Thursday, March 18, 2021

DANN, SHIT IS MORE EXPENSIVE THAN IT USED TO BE

by Bob Walsh

About 50 years ago I bought my first brand-new car.  It was a Toyota Corona.  It cost me right about $2,000 out the door.

Today I just paid for some semi-routine mechanical maintenance on my 05 Dodge Dakota, which has 150K on the clock.  The idler pulley, water pump and alternator all decided to get wonky at the same time, as well as the thermostat housing decided to start leaking.  Obviously I changed the serpentine belt and the hoses at the same time as it would be stupid not to.

The bill was not quite $2,500.  Almost $1,000 of that was for parts.  Had I known that all that crap was bad (I knew the idler pulley was going out, I could hear it) I might have taken it someplace other than the dealer.  Once I got it there it did not make sense to me to have the dealer reassemble it so I could take it elsewhere.  Even so.  Damn.  

Of course if I get another 15 years and 150K out of it, it will be equitable.  By then you won't be able to buy gas or diesel powered vehicles in CA anyway. 

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