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Home > Payday, 52 Week Challenge, and Car Issues

Payday, 52 Week Challenge, and Car Issues

January 16th, 2016 at 12:46 am

Hi, everyone. I got paid today. I have already allocated for 1/2 of the mortgage, mailed a deposit to savings, and paid the gas and electric bills. I also made a $75.00 payment to cc #1. Here are my numbers.

Prior 52 Week Challenge Balance: $5.00

$ 40.00 Regular Savings Deposit
$ 20.00 Car Savings Deposit
$ 20.00 House Savings Deposit
$ 2.00 Escrow Savings Deposit
$ 2.00 Professional Savings Deposit
$ 2.00 HVAC Savings Deposit (for eventual replacement)
$156.60 Principal Paid on Mortgage
$ 75.00 cc #1 payment

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $322.60

As for my car issues, my car had made a weird noise a couple of times recently. It sounded to me like the starter. When I called a mechanic, I scheduled an appointment to bring it in. I had him listen to the sound. He got a weird look on his face. He said it sounded to him not like the starter but the fly wheel. Anyway, the mechanic said later that to fully diagnose would take a minimum of 8 hours labor at $70.00 per hour. That's not counting the cost of the part needing to be replaced or labor for replacing them. Ugh. I have been so careful with this car because it has a slight oil leak and power steering fluid leak and have watched those like a hawk, but had no idea about this.

8 Responses to “Payday, 52 Week Challenge, and Car Issues”

  1. Petunia 100 Says:
    1452910124

    Is this a mechanic you know and trust? A minimum charge of $560 to diagnose a problem seems pricey to me. I'd consider a second opinion.

    Good job on feeding those savings accounts.

  2. crazyliblady Says:
    1452910976

    Yes, I agree. I am contacting the auto tech department at the college I work at to see if they are interested. They did work on my car before and it was MUCH less expensive and they actually found and fixed the problem then. The first mechanic did not find the real problem.

  3. Butterscotch Says:
    1452911152

    It sounds like he is ripping you off - big time.

  4. crazyliblady Says:
    1452913704

    I kind of agree with the rip-off thing, but I should say that the reason I was given this price is because he said to get to the fly wheel, you have to take out the transmission. I guess that's not an easy job. I would not know.

  5. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1452917068

    Ouch! Hope you get a more reasonable estimate.

  6. snafu Says:
    1452928333

    Suggest you ask auto instructor at your college the process to replace flywheel. Do they need to take out the transmission? How much time would he estimate if they are unable to take the job. Does Mechanic charge by actual time or 'book' rate? It may be helpful to check Lemon Aid book, available at most libraries, to see what is listed as typical repair issues of your specific make and model. Too bad mechanics are generally so untrustworthy. They can make up any story and we lack the knowledge to question veracity.

  7. creditcardfree Says:
    1452952206

    Good plan to contact the college for possible assistance on your car. Sounds like a better deal if it is something they actually can do.

  8. crazyliblady Says:
    1452954845

    creditcardfree. Yes, financially it is a much better deal. I took my car to them once when a mechanic said that the funny noise my car was making was the power steering dying. The weird thing is that it was parked in the driveway while I was scraping off ice when I noticed the noise. That was even though I repeated several times about it being parked. I guess he thought I was an idiot. Oh, and also the quote I was given for replacing the power steering pump, belt, and something else by the mechanic was $2500. So, I took it to the college and they said that while the power steering has a leak that I need to watch out for and keep fluid in it, the problem was the alternator which they fixed for about $200 or so. Quite a difference. Good mechanics are difficult to find here. They tend to either leave the area to go somewhere else to make more money or be booked up for months.

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