Dreaded Ninja Bill - Car Repair

This past Friday I took my wife's car into the dealer for service.  It had been acting up, and so I wanted to get the problem fixed before we take a few moderate distance road trips over the next few weeks.   When you apply the break at highway speeds the steering wheel would shake and vibrate.  At slow speeds I could detect uneven breaking.  I have limited knowledge of cars, but I was pretty sure the brake rotors were warped.

This car has a short history of warped rotors.  After only 7,000 miles of driving I had to take it in with virtually the same problem.  It was covered by the warranty and I walked out the door free of charge.  Now, at 27,000 miles the problem has returned.  Because I have a 30,000 mile bumper-to-bumper, and based on how this was resolved last time, I was ready to have the problem fixed under warranty again.  This time however, I learned that brakes are only warrantied for one year or 12,000 miles.  I am going to owe $180 for new rotors, $90 for new brake pads, and $130 for labor.  Hello ninja bill.  I tried to argue that brake rotors should last longer than 7,000 or 20,000 miles (I've heard at least 30-50k miles depending on driving style and conditions).  I'm not super happy about the $130 labor charge either.  I can maybe understand paying for parts which need to be [prematurely] replaced due to wear and tear, but the labor should be covered for a vehicle that is under warranty as far as I'm concerned. 

The service has not actually been completed yet because the dealer did not have the parts in stock.  This strikes me as odd because brake rotors and pads are very basic components. The Caliber has also become a very common car on the roads these days; one would think Dodge would stock basic parts for their own cars.  Anyway, the parts were ordered and I have an appointment for this coming Friday to have them installed. 

As well as the dealership, I have been considering another options to get my car fixed.  A friend has offered to help me do the installation myself, and I found after market brake rotors for $39.99 and break pads for $49.99 (set of 4) from a major auto parts supplier.  This would obviously save a lot of money, but I don't know if the parts are equivalent quality to the official Dodge MOPAR brand parts.  I have found mixed reviews of after market brake parts from a few Google searches.  I am also a little uncertain about my abilities and the work required to install them myself.  I have always justified paying a mechanic by saying, "people pay me $50/hour to fix their computers so I can afford to pay them $50/hour to fix my car."  We each specialize in our own areas and pay for that level of expertise. 

For now I have both the dealership and the auto parts store ordering the rotors and pads I will need.  Sometime soon I need to make a decision about spending $400 to have the work done by a professional with name brand parts or do it myself with third party parts for $140 and an afternoon of my own labor.  Decisions, decisions...  Comments and suggestions welcomed.

On a completely different note, today the Carnival of Personal Finance #138 was posted over at I've Paid for this Twice Already.  The carnival has a neat Superbowl theme that is a nice festive twist.  My post Is Social Security a Rip Off? was included.  Two articles that caught my attention and I highly recommend are Why Being Frugal Sucks, In The Long Run from Money Management and You and The Problem with the Economic Stimulus Package from Early Retirement Extreme.  I am definitely in the camp of personal finance bloggers that see frugality as an exercise is self deprivation and frustration.  If you put your 401(k) and Roth IRA on autopilot, buy a house you can afford, and drive cars that match your means there is nothing wrong with spending what is left without worrying about maximizing every cent.  Spend your money, have fun, and know if you get the big money decisions right you will end up wealthy.  Jacob's post about the economic stimulus package comes to the opposite conclusion as my article, $1,200 Out of Thin Air.  His analysis of the situation is that borrowing (through federal deficit spending) to feed the spending itch of a debt addicted culture is a bad move.  He has a good point and you should check out his article.  My primary disagreement is that the money we are borrowing is at below market rates and we'll come out ahead by financing our domestic growth at such a low interest rate even if the spending is a symptom of a cultural spending addiction.  I think that once the interest rates on the debt climb (and they will!) we will gradually and organically adapt to the higher rates by reducing consumption and increasing savings. I can't be sure who is right, only time will tell.

That's all for today.  Check back again soon and be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed.