JR AUTO REPAIR INC

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I left a message for this man JR around 1pm on his answering machine or voice-mail and about 6pm that night he called me back.
   I asked him how much he would charge me to change the spark plugs on my 2006 Lincoln truck. I told him I had already bought the plugs because I was going to attempt to change them myself. He said $50. That sounded pretty low to me but definitely a very reasonable price. I told him I would get back to him.
   I tried to call him back the next day to make the appointment because $50 was hard to beat. I again got a voice mail or answering machine. This was on a Thursday. When he didn't call me back by the next Tuesday I called him again. This time he answered the phone.
   I reminded him of who I was and that he told me he would change the plugs for $50. He said, "what kind of engine is that again"? I told him it was a 5.4 liter 3 valve engine. He said just a minute and about a minute later he said it would be $100 because of that engine.
   Okay, so now it's $100. That's still a good price for this engine from everything I hear about it. Supposedly the plugs in this engine are notorious for breaking, and pieces drop down into the combustion chamber when you try to remove them.
   I asked him, if I try to remove them myself and I break one off, can I still bring it to him to fix. He said yes but if I strip the threads it'll cost a lot more. From the tone of his voice I think he was trying to scare me into not doing them by myself. He did a good job of that. So I said when can I bring it in? We made an appointment and then I said, okay so $100 to change the plugs right? Then he says, "not if I break one". So I ask him "okay, how much more will it cost me if you break one"? He says "it depends on how long it takes me to get  the pieces out.
   So now I don't have a solid estimate. Now if I take the truck to him I just have to agree to pay whatever price he decides to charge me.
   I made the appointment and then called again and cancelled it. I think I would be a fool to leave my truck in his care under those circumstances. The facts are, he is probably not going to take his time about getting these plugs out. It wouldn't matter to him if he broke one off and it cost me more money because he wins no matter what.
   Every mechanic I got an estimate from wanted too much money to change these plugs but at least they gave me a price. Not JR.
   The Ford dealer said that I could count on at least 3 or 4 breaking off and that would be $86 each one to get them out. I think the base price was $250 plus the broken ones and the price of plugs and if one broke off in the head it would be as much as $2,000.
   So I decided to do them myself. It cost me around $65 for the plugs. I took my time. I didn't break any. They were very simple to remove with the proper leverage and a little common sense.
   One guy in an auto parts store said he's never heard of anybody getting them all out without breaking any. Negative input from so many different sources and people almost caused me to become a victim to one of these dishonorable mechanics. There are a lot of those out there unfortunately.
                                                       Sal Tuzzolino
 
   

Great fast service and no further problems