There's a few pretty big expenses that I have coming up and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to save money on them:
1. My car needs a 120,000 mile check-up. Anyone know a lot about cars who can tell me what I really need and what I can skip? Any mechanic friends out there? Do tech high school auto shops do work like this?
2. New tires for my car. Has anyone ever bought tires online? Is it just worth it to shop around? Luckily Watertown has a plethora of tire shops so I'm definitely going to make a bunch of phone calls.
3. Small expense: I need a bike helmet. Anyone have one they don't need anymore and want to sell or give to me?
Thanks!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
D- I frequently get an envelope of coupons in the mail, which I usually just chuck, but in the spirit of Miser March I just opened in and went through them and found a coupon for tires! Firestone is offering a buy 3 tires get one free or 50% off the second tire deal, and they are also featuring and $18.99 oil change an $99.99 standard brake service. I've got it put aside with a few other enticing coupons...it's all yours if you want it! I bet a technical high school would take cars, there's one in Lexington called Minuteman. Also, whenever I take my car into the mechanic I just ask him what really needs to be fixed and what can wait (and how long it can wait) so I don't have to fix everything at once...if you trust your mechanic's advice that might help you prioritize and budget! ok, Good Luck Miser! :)
ReplyDeleteYo Danne, if you really want to save money on the car here's what you do.
ReplyDeleteThe guy down there I used to take H2 to was mike, an asian dude. I used to routinely get 10 - 15 % off from him. BUT, here's some new advice:
OK, so the 120,000 mile checkup is the dealer recommended check up, and they recommend it for good reason. The two things you need to do are...
1: Go down to the dealership and go into the little service room. Ask to see the laminated service schedule with itemized costs for the 120,000 mile check up. Tell them to photo copy it, or write down EVERY item and how much they charge. Don't feel awkward waiting in there and doing it, just say I want to bring this home and run it by someone first or think it over or whatever. Then say I'll think about the repairs and get back to you.
2. Now, go home and prepare this list to be "shopped around." First, since Honda marks everything up anyway, take every item and subtract 10-15% from each itemized cost. So if it says "Change Belts - $200" re write it on a new list as "Change Belts - $175." Do that for every item, creating a new reduced price list.
3. Take the reduced price list and go to 3 other shops on Arsenal street and say
Danne: "Hi, the Honda dealership is trying to fleece me out of my money, I know you guys can do a better job and save me money at the same time! Check out these outrageous prices Honda is trying to charge me for these things! **Show list to guy at no-name repair shop**
Repair Man: "Oh sure, we can totally beat these by 10% and BTW you probably don't need your cabin air filter replaced so that will save you money!"
Danne: "Great, if you throw in a pair of fresh wiper blades I'll consider getting my tires done here, too."
Now you have 10% off of the already marked down by 10% Honda prices, which saves you 20%.
If they try and sell you something and your gut is saying this guy is being shady because I'm a girl then you are probably right and he's not worth your business. Remember you don't have to agree to anything and you don't have to give them your money until you're satisfied that you're getting a deal. I would shoot for nothing less than 20% off of Honda's prices. The best strategy for that is to figure out what 20% off the total is ahead of time (TOTAL FIGURE) and then don't sign anything unless the estimate beats that price... so all you have to remember is after all the haggling, all you really need to do is compare the estimate to your Miser figure, if it doesn't beat it, you say no thanks!
That's how you do it :)
Good luck!
Oh, and totally YELP auto mechanics...
ReplyDeleteRead this, too:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1645995/consumer_reports_save_hundreds_on_auto_maintenance_by_shopping_around/
Hey Dane!
ReplyDeleteJohn Asselin is opening his own bike shop in the very near future! I'm sure he'd love to sell you a helmet! Even if he can't cut you a deal I'm sure he'd appreciate the business!