EH. Plenty of places give free estimates, right? I walked in to get a QUOTE on some work for my truck: New Spark Plugs, New Valve Cover Gasket and some linkage for my 4x4 shifter which came loose and fell off. Also, I wanted to flush/change things like transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering, etc. He said he needed to look at my truck to give me an accurate quote( which made sense for the linkage on my shifter).
So I went home and came back an hour or so later with my wife following me in another car. I went in to drop off the keys and give my info and he printed out a $151.50 estimate-receipt for me to sign.... $47.50 for linkage inspection, $47.50 for SPARK PLUGS QUOTE!!! and $47.50 for NEW VALVE COVER GASKET! He was gracious enough not to charge me for the ""check engine light scan"" (which Auto Zone does for free) and he didn't tell me what the fluid prices would be.
Now I understand a man's time is important but c'mon. I went to Auto Zone and got the plugs for $9.16 and the valve cover gasket for $15.99. And he wanted $151.50!?! ? for the estimate? I can only imagine what the total would've been. I had a lot of work I wanted done and I thought that I would be of some value as a customer but I felt like he was just trying to scheme me. Sure, he would've ""zeroed"" out the estimate cost once I got the work done, BUT that locks me into the work or get screwed on the estimate. I bet this guy takes advantage of people who don't know any better. Maybe his work is good, but I walked out with a bad experience.
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