Things that make you go hmmm

So it's that time of year again!

The dreaded "Vehicle Inspection"!!

That time of year where you start getting antsy, worrying about what might possibly be wrong with your vehicle that could potentially cause you to have to list a kidney on ebay before you get it inspected and legally drive it.

Since our regular mechanic closed up his shop last fall, it has been a pain in the ass when we needed stuff done. He was good!! If something still had some life left in it, he told you. He didn't replace it for the sake of upping his cash intake (and lowering ours). He was just an all around good guy! Since he closed, hubby has been doing the stuff he can do on his own cause he hadn't been able to find one he felt he could rely on the same way he felt he could with Danny. Unfortunately, the police would probably frown on him doing his own motor vehicle inspection and sticking a pretty glittered "The car passes" sticker on our window, so it was time to bite the bullet and take it in somewhere.

Our neighbor told us about how well he felt treated at Wonder after taking his girlfriend's car in, so that's where we decided to take my van. Couple weeks ago we took the old girl in, let it for the day, and hubby picked it up on his way home from work. The verdict: needed some body work, shocks, brakes. Since they don't do body work, hubby knew it would have to be done elsewhere, the guy at the shop though was trying to get hubby let him do it "on the side but just don't tell my boss". Shocks and brakes though, now that is something hubby can do on his own, and given that they quoted him almost $690.00 for the repair of just those TWO things, it was something he was GONNA do on his own. (NOW, it should be noted, that before hubby took it down to the garage, he checked the brakes himself and thought, even though he is not a mechanic, that there will still fine.) What it was, I don't know, but hubby said he didn't get a good feeling from one of the guys, and was STILL convinced the van did not need new brakes, but went and picked the parts up himself. Cost: Just over a hundred bucks for two new shocks and front brakes. He changed the shocks (which took him maybe twenty minutes per side? and when he went to replace the brakes, there was no difference between the ones he was about to take off and the new ones in the box. Extremely unhappy at this point at what he was told at the garage, I convinced him to take the van into a DIFFERENT place. If the brakes were crap, and it failed, big deal. We already had the new brakes still boxed at home and you don't pay for an MVI if it fails so it wasn't like we were gonna be out any extra cash for having it checked over twice. So yesterday we take it into a different garage, Lansdowne, and hubby brought it home last night with a "Yeah your van is great" sticker on the windshield!

Makes you wonder...........