Michael & Liz are Bloggable

Do you ever go to get your car checked out or fixed and just feel on edge from the second you walk in?

Today I am getting my car checked out with a laundry list of issues:

• Oil Change
• The brakes they installed squeak like crazy
• Check Engine Light is on. 

The first two I'm fairly confident can be resolved easily, smoothly, and cheaply. The 3rd one though is the issue I am concerned about. It could be anything. I don't really have any knowledge of what is going on with it, so they could make up something. They could come out and say that your gasket is broken and it's $3000 to fix. I couldn't pick a "gasket" out of a line-up but it sounds technical and it sounds like what is usually found on a car.

And what leverage do you have? "No, that piston is not broken, you are wrong". What I'd really love is for them to bring the part out to me and show me the blatant crack right through the middle of it. You win, you're right, that's broken. They don't usually do that though.

The reason I come to this place is that I can see them working on my car and they are pretty consistent with what they say. Liz is here with her car and this is the second time they've told her that her "belt" is cracking. The first time we just said "no, we don't want to replace it". This time however we gave in to their few offers of fixes and are going to fork out some benjamins to do it.

Here is one conversation that made me want to call him out:
Car Guy: "Is your car a turbo?"
Me: "Like a Mazda Speed3?"
Car Guy: "Yeah."

What I wanted to say: "The 2006 Speed3's are only in hatchback form. My car is a 4-door, how could you not know that?!?! Should I take my car somewhere else?!?! What else are you going to lie about!!"

What I ended up saying: "No, it's not a turbo."


So whenever I walk in to get my car fixed, I'm always wearing my skeptical hat. Anything they say to me I am analyzing like a bug in my salad. I am watching every word and ready to pounce on a lie or falsehood that might be uttered. I just want them to know that I don't want them pulling that stuff on me! Although they probably do anyway, I'm too easy.

*update*: we got reamed with $960 in repairs between the 2 of us... Amen emergency fund!