We're getting ready to go to Iowa to visit Sandra and Brian. We decided, instead of renting a van over at the airport, to take our ancient Caravan over to the dealer and have it tuned up.
They found a list of things wrong with the car, but we opted out. Except for the actual tune-up. Three hundred dollars for a tune-up. Seven hundred dollars (minimum) for all the other things they want to fix. Shocks. Fuel filter. Kind of surprised me. How on earth could it cost so much to replace some simple shock absorbers and a fuel filter?
Of course, I'm remembering how much it cost to do the same thing for the old Toyota. Fifty bucks for the shocks, fifteen bucks for a fuel filter. A couple hours of labor, tops.
But not on the Caravan. Why? Because the fuel filter is located on top of the gas tank. And you have to drop the gas tank to do it.
Huh? What a stupid design!
I figured it would be easy enough to do the shocks myself; I bagged the fuel filter because not even I am stupid enough to try that one on right before a major trip.
I soaked the shock bolts in solvent because they were kind of rusty and let them sit overnight, but apparently that wasn't enough. The top one came off easy enough; the bottom one busted right off.
Rats.
A couple days later, after a trip to the Firestone place (I was too embarrassed to take it back to the dealer) and some additional payola, the shocks were fixed and we were ready for our trip.
They found a list of things wrong with the car, but we opted out. Except for the actual tune-up. Three hundred dollars for a tune-up. Seven hundred dollars (minimum) for all the other things they want to fix. Shocks. Fuel filter. Kind of surprised me. How on earth could it cost so much to replace some simple shock absorbers and a fuel filter?
Of course, I'm remembering how much it cost to do the same thing for the old Toyota. Fifty bucks for the shocks, fifteen bucks for a fuel filter. A couple hours of labor, tops.
But not on the Caravan. Why? Because the fuel filter is located on top of the gas tank. And you have to drop the gas tank to do it.
Huh? What a stupid design!
I figured it would be easy enough to do the shocks myself; I bagged the fuel filter because not even I am stupid enough to try that one on right before a major trip.
I soaked the shock bolts in solvent because they were kind of rusty and let them sit overnight, but apparently that wasn't enough. The top one came off easy enough; the bottom one busted right off.
Rats.
A couple days later, after a trip to the Firestone place (I was too embarrassed to take it back to the dealer) and some additional payola, the shocks were fixed and we were ready for our trip.
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