Any Members in Arkansas?

Golf cart has badass wheels too.

 

Appreciate it! Sorry for confusion, tried getting a different angle on the 4Runner. These were the only pics I had.

Not for sale, my son would disown me. '99 with less than 130,000 miles.

 

Your son must be like me. 01 with less than 130,000. But I’m creeping up on that very fast now that I’m back living in Dallas and driving all over town

 

Paint them black, chrome don’t get you home

 

After hours oil change actually looks pretty clean for 5k miles, now sitting at 135k. You need to catch up @MatthewMay1 ...

 

I’m catching up....124,600 today

 

I didn’t check your build page, did you reach 123456 ? And get a pic of it...... EDIT...just saw you missed it, too bad, I thought you were detail guy Maybe bigger icons will help

 

Yeah, I missed it by about 40 miles so I wasn't even close to noticing...I've been doing A LOT of driving since I graduated. I really want a small car to DD so I can keep the miles low on the truck, but I can't quite afford a car right now

 

This whole post is a rant so feel free to ignore but I'm pissed off right now and need to vent.

Last night I got a Fb message from a girl that's like a little sister/niece to me. The brakes on her vehicle had been making a grinding sound so she took it to a local shop to get checked out and they gave her a quote for $3,600. I told her to send me the quote and apparently they took it upon themselves to do a 'multi-point inspection' on the vehicle. That's fine and I understand most places do this for upsell reasons. I actually really liked the software they used because they took pictures of everything which is nice because I'm 7k miles away right now.

However, they are recommending:
-Replacement of the valve cover gaskets due to "excessive oil leaking", which requires replacement of the intake manifold gaskets. Their pricing for this work actually wasn't too bad but the pictures they sent showed a pretty minimal amount of leakage for a vehicle with 153k miles.
-Replacement of an entire caliper because it is missing a clip that should come with the new brake pads. Caliper priced at $190 even though a new NAPA caliper is $80 (I know this place uses NAPA parts because I've seen them deliver there.).
-Replacement of another caliper because the boots on the caliper bolts are worn even thought the brake kit they priced includes new boots. Caliper priced at $190 even though a new NAPA caliper is $80.
-They also included turning of the rotors in the quote even though the quote priced replacing all 4 rotors. They need to be replaced. From the pictures in the inspection report they're beyond saving.
-Replacement of one of the power steering lines because it has a small leak (I can see how small because of the picture they kindly provided). They priced that power steering line at $200 when a new one from the dealership is $90.
-Replacement of the transmission oil cooler hose even though there's absolutely nothing in the inspection report about it. Priced the part at $320 when a new one from the dealership is $40.

The quote also included $40 for a "power steering flush kit". If anyone knows what this is please let me know. I could go buy the equipment to do a power steering flush myself for $50.

In their pictures I also saw something that concerned me that they didn't even recommend fixing, much less note in the report. The entire oil pan is absolutely sopping wet in oil. If she were planning on keeping the vehicle longer the gasket would probably need to be replaced. If she still has the vehicle when I get back I'll probably at least re-torque the bolts.

On top of all of this, they tell her that if she doesn't pay the $3,600 to have every bit of this work done, her car is not safe to drive and will be "pretty much totaled." Granted her brakes are pretty bad and if I was there I'd just do them myself but this is flat out predatory in my opinion. I'd already written this shop off because of a bad experience in the past but it pisses me off that someone would do this to ANYONE much less a college student.

 

They do it to college students because they know that mommy and daddy will fork over the money so their kid will be safe away at school. It’s an unfortunate reality but I’ve seen it happen to friends of mine at school. It sounds like she needs a boyfriend to do it for her!

 

Her mommy and daddy are very good parents but they 100% are not the type to just fork over money. They help but also place a lot of emphasis on making sure their kids are able to figure things out for themselves. I'm just glad she knew enough for this to throw a red flag.

She's lamented to me more than once that there don't seem to be many boys her age that know how to do things like this. I've told her she doesn't need one and that I'd be happy to teach her.

 

I bought a motorcycle to DD when the weather is good to keep the miles off my truck. I'm hoping it will buy me several more years of use out of it. The less money I can spend on buying a new truck, the more I can spend on other hobbies, and of course maintaining the truck I have. I'll be disappointed if I'm not still driving it 5 years from now.

 

Wow. Some people have no shame. That reminds me, I need to work on this with my daughters. I miss having the local gas/service station where the mechanic is part of the local community. Kind of keeps them honest.

 

Welcome to the new world....I'd tell her to get her car out of there ASAP and then take it to someone reputable, then I'd be inclined to go down there and pay a visit, but seeing you can't... There are reputable brake shops, and even shops that don't bend everyone over, I get it, hang in there. And sounds like they are charging her for the PS kit you can pick up at napa for 9.99...fittings and parts. Yea...tell her to run away from that place, and leave bad reviews on every social media platform available. People suck.

 

I'm adding this to my sayings.

 

There are two places where I take mine for things I can't or don't have time to do. She took it to one of them yesterday and they're supposed to do the work today.

 

I’d love a two wheeler, but not in Dallas traffic. Too many crazies here

 

I actually didn’t know you could change icon size....this is much better

 

Do you have scotch tape holding your webcam on?

 

Blocking it so @TenBeers can't spy on me...