I brought my 71 in for a new air compressor and now I'm walking out with a new engine, trailing arm, calipers, struts, seals done on trans, rotors and who knows what else! This is my third corvette and the is the second time this happened. The first was a full frame off! Is there a group we can go to?

 

Treat going to the garage like you would going to the strip club, and let someone else hold your wallet?

 

mpro, your story is all too familiar to far too many. I hate to say it but shops just take advantage of people that can't do their own car work, don't know a lot about car work and just view them as open checkbooks. My advice would be say no thanks politely and get a 2nd or even 3rd opinion.

There are a lot of things on your list that can probably wait until you have more time and funds or want to do them. Needing new calipers is highly unlikely as these factory calipers can be rebuilt for cheap. The seals wear out but the calipers themselves are very heavy duty. Do you see lots of oil in your garage or driveway? How bad is the transmission really leaking or is it the more likely culprit the rear main seal on the engine? New engine? Why is it burning a lot of oil is it running very badly? Struts, okay sure handling won't be optimal on older units, but it isn't a dire need most likely.

Your best bet would be to make friends locally with a fellow Vette enthusiast that knows how to do most of his/her own car work and then have them help you decide what really needs to be done and in which order.

My coworkers come to me all the time with car issues and concerns and I save them thousands on overcharges or unnecessary things. I don't do all my car work on my own anymore since I'm older and have a better income but I am very specific as to what I am paying for and what I expect to receive.

And on any order this extensive, I would flat out demand to visually see all the old replaced parts and why they were replaced. I would want to see the calipers, trailing arms, old struts, engine internals (bearings, rods, pistons, rings, crank, cylinder heads).... all of it. Rotors can 90% of the time be refinished and don't need replacing unless they are warped or have been resurfaced multiple times (possible but not very likely).

If you were my friend I'd advise you to get a 2nd or 3rd opinion pronto. I don't know any mechanics in FL so I can't tell you which shops to go to or avoid there.

 

Actually yes, there is a support group and we meet here pretty much every day

M

 

Hi. I'm Drwet and I'm a Corvettaholic.

 

Chuck is my name me too
And have been for 46 years

 

 

The Co-Dependency class is every Thursday at 8:00 p.m.

 

I am afraid the only cure is an empty wallet and an angry wife. Even those can be overcome. Give up, don't fight it and enjoy the symptoms!