HELP!!! My suspension might be shot HELP!!! Options

[k-weaver]

Ok so here is the story...

I took my car to meineke for the "free brake inspection", i just did this because i wanted to have my tires rotated and i didnt want to do it myself. Anyway, turns out that my car has got some major problems. Only thing is, I am not sure if this guy just wanted me to cough up some funds, or if he was legit.

Problem #1

The guy brought me over with my car on the lift and my front left CV joint was busted. All the grease poured out into the inside of my rim. So the joint is not being lubricated at all right now. The guy told me that he would have to replace the whole axel and total it would be 255.00 out the door. Do I need a new axel? Can the joint be replaced by itself? and is this a legit price?

Problem #2

The guy told me that the joint went bad because all four of my struts are bad and need to be replaced. So he said that he can do all four struts for $1,062. YIKES!!! That seems a little high to me??? So could this be a cause of my joint going out? and do all four need to be replaced?

Problem #3

This isn't really a BIG concern of mine, of course it needs to be fixed, it just does not have top priority. Turns out my rear brake rotors are bad, and my pads are just about to be bare metal. So I need new rotors and pads, he quoted me $260. This is probably something that I would end up doing though...Plus it gives me an excuse to buy drilled rotors

Problem #4

Guy told me that I was leaking oil. He said that he would need to replace the Valve cover gasket. As far as I know the car isn't leaking from there. Seems like if it were I would be able to see it dripping? If he needs to replace this, what could it possible be? He also said that I need a new oil pressure sending unit? I don't see why I would need one? Everytime I start my car the little oil light turns on, then shuts off in like 3 seconds. He quoted me $185 for this...

Grand total for everything on my car from this guy was $1,800 out the door. Seems like this is a little much to me? AND on top of this....the guy that put my rims back on over tightend the caps on the rims and I lost one. Im gonna go down there tommorrow, already called him, he said to come down and well see what we can do...

By the way, my car is a 1996 GT Hatch with 150,000 miles. Any help or insight would be great. I'm thinking of doing everything myself, just worried that something will go wrong, it always does...

[xs94st]

1: u can buy an axle for cheaper, n if ur auto saavy n read some of our how to's, u can try to do it yourself. u can fix the knuckle if thats whats messed up as well as replace the boot, but that involves getting another axle anyways. u can usually get an axle from Rockauto.com for a good price.

2: u can get KYB OEM replacement shocks for your GT for a better price n can get them installd for cheaper at someplace besides meineke..i duno about how they affect the axle, but unnecessary bobbing of the car can cause stress on both sides of the car and (i guess) lead to axle problems..thats just a guess.

3: ur rotors may just need to be resurfaced rather than replaced, get a second opinion. the pads u can do urself if u have some ratchets n a lil time, we have how-to's on the site.

4: have another shop look at the leak (if there is one)

lots of times places like this overkill the situation. ur rotors may need resurfacing, but why do that when u can replace and get brand new rotors? (their mentality)

for example, my gf got a coupon in the mail for an $18.95 oil change at EZLube. when i got there, she said that the total was $30 something. i asked, n they said they were running some stuff thru the engine to clean out the gunk b4 replacing the oil. i thot okay, i coulda done this on my own, but the price for oil (they were using Mobil) is more if i had to do this all on my own. then, the guy asks my gf to come to the back, n he pulls all kinds of BS on her saying that she needs to replace her tranny fluid, she has leaks here n there (we just put her car in the shop cuz it was bought used n we wantd everything checkd n it was all good), n that she needs to bleed her brake lines for some stupid reason. all came out to $400 for parts n labor..from $18.95 oil change to $400 BS.

i'd get a second opinion if i were u..try mom n pops shops around ur place or ask friends or relatives that may have auto hook ups.

This post has been edited by xs94st: Oct 12, 2007 - 10:36 PM