Sooner better than later:
Time after time I get someone telling me they think auto repair shops just recommend work to try and pad their wallets. "My car didn't need any of those repairs" is what they say.
The
victim today is a 1999 Toyota Camry with the V6 3.0 engine. You all know about
the legendary problems Toyota has had with the V6 engine, don't you?
The
owner is from LA driving through Ventura.
It’s here on the tow truck and the tow truck driver says
the vehicle overheated badly. The owner said she had the radiator replaced a
year ago. To save money, I presume, they
did not refill the radiator with coolant but used straight water instead. Both
the upper radiator hose and the lower radiator hose were not replaced either.
She was offered this items but thought the shop was merely being aggressive
with their selling practices.
At the
time when it was so much easier to have those cooling system hoses replaced,
possibly at no additional labor cost, the client chose to think the repair shop
she was working with tried to up-sell her something she didn't need. Well, she
needs them today!
Unfortunately, what
could have been another $40 to $50 back then, today is a blown head gasket on a
Toyota V6 engine with 140+ K miles on it.
The
repair is a complete engine replacement on a vehicle that is hardly worth $2000.00,
and the cost of the engine replacement will surely exceed that worth.
So, what do you say? What can you say that won’t add any
more misery to this already bad situation?
A few facts from the trade:
If one ignition coil goes out, replace the rest, they are
not that far behind and you are sure to have the “same problem again” if you
don’t
If one cooling system hose goes out, guess what? Same thing
- replace them all!
Best yet, find someone in the trade you trust, then don’t question their
recommendations!
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