joe7987
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Long story short, my girlfriend brought her car to the shop today because it's been having trouble starting. They wanted to charge her around $400, saying that she needed to change her battery ($120), change the serpentine belt, and replace the valve cover gaskets (oil leak). All total, it was going to be $400. My girlfriend called me to make sure they weren't screwing her, and was going to let them do it. Obviously... they were screwing her, so I told her to pull it out and I'll fix it.
Went to autozone, had them do an actual test on the battery - found out it was bad. Bought a new one (they only charged us $10.00 for a replacement since it's a duralast and was only 3 years old), bought a new belt, replaced them both in less than an hour in the parking lot. Ordered new gaskets (didn't have any in stock).
All said in done, we spent less than $50 and about an hour's time (including the time it took me to figure out the serpentine diagram
)
I know, I know, cool story bro, but it feels like a personal victory.
$350 is a s**t ton of money for us (grad students, paying our way through school), and I learned how to replace a belt. I'm pretty psyched 
Went to autozone, had them do an actual test on the battery - found out it was bad. Bought a new one (they only charged us $10.00 for a replacement since it's a duralast and was only 3 years old), bought a new belt, replaced them both in less than an hour in the parking lot. Ordered new gaskets (didn't have any in stock).
All said in done, we spent less than $50 and about an hour's time (including the time it took me to figure out the serpentine diagram
)I know, I know, cool story bro, but it feels like a personal victory.
$350 is a s**t ton of money for us (grad students, paying our way through school), and I learned how to replace a belt. I'm pretty psyched 
. I would much rather change something myself I've never done and follow instructions word for word than put my car in the hands of some random mechanic (most likely a young punk) who doesn't give a s*** and just half asses everything.