Ahhhh.... the Joys of owning a vehicle...
Well, today I found out I didn't have to pay $700 after all. Let me back up a bit.
Through the month of January, I've noticed that my car has been, well, wandering occasionally. Its been very inconsistent, and I ignored it for a while. I was starting to wonder whether it was all in my head, but then Jen took the car in for the afternoon, and confirmed that it was quite bad. Finally last Friday I got a friend to take the car in to TireCraft to get the front end checked out. They called me back and told me that my ball joints were gone, both uppers and lowers on both sides. With labour and parts and alignment, they quoted me $700 for the repair. This kind of floored me, but they did say that it wasn't serious yet. "Nothings falling out at this stage" was what they told me.
Chris (they guy who sold me the car) heard about this, and told me that he had replaced the lower ball joints less than a year ago, and that they should be fine. This started me wondering, so today I took the car in to Rainbow Automotive (I know, why the odd name?) to get them to check out the ball joints. I was able to watch while the mechanic took the tie rods out, and showed me how the wheel turned freely, with little resistance. He admitted that driver's side tire offered a little more resistance, but not much, and nothing to be concerned about. Then he found out that the lower joint on that side wouldn't take any grease. Still not a problem, but it will wear out.
It cost $30 for the Tirecraft inspection, and $50 for the one at Rainbow. So after $80 bucks, I know that I don't really have a problem... at least with the ball joints. The wandering problem has seemed to lessen, so we are wondering if it is cold related... anywhoo, Chris is gonna get the receipt for the defective ball joint, and I may get to experience the fun of changing it before too long.
Through the month of January, I've noticed that my car has been, well, wandering occasionally. Its been very inconsistent, and I ignored it for a while. I was starting to wonder whether it was all in my head, but then Jen took the car in for the afternoon, and confirmed that it was quite bad. Finally last Friday I got a friend to take the car in to TireCraft to get the front end checked out. They called me back and told me that my ball joints were gone, both uppers and lowers on both sides. With labour and parts and alignment, they quoted me $700 for the repair. This kind of floored me, but they did say that it wasn't serious yet. "Nothings falling out at this stage" was what they told me.
Chris (they guy who sold me the car) heard about this, and told me that he had replaced the lower ball joints less than a year ago, and that they should be fine. This started me wondering, so today I took the car in to Rainbow Automotive (I know, why the odd name?) to get them to check out the ball joints. I was able to watch while the mechanic took the tie rods out, and showed me how the wheel turned freely, with little resistance. He admitted that driver's side tire offered a little more resistance, but not much, and nothing to be concerned about. Then he found out that the lower joint on that side wouldn't take any grease. Still not a problem, but it will wear out.
It cost $30 for the Tirecraft inspection, and $50 for the one at Rainbow. So after $80 bucks, I know that I don't really have a problem... at least with the ball joints. The wandering problem has seemed to lessen, so we are wondering if it is cold related... anywhoo, Chris is gonna get the receipt for the defective ball joint, and I may get to experience the fun of changing it before too long.
posted by David Stauffer at 8:22 p.m.
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