Well I took my 69 camaro that I just bought last week into the shop today to get a header gasket changed and the mechanic told me also that the distributor on the car wasn't the right one? The choke and throttle weren't correctly adjusted, my transmission fluid pan needs to be replaced (was leaking a little bit the past few days), my shifter is rubbing on my headers and they can't find a solution to it? And my tail pipes were rubbing on my rear springs. The car should be all fixed up, tuned and ready to go by thursday or friday. Estimated total was $500. Is this right? Am I getting ripped off?

 

Hard to say, but it sounds like they may be looking for extra work to perform. Some of those issues are an easy fix that you should be able to do, even the header gasket. And what did they mean by you not having the right distributor? What's wrong with the one you have? And it sure is a good thing they didn't say you had the wrong engine too...sheesh!!
Not trying to sound insulting, but when someone takes a car to a shop for a simple fix like a header gasket, the mechanics can pretty much asume you don't know much about fixing cars. And that's when all the repair suggestions will start coming at you.

 

Ditto what Camaro 69 said about the distributor. Sounds like thy are looking for a way to part you with your money. If the dist is working properly, big deal if it is not the factory installed unit! You are the owner, question them on everything or say no and get a second opinion.

 

I don't know much about changing gaskets or adjusting the idle nor do I have the time right now to get that done, so I decided to leave it up to a mechanic. There was a ticking noise the engine made when it was running and one of my brother's friends told him that the header gasket needed to be replaced?, now i'm looking at a $500 bill for probably nothing? I know that the tranny was leaking fluid a little bit (i'll pay to get that fixed), I know that it wasn't idling correctly and I think everything else is complete bogus.
afterall, what would you do at this point?

 

Yeah, I hear where you're coming from, the car has stalled on me a few times since I brought it up here and I was told it was because California air is a lot thicker and denser than the air up in British Columbia and that was causing more gas than air getting into the carb, so does this mean I need to re-jet my carb? Also how do you fix your idle? I'm frustrated with these stupid a$$ mechanics. I wish I knew how to do all this on my own!

 

So exactly which questions should I ask this so called mechanic?

 

Its so tough to put a price tag on anything that goes into a shop these days. Having one part out of the vehicle to be repaired or rebuilt is a little easier to predict but anytime you drive your vehicle into a shop you should expect a 300-400 dollar bill regardless of what work is done. Knowing many mechanics and many places of business for a shop to maintain profitability they need to turn a good 300 or more out of each customer. Not much if any profit in a $150.00 bill. So thats why you're getting a list of issues because they need the space you're taking to be worth the time and effort. Whetherall these issuesneed to be tended to or not is up to you. A header gasket could be done by a novice within a resonable time and at a cost well under $60.00 depending on the tools available and so forth. Half that $500.00 is probably labor....who knows.

If I were you next time you need various things tended to you might try to purchase the parts you need online or locally on your own and then simply pay somone the labor to put them in. Might save you some money since its a lot easier to determine how much labor should be charged without trying to decipher how much markup in hard parts you're paying for and you actually get to purchase the parts yourself so there is no question as to whats actually going on your car. Hopefully you got a reasonable honest shop helping you out. Good luck.

 

I strayed sorry.

As far as the work you're getting done I'd just asked for detailed bill of what exactly they did or are going to do. What distributor are they using, whats wrong with the one you got? What gasket are they using? Can I purchase all the parts I need on my own and have you simply do the labor? How much and how long?

Or if you're like most people that don't have the time and energy just let the guy handle the work for you and if you're not satisfied move on to somewhere else next time. Thankfully its only 500 not 2500.

 

No doubt there are shops that try to "up" the bill by getting you to do repairs that are not really needed at the time. But to keep them honest, ask about everything they want to fix, especially if you do not understand. Doing it that way you can learn about your car too. If the mechanic says your distributor is not correct, ask him why not and how he would fix it. Ask also how the change would affect your car, gas mileage, smooth idle, performance, etc. Then ask the big one, how much money. Work your way to an understanding with the mechanic as to what you want done or how much you have to spend at this time. As you go over this with him, he should be writing it down. Most shops use a work order system of paperwork to keep track of parts and labor, get him to write it on that. When the work is done you will both have a copy and if he exceeds what you want to spend or get done you have proof.

 

definitely sounds like they are trying to pad the bill

is this your regular mechanic or do they just see a new customer and what to see what you'll stand for?