You just have to know where to look.
I told you about the deal I got on the slightly used tires for the back of my pickup.
$150, cash money off of Craigslist.
Well I knew of a little Gypo tire shop and stopped in there to see about getting them swapped out.
I figured they would be busy and I would have to make an appointment but as it turned out, they weren’t.
The minute I pulled in I could tell it was my kind of place.
Used tires piled up all over the place and a sign in the front window that said Cash Only, no checks, no cards.
Yessir, we are going to be able to do business.
After asking about the pricing and showing them what I needed done, it wasn’t long before the ass end was up in the air and the lug nuts were flying.
A grand total of $70 to dismount 4 off the wheels, mount and balance 2 and dispose of the used tires and wheels I didn’t need.
For a Grand Total of $220, less than half of what I was quoted by the Big Chain Tire Store.
Double Bonus, while I was waiting, I inquired about a couple of decent used tires they might have to go on the front.
2 of those are sitting there, they want $100 for both plus the $50 for mounting, balancing and disposal of the worn ones on it now.
Triple Bonus, also while I was waiting and the guy was breaking down the tires, I grabbed a brake drum and yanked it off to discover I have at least one axle seal puking oil all over the brake shoes.
Try doing that sometime at a Big Chain Tire Shop.
I can tell you it ain’t happening and if you ask them to check the brakes while they have the wheels off anyway and they find oil on the brake shoes, they are going to slam you with another $700 estimate to replace the seals and brakes.
Guaranteed.
So I plan on going back, getting the front tires swapped out and I will STILL be under what I was quoted for 2 new tires to be installed!
Since the weather has FINALLY started to turn, I’ll be doing those axle seals and rear brakes myself, Thankyouverymuch.
Not that I WANT TO but because I can and I’m not paying that kind of money for something I can do myself on a nice and sunny Saturday afternoon.
The lesson here is to shop the hell around.
I have been broke most of my life, mainly because of piss poor decisions I have made but I did learn how to get by on the cheap and have a nose for finding cheaper alternatives rather than bending over and paying full price for shit like most Normies do.
I’m not the least bit afraid to shop at shady looking places Sally Homemaker would lock her doors while driving by.
Especially places that say Cash Only, up front.
Yep, we can do business just fine.
cash is still king. last summer the water line going into the house started leaking
called around and got a lot of “quotes” of 2 grand and up (?)
anyway, stopped in to see rudy and ask him about it, he got on the phone with a guy who came after 5 pm like. we talked and I told him I pay cash and what he does with it, is his choice. he got the local clowns out to check the wires and other crap and then he showed up. helped him get his digger going and cleaned up the battery posts/clamps and helped where ever I could without being in the way/
anyway, his quote was 500 for the job, when he was done, I paid him and he gave me a hundred back for fixing his digger. so, yea. cash works very well
my firewood guy gives me deals because I pay cash. and at the load before xmas, I gave him 5 gallons of high test corn free gas. working with people gets shit done. I pay 235 for a full cord plus some. and the wood is dried, split and ready to burn. no bark either. my neighbor pays close to 300 for a slightly smaller load. but he pays with a check,,,,,,,,,,
remember they want 85 000 new IRS CLOWNS and they looking for any money they can take. my tax guy says if you have to write someone a check, put gift or something else in the memo space as they looking for money to tax/take
the damn gov’t takes way too much of our money now, why give them reason to steal some more from someone else ?
There is one of that kind of mechanic down a ways from me, dogs and cats all over the shop and in one corner, clouds of fleas, but the young kid can fix pretty much anything that comes in the door and does it for half of what any of the big shops cost not to mention any stealership. Like you, if I can do it, gets taken care of at home. Some jobs are best left to the kid with minimum tools and long experience with hard cases. Works for me. Word of mouth also found a guy that will do good body work cheap, cash of course. Turned a rusty tailgate on BIL’s truck into new looking and shiny. Such skills are never out of demand.
Is he saving the front tires for ya? Fucking typical Chevy rear end, if it ain’t puking oil out of the wheel seals it is puking out the pinion seal… sometimes worse then a flucking Harley
Sometimes BOTH….
Happy for your score Phil. And skills and resourcefulness will be far more valuable than fiat currency in the days to come. At the very least, 85% of our belongings are second hand, why pay more than you have to?
Does Los Angeles ring a bell?
I remain confused about the reference to Los Angeles. Please school me.
I was gonna rebut your Harley dis but decided not to. Some of us love to wrap our legs around a Harley.
Just asking…
Love to wrap my legs around Harley Tucker from George Straits movie “Pure Country.”
Phil, ya look like a white man driving that truck… damn white supremacist, ya got tread and that is racist.
And he’s got INSURANCE, too!
why do you think carjacking is up ? it costs a lot to keep a car/truck in gas let alone little things like insurance and tags
and tires with tread ?
they found it a lot easier to just steal a car that is running, so it has gas in it than to pay for the gas themselves. simple froma bro’s view point.
Nice.
Wish I had the brake skills got a 71 cutlass convertible that needs it.
Bought to new front tires awhile back, discount tire does not do alignment unknown to me.
Went to a local recommendation they said I needed shocks and struts, $2400.00 before alignment, phuk that I’m not stoopid.
Weeks later remembered a mechanic neighbor who broke away from a regional tire store and went solo. New shocks, which I needed, tune up, which I needed, alignment with out struts. $1,800.00. I tipped him and his wife a C note each for saving me money to take the other out to dinner. Lifetime customer I am.