Sunday, March 14, 2010

Distractible mechanic

Dear Internets,

The last time I took Lola the Corolla in for an oil change, the mechanic offered to change the air filter for the low low price of $60. (A month before, the Toyota dealership offered to do it for $120). This seemed a wee bit pricey.

Instead, I went to O'Reilly Auto Parts, joked with the guy behind the counter about how "proud" the dealership was of its air filters, and walked out with an air filter that cost $12.99. I drove home, found some instructions online, and popped Lola's hood. Five minutes later, I had replaced the air filter myself.

I saved myself $50 and feel like a total grease monkey. It was totally worth it.

Yours truly (greasy fingers and all),
Jane

7 comments:

Her said...

That is seriously such a good feeling! Good for you for saving the cash!

texpat said...

that is awesome!! what an accomplishment! i always had my dad change the oil, which was not on a regular basis.... haha. good on you for saving some mooola!

Anonymous said...

You? Are awesome. I wouldn't even think of doing it myself. Like killing bugs, it's Jaco's job. ;)

JP said...

I always change my own brake pads... saves me from having to listen to the brake guy say "oh your rotors are 1/16 of an inch too worn. You have to replace them NOW!!!!" uh yeah. No.

Kim said...

Air filters are the biggest rip offs at oil change places and dealerships. There's no reason they should charge THAT much.

SavingDiva said...

I put a long life air filter in my car a few years ago, and I'm still proud of myself!

Congrats on being handy!

angela said...

That is great! They'll take every penny they can from you if you keep yourself ignorant enough to hand it over! I've made that mistake too many times and now I'm trying to learn a little about cars (though Beetles are special ball of wax)so I don't do it anymore.