Originally posted by kc pepe:
It's not that I'm not "mechanically inclined", I've just never been eager to figure out how cars work. I do that with 'puters. So yes, it probably is worth it to pay top dollar for someone else to do it, and hopefully do it right.
I also work on computers and have done so for the past 16 years. As an aside, my first computer was an Apple ][! Hard disks weren't around yet! Floppy disk drives were $600! No monitor (hooked up to a TV)! 16K (yes K) of RAM!
But you have to remember that whatever you are paying to the auto repair shop, you will have to make about a 1/3 more (in order to cover taxes paid to the good 'ole US of A) in salary.
In your case, although you paid the auto repair shop about $255, you would have to earn about $360 to cover it (before taxes). I don't know what your hourly rate is, but I figure it is at least a days worth of work.
One of the main reasons that I started to learn about fixing cars is the steep hourly rates of mechanics (which is around $80-90/hr. in the Norther VA area). Not to mention they overprice their parts.
I replaced my first O2 sensor a few weeks ago for $80 in under an hour. I figure that not only did I save myself some money, learn a little about cars, and gain some satisfaction from the work of my hands, but I also saved myself the time of having to bring the car to the $tealer and hoping that they will do the work correctly and not screw me in the process.
Of course, all of this is mute if you make hundreds of dollars an hour. But then, why would you own a Contour...
