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So recently I took my car into get smogged. It failed because it needs a few tubes and hoses fixed.
I took my car back, trying to figure out how I should go bout fixing it, before work I went by the shop, got an estimate for the work, he said between 100-200$ in parts and labor. I have all the parts here. So i decided I will just do that. But now my cousin is saying not to, to just let him fix. I dont trust him that much because he ruined a car before, but the rest of my family does.
he is saying they are playing me, because they do a free retest withing 90 days and is saying that I only failed on the visual, that he never used the computer(I passed emissions and timing, it is literally the hoses).
But having looked into this, they seem trust worth. Yeah they are a bit out of the way, but several local news papers reported them as "The best of 2015/2014) and so forth, and they where really nice.
but then again, im told by my family of car people, never trust mechanics.

Auto repair is a wildly variable business. Dealing with the information and data management side of it was a nightmare. That was the industry where I got screamed at because some dude was mad his software needed an internet connection for us to help support remotely and that we were "driving up his cost of doing business"...in a suburban area with excellent options. There is a whole lot of sketchiness and usually very little business acumen even when people werent being sketchy. Definitely one of my least favorite industries.

That said, doing it yourself and mucking it up will cost you even more.

AGree, unless you know what you are doing, learning by doing can become quite cost ineffective. I learned how to repair my dirt bike, only after paying to fix a few of my own mistakes.

However for hoses, if you have parts, they should only charge you labor. That varies but 65 an hour for labor, based on what the book says is not unheard of.

You are not charged on how long it takes them, you are charged on how long the manual says it should take them. A good mechanic will beat those times almost always.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I dont trust him that much because he ruined a car before,

I think you find a mechanic who doesn't feth up your car.

Somewhere between "completely" and "not at all".

Use the internet, check out reviews. Ask around your area.

Be like Batman. Do your research. Research has not let me down yet.

Not very. It's an industry that derives its price points almost completely from "I can fix this, can you?" Then they milk you for every last nickle they can possibly milk you for.

And yeah. Service quality will swing wildly, as you've noticed at the "best of the year" and such.

Honestly, I just don't trust mom and pop auto repair. Too many negative experiences. Corporate chains at least afford me the opportunity to try and go over the location's head when they're being donkey caves about their own feth up. It's overkill for hoses, but I'd also always go to the dealer if you can. At least then you're dealing directly with reps of the manufacturer, and while it's pricey I've generally had much better experiences at "Crown Ford" and the like than "Carl's Auto Repair."

Whenever I would move somewhere new, I would use mechanics reccomended to me by friends or co workers, or even the mechanics I have been using prior to the move. You can also try checking up on a shop online to see if anyone has anything to say about them.
It's a good system and I've never been burned yet.

A hundred bucks would seem reasonable. Especially given your location. If you're in a big city, you'll get charged more. For what you described, so long as they don't have awful reviews, go with them for that price. You'll also find that lots of mechanics won't use parts that you bring to them; they need to get the part themselves: they know it's not a knock-off cheap brand that could break that they'd be "liable" for. It's a protection reason for them. So you having the hoses will mean nothing to most mechanics you talk to. This might not include that 75 year old mechanic your family has been going to their entire lives; he'd probably use your hoses.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
. I dont trust him that much because he ruined a car before,

Tell him to piss up a rope, and your family too. Are they paying for it? No? Are you? Yes? Your money. 100 to 200 sounds about right, but I'm no expert. Also, in TX and LA, if you fail an inspection, but get the car fixed, you have either 30 or 60 days to take it back for free retest (varies by city/county/parish)

Piss up a rope? I never heard that before, but I like if.