...And I'm not even talking about my Stealth, although I guess this is where this is headed. My gf's car is a Hyundai Tiburon, still with the factory warranty. However, to actually be approved for warranty work in case something happens, you have to have documentation that all oil changes/maintenance have been performed according to the service specs. And so, for that reason, we take her car in for oil changes and what not as they provide a receipt for work and the date and mileage.
We take the car into NTB for an alignment, tire rotation, and oil change. Of course, they also look over the car and point out things that also need to be done ($$$) like rear brake pads, which I was already aware of. They quote us $260 for pads and labor. I never had any intention of paying those prices, as pads cost $20 and changing them SHOULD be an easy job. Well, Murphy's Law...
Both calipers are seized. I actually broke a 6" C clamp trying to compress the piston back into the caliper. I can only imagine how much NTB would have charged at this point, since they had no idea both calipers were shot. Anyway, long story short, the car now has new rear pads and non sticking calipers, and my back is killing me from working under the car. Also had to mop up a small lake of oil from the car, as NTB didn't bother to tighten the drain plug, and it was just barely threaded in. If I hadn't caught it, it's not the sort of thing my gf would probably even notice until it was too late and her engine seized.
So after all the work and cleanup was done, I started thinking whether it was worth it to save a couple hundred dollars by doing the work myself, and to be honest... I'm not sure. I find that I dislike doing maintenance and such on cars these days, even performance upgrades. I have a 300M output shaft that's been sitting for 3 years now, and a billet TC that I haven't bothered to install either. Same goes with the fixed headlights that I didn't get around to painting and installing permanently either, and several other parts gathering dust.
Maybe I'm in a funk or something, but the thought of working on cars these days is just completely unappealing to me. I don't know if I'm ever going to like it again either, and that doesn't bode well for owning a 20+ year old modded car.
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