Yikes.

Hopefully yours isn't the Great Mystery of the Lights like mine was. You gonna go find that kid and beat him up? I'm not working right now, so...hey, I can be tough. Sort of. Well, no. ;)

No apparently it is my fault. I forced him to do the work in the wrong way. I feel like it's my fault because I tried to trust him again. Memo to myself, he's a dangerous liar moron and incompetent and always will be...

AHA!

Stop being me, will you? No good will come of it. :)

Same kid that fucked up the maxima?

Yeah yeah

Total is currently $440, brake light switch intermittent. Kid told me he floored the pedal at one point because one of the cylinders was faulty. Well switches do get old.

Tricky spot. He wants to help, but is incompetent. Which you already knew, but the price was too tempting. The part where you're taking the car to Pep Boys says you don't have a good, reasonable mechanic that you trust. Pep Boys is a training grounds. You're rolling the dice there. On the other hand, Dealers are too expensive.

Subarus are one of the easiest cars I've ever worked on. Everything is 10mm. And easy to access. You should find a local guy that charges less than $80/hr labor.... You might try calling local domestic dealers, asking to speak to the used car manager, and then ask him who he trusts in the area if he has to send an import out for cheap recon.

You need a relationship like Shaw has.

Oh! Huge pro tip here : ask to meet the tech that will be we working on your car. Slip that tech $10 or $20 before he works. Tell him lunch is on you. Important that you get to him before the job, otherwise the tip may be forgotten by the time you return, or the tech may be off. If they say they wont know who it will be, then tip the writer $20. Tell him it's for him and the tech. But be slick. Wrap it around the key and don't let anyone overhear. insist if he refuses, it's just lunch on me.... If he still wont take it, you might want to go to a different place

Yeah I blew it, my great mechanic is too far away now that I've moved

Thanks for the pro tip but it's too late to tip the tech. This Pep Boys is actually a different one than the previous. But it seems to have its act more together. I was out of options this morning. The whole thing will now have caused me to pay $100 more than the original inspection estimate. I gotta find another good local person, but I'm probably just going to move again....

Find a good female mechanic so you can offer sex in exchange for car repair.

Good female mechanics don't need men for sex, they use Snap-on tools.

I know this doesn't help you, but I highly recommend this mechanic:

John's Car Care
1400 Brace Rd
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

(856) 429-2289


I know John personally and he is a good guy as well as a competent wrench-turner.

Car is back. Part came locally. Crisis averted. New calmness setting in.

Remember this:
The very nice lady I spoke with at Amazon support told me that they do not, ever, do conference calls and that is their policy. Her advice was to take my Authorization Hold up with a local branch manager.

Is it possible at this point to get a check from your boss to cover the amount and un-reverse the charge? Or tell him you'll pay for the next order once your money is free? Or is the guy that can do that in England?

You guessed it, the home office manages expenses, and it is really difficult. That's why this program of buying supplies with the company credit card started. It's a loophole I guess.

And at first, I kind of liked that all this stuff was running through my Amazon account. Maybe Amazon will like me better, I thought. Maybe it will give me Prime for free, I thought. And if Amazon likes me, other big companies might like me too. You know how they can be snooty, but if you're boning one of them, the others suddenly want a piece of that action? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

I don't know what I'm talking about.

Mechanical vehicles also seem to be the bane of my existence lately....:neutral: I hope we can both share good news soon...