[s-cars] DC area wrench

[Tom Green]

Sounds like the price of yuppiedom membership to me, Bob.  There are  
some well-known
shops in Maryland that are competent and honest, but the savings  
probably would not
amount to the cost associated with the logistics of taking the car to  
a shop half the beltway
away.  There are no $35/hr wrenches or $70/hr shops that you would  
trust to leave your car
with.

It may be time to visit the Hyundai showroom.  : )

The comparison to the 200 DIY job doesn't fit too well, though, Paul.   
I am sure you could
find some listers willing to take that deal and even save you a few  
bucks.  : )   But, the point
is well taken that when you don't have the tools and place nor the  
time or inclination to do
your own maintenance, the cost of maintaining german iron (or  
aluminum) is substantial.

I don't think there are any $700 timing belt jobs available now,  
especially since the parts
list and labor for things that require replacement continues to grow.

Tom '95 S6
          '95.5 S6 avant
Knoxville, TN


On Tuesday  January 10, 2012, at 6:59 PM, Robert Myers <bob at chips-ur-s.com 
 > wrote:

>> Hi Y'all,
>>
>> My son is getting rather severely bent over by a local (to him)
>> wrench in the Alexandria, VA, area.  $700+ to replace a serp belt
>> plus an idler pulley, for cryin' out loud!
>>
>> Can anyone recommend a decent, dependable, and honest European car
>> wrench in that general area?  Alexandria would be an excellent
>> location for him but not too far away would be helpful as well.  He
>> drive a little (gasp!) Mercedes 320 SLK and the guy who has been
>> doing work for him for a while appears to have gotten greedy when his
>> best wrench left his shop a year or so back
>>
>> Bob
On Wednesday January 11, 2012, at 11:53 PM,  "Mark Pollan" <mpollan1 at aol.com 
 > adds

> Are you talking *serp* belt or timing belt Paul?  I suspect the  
> latter.  If
> the former you should snag the Bentley if it is still available ;-)
>
> Mark
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Paul Caouette
> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 8:14 PM
> To: theringmeister at triad.rr.com
> Cc: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com; Robert Myers; S-CAR list;  
> Quattro list
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] DC area wrench
>
> I don't see 700 as being that far afield. The wrench gets $35 per  
> hour, the
> shop has to cover FICA, FUDA, etc. Which adds about $10.  Then there's
> rent, heat , specialty tools.
>
> It took me more th an a day to accomplish the same on my
> 200 TQA.....with specialty tools I had to rent for $25....