There's an auto repair shop on the California side next to the California / Mexico border, in what we call South Bay San Diego, CA or San Ysidro, San Diego, CA.

My friend, a freelance mechanic takes his cars there, he either farms his excess cars out or sends tough jobs there for this mechanic to work on.

This auto repair shop near the border and near a junkyard we'll call "inexpensive shop"

his auto shop rent must be cheap.

Inexpensive shop owner charges $175 to repair an oil leak on a Camaro. He's a nice man, I've overheard him once talking to my freelance mechanic friend, he has roosters wandering his auto shop land. It's a trip.

Anyway, the standard, average, going rate is $450 to $600 here farther north away from the border in the San Diego California City Limits to repair an oil leak; this is the type of motor oil leak from a Camaro that does not involve a cracked motor spewing out oil, so it's a minor leak.

Since he's nearer the border on sparsely populated sort of rural undeveloped land, his auto shop rent is cheap per my friend.

That's why his costs are lower.

Also since he's near a junkyard, he probably can get cheaper parts.

My freelance mechanic friend trusted one of his friend's high end 100 k Super Car Nissan Z to do an oil change I think

There are also lots of more expensive cars waiting for his repairs on his lot. So people with more expenisive cars (much more pricey than a 4th Gen. Camaro), trust him to do repairs.

He's not really on Yelp or other websites, I guess he's old school and does the word of mouth advertising thing.

Here's the heart of the question: would you take your beloved 4th Gen. for an oil leak repair (which usually isn't a small job, but which may require "lots of skill"?) to a mechanic near the Calif. / Mexico border whose English is his 2nd language and may not have tons of experience working on Camaro's and pay $175?

or would you take it to an auto repair shop within the city limits and clearly within the U.S. border and pay more like the median cost to repair an oil leak: $450 to $600?

I'd be like $175??! Compared to $450 to $600? What type of shortcuts is he taking?

Can all that savings be the result of cheap auto repair shop rental rates?

Would you trust the cheaper repair shop since an oil leak repair is really not something too difficult?

Just to clairfy an oil leak repair, not sure if it involves the pan,,,, gaskets etc...whatever oil leak repair where the minimum repair shop cost is an average of $400 to $600.

Is such an oil leak repair something that can be a do it yourself DIY job?

Thanks for your help, members.

 

4th gen Camaros are not the easiest cars to work on especially given it's a Chevy and most Chevys used to be easy. I'd take to a shop with experience working on 4th gen F body cars,just my 2 cts.

 

I think you will find most of us fix thing ourselves. IMO the key is to pick one good mechanic stick with him. Just showing up as a walk in once a year is not going to build an loyalty. Throw the guy a bone, inspections/oil changes some of the required routine maintenance. Get him to the point he know yours name and your car. If he is good and he sees you as a regular customer he will treat you better and be straight with you.

Just my opinion but I would avoid chicken man. Course he could be an amazing mechanic.

 

I've often wondered that about auto parts in general. Just because it costs more, the sense is that you are getting a premium part. Often, I would think that is the case, but how much more difference really is there between a $40 starter and a lifetime warranty gold premium $200 part? The warranty?

 

depends on oil leak where they are ,yes i stick with one guy we work together wich helps me learn with hands on not better way to know next time ,nothing simple about the camaro either,i has one or 2 on the 99 caddy may have been worth it couse he works for alot less ,but i traded in the caddy for a 2017 cherokee love it so far my used card are starting to nickle me ,will just be this rig an my 95 now

 

Here's an update: inexpensive shop near the Calif. / Mexico border ON the California side's prices have gone up as follows.

$300 labor to remove the Trans. (see below for why the Trans. needs to be removed) to repair on the Rear Main Seal" oil leaking problem.
$30 for the autopart the "Rear Main Seal," grand totalling $330 versus the auto shop farther up north and clearly in California's estimate of $520 for the same job (repairing the Rear Main Seal" oil leak)

I returned from an auto repair shop just now.

"Rear Main Seal" is leaking motor oil moderately.

It's that crack or wedge between the engine and the Trans.

To get to that part, the Trans. needs to be removed--lots of labor, the repair shop estimates it at 4 hrs of labor x $100 / hour

*Per auto shop mechanic, I also got a possible "oil cooler leaking" but it has too much gunk to tell, it needs to be cleaned and also maybe a dye test.

Can't do both jobs at once so I'll have to do them one at a time.

Thank you for your replies. will look them over soon.

 

autoparts range widely, I agree. a $10 coolant t-stat can actually be better or the exact same even without a warranty as a $50 coolant thermostat. A knowledgeable Rep at Summit Racing told me this. In fact, there's really no answer I feel comfy with as to why there's such a wide gap for the same autopart. Analogies: Generic vs. Name brand, warranties?

paying more avoids the time of shopping around for a cheaper price, etc. it provides peace of mind. instead of waiting...repairs are done right away without waiting on a long line for a cracker jack ace mechanic at a small shop, you go to a big name shop like MIDAS and it's done the same day.

generally and usually I have felt that price is a good indicator of value

there are deals....but who wants to spend all that time looking for them or wondering if theyre some cheap knock off that will fail after a short while

 

my auto shop mechanic i have been loyal to: 1100 to fix a coolant oil leak $300 for both upper and lower radiator hose replacement and $250 for a tune up, and another $200 job i forget what it was now-- $1800 within only 1 year's time. i gave him a great yelp dot com review and informed him of that.

i even had my former colleague give him a great yelp.com review and again informed repair shop owner of that, too.

my auto shop mechanic was the owner, he recently like 3 mos. ago started only working 1-3 days a week and his assistant is there

before what the owner said could wait...has to be done right away, etc.

the level of service is just not there as much as it used to be

anyway, i will try rooster mechanic which will be my 1st time with him

especially also since there may be a probable 'cooler oil' leak too. oil is leaking from a part called the "cooler oil" which I imagine is a small part that prevents motor oil from boiling into steam.

it has too much gunk and grime to detect if indeed the "cooler oil" autopart is leaking also and it may need a dye test to find out for sure.

so i got 2 oil leaks and im sorry i will try this new guy who is a lot cheaper.

here in San Diego, So. Cal and Nevada there are lots and lots of American sports cars and hot rods so these mechanics do have lots of experience on classic Dodge Darts, Camaro's from every decade etc.

i was impressed to find out he charges $400 for a rebuilt Trans. and $250 to install it

so $650 to get a rebuilt trans. installed versus $1,500 in areas which are clearly without a doubt part of Southern Caliifornia, U S of A.

his hourly labor must be like $30 which he pays to himself as autoshop owner / operator cos his auto shop RENT is like maybe $275 a month!

it may be a lot more but I am only giving an extreme example to prove a point.

mechanics hear per my freelance mechanic friend who knows lots of auto shops gripe that auto shop monthly rent is INSANE... that's a big reason why every auto shop repair is so expensive.