Strut My Stuff

I had to get the struts replaced in my car today. This is the second pair of struts we've purchased the past sixty days. Our cars must be losing their cool. Actually, that probably happened about a hundred thousand miles ago when I traded in my rockin' wrangler for my grandma's sensible four cylinder four door Rav4. It was a good choice (as much as I miss roaring down dirt roads, laughing without a care as my hair whipped the windshield). Yes, car seats don't exactly fit with topless jeeps. And my little Toyota has treated me well.

I hate taking cars into the repair shop. I feel like I have a bulls eye painted on my purse with "perfect target" written across my forehead. I don't know a thing about cars, and it would be extremely easy for any repair shop to take advantage of my lack of knowledge. So, when the guy behind the desk said, "and if we see any other problems while we're replacing your struts, I'll give you a call," I politely gave him a piece of my mind. "I appreciate that, but I don't know anything about cars and I'm always nervous about being swindled...not that I think you guys will do that (smile), but I hate that I can't tell either way."

The Pep Boys mechanic was a little taken aback by my honesty, then he smiled and said, "I understand. He then pulled out a diagram of my struts and did his best to explain what other parts may be affected by worn down struts. I was sort of satisfied, but he sensed my ongoing hesitation. So he pulled out a coupon for 10% off repairs and said, "This should help cover any unexpected fixes we find on top of the price we quoted you." I smiled and thanked him. And, eight hours later, with the coupon he gave me it ended up being less than the quoted total--which was $200 less than the quotes given to me by Big O and the Toyota dealer. I was pretty happy...or at least as happy as can be when strutting away from a $400 repair.