wisdom.”
Maybe he will waive the fee if he does the whole repair job. Can’t hurt to ask.
The diagnostic tree starts with clipping a voltage meter to the alternator leads while the car is running…so in this case it’s maybe a 10 second diagnosis. A good mechanic would offer this kind of service for free, it encourages the car owner to get their car fixed there or to come back for future repairs. In the automotive repair business you need return customers. Honesty and fairness, and reputation go a long way to build customer loyalty.
I don’t have access to my All Data System right now, but for about $100 you could have had a new alternator installed including diagnostics, parts, and labor.
Maybe you guys missed the part where the car died on the freeway? I assume that the mechanic had to come to the car, or have it towed, which probably explains the $100.
Should have given more details:
I needed to get the car off the highway so I wouldn’t get a ticket, so I had AAA tow the car to the mechanic (no charge for the towing). Once there, I had to leave the keys in their overnight drop box, so they mechanic wouldn’t wonder why some random person had stashed a car on their lot.
I thought that I could afford to have the car repaired, so I okayed the initial diagnostics and estimate formation. After taking a closer look at my finances, though, it was clear that we can’t afford to do anything until after the first of the year. I called the shop back as quickly as I could, but they had already gotten through the diagnostics.
The mechanic charged $100 because the battery was so flat, he had to charge it before he could do anything. If he had gone on to repair the car completely, there wouldn’t be a charge for the diagnostics. In these parts, having a new alternator installed costs about $300.
That info about the color of the warning lights is good to know.