Yep.

Man rule number 1:
A man must be fully capable of at least changing the oil.
Rule number 2:
If a man doesn't have the means or time to do routine maintenance (remember a man must always be capable to do such things) he must know the going rate and/or cost of parts.

Failure to follow these rules may lead to significant money loss and/or ridicule by more capable men... And some women.

 

$900 bucks doesnt sounds like too much. if you add the parts, it will probably around $500. charged you $400 for labor and etc..

 

changing the brake pads, oil, filters, and cabin filter is a very simple job lol.

 

I can't even tell if I need a oil change or not by looking at my dipstick

 

Mechanics have a mentality of "PAY-to-PLAY". - You wanted a nice expensive car to play with, now you gotta pay more.
And that mentality exists because if they go work on your car and by accident happen to break something in the process of fixing another, they gotta replace that part on their dollar which will be a lot more expensive then say a toyota corolla part.

-but when they see you come in to check the tire pressure (because you obviously cant do it yourself) they see someone who is so clueless about cars, that they dont even fear telling you, your influx capacitor needs to be changed, your blinker fluid needs to be topped off, and your muffler bearing needs to be re-greased. And dont get me wrong, im not trying to criticize anyone- just trying to wake men up. Its time to drop your apple, stop flinging birds at pigs, dont reading the huffington post so much, and get out to your car and spend some time looking around/touching/smelling/etc.

 

^^ Amen man. It's absolutely sad when a man is absolutely clueless about cars. Some don't even know how to change a spare tire!

 

In the last two weeks, I performed my own maintenance for the first time. I did the following:

Oil change w/ filter
Differential oil change
Transmission oil change
Cabin air filter
Rear brake pads

It took a few hours of my time (first time, had to learn everything) and about $250 in parts. Would have cost me about $1000 at the dealership.

 

good work. should be proud. thats the way to be a man.

 

You not only save money but each time you do something to your car, the more attached to it you become.

 

VERY TRUE.
im at the point to were NO ONE touches my/wifey's cars or bikes unless its warranty work or when i dont have the tools to do it(ie; alignment).

 

I think modding your car also kills that nasty "I'm bored with my car I should get a better one" bug. Whenever you feel like you're bored with your car and feel like visiting the stealership, go buy some mods instead! You'll fall in love with your car all over again. Especially if you install the mods yourself.

 

I'd say you overpaid; you could've just done an Infiniti OEM 60K Mile tune up for that price (atleast at my local dealership's rates--which are ridiculous, mind you)

but that's how I learned too, so just be prepped for next time and make sure you know your stuff about the parts & labor performed

 

Well at least you didnt pay 13K for bodywork and still have gaps the size of the grand canyon within body panels like I did.

 

oh please. if you have been around long enough, you would have also heard this argument go back and forth a billion times. the fact of the matter is that I never read an FSM (including ours) that indicated you must grind the rotor down after every pad swap and thats why I stick to my side of the argument. I followed these principals for years, and I never had any major problems with my customers.

If you like to grind out your rotors after every pad change, be my guest. a lot of people do. I just wont make it my business to tell you "you have no clue what your talking about". as far as i am concerned, its just a matter of personal preference

 

Just because you have been doing it with no complaints from the customers doesn't mean you're not doing anything wrong. After all most customers only care about the brakes squeaking or for the pedal to stop pulsating or feeling spongy. Like said earlier, pads and rotors wear as an unit, meaning the wear patterns on both the pad and rotor match each other. Who knows, maybe that extra half an hour it takes to resurface the rotors could make the difference in between an accident or being able to stop in time. I'm a mechanic too and if there's something I never take shortcuts on is without a doubt the brakes. I'll ask you this: would you do a clutch job and not resurface the flywheel if it looks okay at first glance?