icebluenothing

So like I was saying: on Monday I took the truck into a Jiffy Lube for an oil change, and then afterward, I noticed that the brake light no longer went out when I took the parking brake off. I tried going back to Jiffy Lube to see what they had to say about it, but they swore up and down they hadn't touched the brakes, so.

Wednesday I took the truck to Walt's Auto Care Center, just across the street from SIXBOX, and dropped it off for them to have a look at it.

I went back yesterday morning when they called me. (They called at 7:45am, for Chrissakes .... ) The guy I talked to showed me where some of the problems were. Basically, the seal on the axle on the left rear tire was broken, and leaking fluid that's screwing up the brakes. (The guy who did the inspection thought I might need a new axle, but the guy I actually talked to thought that was nuts.) They also wanted to "bleed off" all the existing brake fluid in the system and reset the valves. The front brake pads are a little worn, but basically fine, and can be left alone for now. I really liked this guy -- he walked me through everything, showed me where the problems were, made sure I understood what was going on, and basically didn't seem like he was trying to screw me over.

The price he estimated for me was about $360, plus tax. Which, well, is a a lot. But I was a little relieved, actually. I thought it was going to be a lot worse than that.

See, a different mechanic told me over a year ago now that there was about a thousand dollars worth of work that needed to be done on the brakes.

I figured they were just trying to screw me over for money, but I've also been thinking, "Jesus, what if they were serious? Am I driving around a timebomb, here?" I've been worried all this time I'd have to drop a grand into getting the brakes fixed, eventually, so $360 didn't sound that bad.

I picked it up today -- it runs fine, the brakes work great, the light does go out, and I have a huge, huge load off my mind.