Drat you blasted car!

My "service engine soon" light popped on the other day, so I scheduled an appointment with the dealership, thinking that since it's a Nissan dealership, they would be more well equipped to handle my precious car. I get there and they tell me it will be $60 for diagnostics, and then that price will go toward any repairs. I'm thinking, $60 is a lot, but ok.

Jesse and I are in the Walmart when they call me and say that my thermostat isn't working, and that's what's causing the warning light to stay on. It's not something that will kill my car, and will cost about $280. Then they tell me that my engine belt and bolts are cracked, and that *will* kill my car. I'm freaking out but figure I already have $60 into it, so I might as well give them the go-ahead.

Maybe 7 minutes later, I change my mind about the thermostat because Jesse is telling me how easy it is to fix that ourselves, so I call the dealership but unfortunately they have already started on the repairs and can't stop. Of course.

Now I'm starting to feel upset because apparently the parts are NOT expensive, and it's not a hard repair. I pick up my car the next day...and the total was $409!!! According to my receipt, the parts total was $90. That's right, that is $319 for labor, which more than likely did not even take an hour to do.

I am pissed. And apparently in the wrong business. And upset at myself for not just taking it to some random, small mom-and-pop mechanic shop. Because really, all they had to do for diagnotics is hook up my car computer to the main computer, and my car computer tells the main computer what the problem is! Even had I gone ahead and not had them do any repairs, it would have been $60 for the diagnostics, and then $90 for the parts (although we probably could have gotten them cheaper due to the price markup) and it still would have been $259 cheaper. *sigh* And the whole time Jesse is like, why did you take it to the dealership anyway? Don't you know they will always charge more than any other place? And I'm like, "You are not helping! Point taken! Stop talking about it!"

So, if anyone knows of a reliable mechanic shop in the SLC area, please let me know for any futures issues. Dang it all.