I'll lead off by saying, yes, this is why I need to get a house with a garage. Lack of space to work on things really sucks.
Last week I took the car in for an oil change and state inspection. Decided "while they were in there" to have them recharge the AC.
Call #1: "Hey, did you know you have cord showing on your tires on the inside edge?"
Why no, no I didn't actually. Result = 4xKumho ECSTA ASX-S for a total of 502.80 mounted/balanced. And of course and alignment for $282.
Call #2: "Hey, your right rear CV boots are cracked. Left are okay but worn, probably replaced awhile back."
Result = Left & Right inner/outer boots replace for $752.36
Call #3: "Your brake fluid is pretty nasty" (At this point, I'm thinking WTF, this stuff was all supposed to be handled when I bought the damn thing, I guess I'm a sucker). Result = brake flush/fill w/ATE 200 gold for $115.40
Call #4: "Umm, when we were putting your tires on, the wheel machine jammed and put a gouge in the paint, we'll take care of it, but it's not going to match your other wheels now" :XX (fresh vs. faded) Result = $150/per to get the remaining 3 wheels refinished.
All told, including the oil, ac, inspection, tires, brake flush, wheels, cv, alignment, that little adventure cost me $2692.30
Some of this is safety related, so I can't really bitch, but damn, the "I'm a n000b" tax hurts. But at least my baby has nice new socks and shoes.
They also told me on the way out the oil recirculating lines need to get replaced with the new 2 piece units as they are seeping a bit on the heat exchangers. Is this a huge safety issue or can I afford to wait for the bank balance to recover a bit?