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Well fcuk me... I just helped the mechanics screw me over.
I just replaced the car's coolant elbows and radiator flushed after having it sit for a month, due to lack of time and appropriate weather. I finally got to pull off the alternator and bracket to get to replace the elbows on Sunday, with some help. And then flushed the radiator on Monday. That night we took the car out to get something to eat after all the work when the check gauges light came on and I noticed the battery was low. Upon inspection under the hood we realized the plug from the alternator to the battery was missed in our final inspection and the car had been running off the battery with nothing to recharge it. Thus, the car was hooked up to a battery tender for two days.
This morning the tender light was green and I get the car out to go to class. After stopping to air up the tires, I noticed a slight metallic tapping/pinging noise from under my side of the car while under load. Thinking it was another exhaust leak, I took it to a muffler shop, where they said it wasn't exhaust related but rather sounded like something on the flywheel. So I take it to Aamco Transmission, who had done previous work with the valve body replacement. They find out that the starter bendix was broken and was floating, hitting the flywheel, and causing that noise. Fortunately the flywheel wasn't damaged.
Eager to have this replaced, I tell them to go ahead and put a new starter in it, without researching what it would cost elsewhere (stupid, I know). They said it'd be an hour to get the starter from O'Reilly's and install it. So I walk down to Office Depot to kill some time. Well, then I start thinking and call up a friend at Autozone, only to find out that the starter only costs $179. Aamco was charging $279 for the starter from O'Reilly. So I immediately call up Aamco and ask if I can bring in a starter from somewhere else and he says they've already started installing the new one. So I ask why it costs so much, because O'Reilly is competitive with Autozone and shouldn't cost much more. He responds saying that they mark up the price because they get it in so soon (within 20 minutes) and can immediately install it. Since it was too late for me to stop them, I got stuck paying $386 for the starter and labor. Impulse made me impatient and rather than researching, I got screwed. Learned my lesson.
To make it even better, I stopped by and talked to a friend in the parts department of the dealership and find out they sell stock replacements for $169.
Anywho... this new starter makes an annoying high pitch winding up/down noise as compared to my not so noticeable stock one. I was told this is just because it's new and should go away once it breaks in. Is this true? I can deal with paying the money for my mistake, but don't want to have insult added to injury by having my car sound like a Corolla starting up.
I just replaced the car's coolant elbows and radiator flushed after having it sit for a month, due to lack of time and appropriate weather. I finally got to pull off the alternator and bracket to get to replace the elbows on Sunday, with some help. And then flushed the radiator on Monday. That night we took the car out to get something to eat after all the work when the check gauges light came on and I noticed the battery was low. Upon inspection under the hood we realized the plug from the alternator to the battery was missed in our final inspection and the car had been running off the battery with nothing to recharge it. Thus, the car was hooked up to a battery tender for two days.
This morning the tender light was green and I get the car out to go to class. After stopping to air up the tires, I noticed a slight metallic tapping/pinging noise from under my side of the car while under load. Thinking it was another exhaust leak, I took it to a muffler shop, where they said it wasn't exhaust related but rather sounded like something on the flywheel. So I take it to Aamco Transmission, who had done previous work with the valve body replacement. They find out that the starter bendix was broken and was floating, hitting the flywheel, and causing that noise. Fortunately the flywheel wasn't damaged.
Eager to have this replaced, I tell them to go ahead and put a new starter in it, without researching what it would cost elsewhere (stupid, I know). They said it'd be an hour to get the starter from O'Reilly's and install it. So I walk down to Office Depot to kill some time. Well, then I start thinking and call up a friend at Autozone, only to find out that the starter only costs $179. Aamco was charging $279 for the starter from O'Reilly. So I immediately call up Aamco and ask if I can bring in a starter from somewhere else and he says they've already started installing the new one. So I ask why it costs so much, because O'Reilly is competitive with Autozone and shouldn't cost much more. He responds saying that they mark up the price because they get it in so soon (within 20 minutes) and can immediately install it. Since it was too late for me to stop them, I got stuck paying $386 for the starter and labor. Impulse made me impatient and rather than researching, I got screwed. Learned my lesson.
To make it even better, I stopped by and talked to a friend in the parts department of the dealership and find out they sell stock replacements for $169.
Anywho... this new starter makes an annoying high pitch winding up/down noise as compared to my not so noticeable stock one. I was told this is just because it's new and should go away once it breaks in. Is this true? I can deal with paying the money for my mistake, but don't want to have insult added to injury by having my car sound like a Corolla starting up.
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