[V8] Reputable independent mechanic in the greater Framingham/Leicester Mass area? nac

[too many quattros]

roger, 

this is somewhat BS IMO.  my wife, was a young woman who drover old american
crap and hardly knew what a dipstick was.  yet she found and bought a 4ksq
after her american crap died.  WE still have the car today.  10 years after
being married.

my point is, female, young, whatever, does not prevent her from being
logical.  so, me personally, yeah i would go find the local hot rod club and
ask for a reference.  this gal is likely not going to do that.

so, why not check out the BBB AND yelp for an independent exhaust shop (or
other review page like citysearch, etc).  its likely this young woman is
already on yelp.  i would be surprised if she has not heard of yelp or the
BBB.  

you posted here because she is getting ripped by the dealer.  fair enough.
but why pay even half what the dealer wants when you can get the SAME job
for 1/4 what the deal wants?

as a former mechanic who made his living getting bloody knuckes working on
cars, i can tell you that most repair shops do very little exhaust work.
they farm their exhaust work out to exhaust shops (even the local MBZ dealer
does for 80% of their exhaust jobs).  ergo, skip the the repair joint, go to
the exhaust shop.  they exist for a reason.

2002 camry or 2010/11 lambo reventon convertible, cutting out an old cat and
welding in a new one is not a big deal.  just find one that is honest (makes
me ask how she is sure she needs a new cat?).  for the record, i HAVE worked
on a number of camrys.  i have pulled engines and put new trans in.  there
is nothing special about them.  45 mins with a torch/mig will fix it all.

imo, tell your daughter to tell the step sis to spend 10 mins on the web and
do her homework.  otherwise pay for it.  afterall, its a cat replacement,
not a $50K engine, trans and suspension build.

take it or leave it,

 


Shayne

PARTING:
1972 mercedes benz 280 se 4.5
1986 audi 4000 cs quattro
1990 audi coupe quattro
1995 audi S6



> 
> The biggest reason why this won't work is that the car's owner is a young
> woman who knows zip point zip about the car, or so I guess.
> 
> If this were my daughter she would have found an alternative, but I think
> her step sister is probably a "helpless female" with a steering wheel.
> 
> In fairness, I don't really know the young woman at all, having met her only
> once about six or seven years ago, very briefly.  But her clinging to the
> dealer tells me enough.  She has told my daughter that she continues to go
> to the dealer "because they know the car".  It's a 2002 Camry.  I imagine
> that there may be one or two mechanics and service writers in that suburban
> Boston dealership who were even licensed when the car was built, let alone
> "know her car".

>Roger
> 

> why not just go to a reputable local independent exhaust shop?  i have
> replaced a few of them myself.  i have paid about $75-$125 for the ones i
> have replaced.  i have a friend that owns an independent local exhaust shop.
> he charges between $175-250 for most converter replacements.  IMO forget the
> mechanics and go to a QUALITY exhaust shop.  best way to find one?  ask the
> hot rod car clubs in the area.
> 
> 
> 
> fyi, this is where i buy my cats
> 
> http://www.discountconverter.com
> 

> 
> 
>> 
>> My daughter's step sister has just been nailed by a Toyota dealer for the
>> replacement of a catalytic converter on a 2002 Toyota Camry. The gouging
> was
>> $1,000.
>> 
>> She should not be taking that car to a dealer at this point, and I was
>> wondering if anyone knew a REPUTABLE independent mechanic in the greater
>> Framingham, Massachusetts area.
>> 
>> TIA,
>> 
>> Roger