Mission accomplished! Repairs are done, The Beast has been reinspected (and passed), and I'm back on the road. I saved a lot of money, too.
Brake hoses
The mechanic quoted a price of $160 to replace both front brake hoses. I picked up the two hoses from the nationally-recognized auto-parts megastore for $11 each. Several friends have asked how I did it, so I'll show you in my next post.
Wipers
Installing wipers is such an easy job that the nationally-recognized auto-parts megastore will usually do it for free right there in the parking lot. I did it myself, but not at the mechanic's $28 price tag. I picked up a pair for $20.
Headlight alignment
This was easy, free, and took about 20 minutes. My Haynes Repair Manual has a guide for adjusting headlights with the turn of a screwdriver.
Rear view mirror
Take it from me: do NOT use super glue to reattach a rear view mirror to your windshield. It doesn't work. For $5 I found a little glue kit made just for rear view mirrors. Easy! Just don't glue the tab to the mirror or glue the tab on backwards. Lame.
Money I saved
| Quote | My Cost | Savings | |
| Brakes | $160 | $22 | $138 |
| Wipers | $28 | $20 | $8 |
| Lights | $15 | $0 | $15 |
| Mirror | $10 | $5 | $5 |
| TOTAL | $213 | $47 | $166! |
Since I'm NOT an auto mechanic, I'm hardly qualified to give advice or show how to fix a Caprice. But, I will show you what I did to fix mine.
That means my next post will be less of a "how-to" and more of a "how-did."
Hey! I think I just coined a new phrase: The How-Did Guide!
So be it...
No comments:
Post a Comment