Car dealers kill me.

I took my car into the VW dealer today because when the car idles, the needle jumps around sporadically. We also asked him to check the brakes because they have been squealing.

He just called me back. According to them, here is the laundry list of things I need to have done:

40,000 Mile Service (a car-knowledgeable coworker looked over the list of what is included and said 90% of it is bullshit) – $548
Rear brakes & rotors replaced – $377
Tie rod ends & boots replaced (whatever the fuck that is) – $412
Alignment – $74
Two new rear tires – $229
Serpentine belt replaced – $205

Grand total? $1,974 including tax

Oh, and they can’t replicate or figure out what could be causing the weird idle problem.

I called a brakes place that Bryan and this car-knowledgeable coworker (CKCW for short) have used before and have been very happy with. You will notice there is a slight difference in price:

Fuel filter replaced (the only worthwhile thing from the silly 40,000 mile dealie bob – and CKCW thinks this may be the idle culprit) – $40
Rear Brakes – $189
Rear rotors (which are probably unnecessary according to the brakes guy and CKCW) – $120
Tie rod ends & boots replaced (apparently this *is* a safety concern and should be dealt with quickly) – $255
Alignment – $48
Serpentine belt replaced – $74

Grand total? $776 including tax (not including the admittedly-bald rear tires that need to be replaced, but I will get them in a few weeks from a tire place and not at a dealer)

Can you seriously BELIEVE that?

Send this to a friend