Roused myself out of bed at 6:30 this morning to get to the dealership at 7. My car's maintenance light has been on for a couple days and the last time I ignored a dashboard warning, I ended up on the side of the freeway without even my hazard lights working.
So here I am at the Honda dealership. I am one of those suckers that still comes here even though my car is no longer under warranty. My sister Marisa works in the car industry and says dealerships love people like me because we feed them money.
Anyhoo, the car needs valve adjustment and sparks something (they're printing out the exact problems now). The repairs total over $500. I could not swallow this today. Especially since I know I'm being overcharged for just being at the dealership and a mechanic could do it, now that I know the problem, much more cheaply.
It's a time vs. money issue. Do I take the time to take my car to another mechanic who will fix the car cheaper? Or just deal with it here since I'm already 90 minutes into it?
The last guy who fixed my car is in Lawndale, which is not close to me. It would take time and coordination to get down there, arrange a ride back up to L.A., arrange a ride back there when it's done and who knows if the guy could even take me today.
I read up on other mechanics closer to my home. You have to make an appointment for the most highly recommended one, according to Yelp, which would take more time and effort on my part.
I'm splitting the difference: fixing the most pressing issue with the car (valves) and saving the other for when I can schedule an appointment with the mechanic I read about on Yelp.
This decision is still costing me more than $300. But $300 is better than $500, and I bought peace of mind for a couple weeks.
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