Car repairs

The car needed an oil change and the brakes were acting a bit weird so I made an appointment with a recommended repair place “El Cowboy.” Not an auspicious name but they were recommended.

The guy spoke English and wrote the appointment in a tatty old book. I arrived the next day at 10 am for the appointment and actually got in a bit early. He looked me up in the tatty old book and took my keys.
They were so busy that he had to do the work outside. I, in the meantime, sat and waited and amused myself with starting this blog on my phone.

A little while later the guy came looking for the security socket for the wheel nuts. I found it but at first, they had trouble making it fit. Eventually, it worked and they pulled the wheel off. They were quite professional even putting covers on the car seat and shift lever. They even stuck a list of repairs on the side of the car so the mechanic wouldn’t forget what he had to do. I may never get the glue marks off but what the heck?

After a while the mechanic showed me one of the brake pads, it was totally worn down. I think it may have been one he kept in the back for just a gullible Norteño like me. I told him to go ahead and change them and could see by the smile on his face that the bill just got bigger. I really don’t think they had a spare brake pad in the back but it sounded funny at the time.

Eventually, after giving the brakes a thorough cleaning and adjusting, they pulled it out and got it into one of the bays for the oil change. While driving it for that very brief trip, the mechanic heard a noise in the steering. I too had heard this noise but chose to ignore it as it sounded expensive. They did a fiddle here and there and carried on with the rest of the job. I noticed going home that the noise was no longer there.

During the oil change, they blew out the engine compartment and all the various filters. When the guy had finished the oil change, he checked the dipstick by first wiping it on his T-shirt and then again when had checked it

Then they checked all the lights and turn signals and topped up the windshield washer. On the way home I noticed the air conditioner was working better; so, bonus. We didn’t even get a complimentary dent this time.

The cost for all this service came to $1554 pesos or about $93 Canadian The last time we had an oil change in Canada it was $70. and the last brake job cost $700.