Being curious, I took the car down to the dealer. Lets see... $60 for new belts + $100 install, $90 to even look at my hesitation problem, and $40 to balance the tires (shakes at around 65). $290.. yikes. If I get new belts, how hard is it to replace them myself?


Matt

 

$160 for belts and install?!??!??!??! Jeez I should open a repair shop!

Just go buy them at the autoparts store. $25 total max, about 20 minutes max to put them on.

 

yeah the dealer is full of crap. I went down to my madza dealer and asked about quotes on an engine rebuild. He was busy so he just handed me a paper. On it it said they wanted $800 for all of this. To change the oil, tranny fluid, differential fluid, check the brakes, check the suspension, flush the radiator, check to see if the suspension needed lubrication, and check the wheel bearings. Notice they would check the stuff, they would charge more if they found something wrong. And they said they needed $106 to pack the wheel bearings!!!! This is no joke. I can do it 20 times for a total of $4. You will save 75% of your $ if you do stuff yourself.

 

Haha, "professional" auto-mechanics suck... I pay 170 for all the parts i need and they want about 310 for all those same parts--the reason for this is because their labor is "cheap"

 

Actually, People who own cars suck. Anybody who takes a car as old as a first gen RX-7 to the dealer deserves to be raped.
The ONLY time you should take your car to a dealer is if it is under waranty.
Find a mechanic that you can trust. Best thing to do would be to find a mechanic that will do the work on the side. Cheaper for you and more money for him. Make sure you trust the guy before you do it though. There is the potential to get screwed by doing this.


Mechanics have NOTHING to do with what the shop charges for parts and labor.
If you think mechanics suck so bad then do the job yourself.


Mike

 

And I do ALL the work myself... The mechanics around here I do not trust--The previous owner of my 7 took it to a local shop and they fucked some things up pretty bad. My friends who don't know much about cars send their cars to local shops and the mechanics (owner of the garage) rip off my friends. If you are a mechanic, I'm sorry--but I do not trust the mechanics around my place. Everyone has their own opinions.

 

You didn't really offend me. I understand where you are coming from. There are a lot of shops that do and will rip people off. But there are also a lot of honest shops that do good work and stand behind what they do. Unfortunately, The bad ones give all of them a bad rap. The best way to find a shop/mechanic is by word of mouth.

Sorry if I sounded definsive. It just sucks to hear people bad mouth mechanics all the time when most of the time the problem is with the shop/owner.

You have to realise something though. You are not paying for what we do so much, you are paying for what we know. It's kinda like when you go to the doctor and pay him $800 dollars to tell you your sick and write you a prescription. Now you wanna talk about being ripped off!!

I'm all for people working on their own cars. I wish more people did it.


Mike

 

Think of it like this,,,,, the last Rotary engine introduced to the States was in 95, its now 02, math quiz------ yeah 7 years ago. Major differences in 3rd gen VS 1st gen. Last 1st gen was 85, another math quiz--- 17 years ago.... Do you think that anyone (worth a **** at mazda) still remembers the proper training they received close to 2 Decades ago? Doubtfull, and if you dont believe me, then why are there so many 1st Gens in the f%*#&ng junk yard vs on the road? The only people qualified on a rotary are hard to find and expensive (rightfully so). You will be your best mechanic on your rotary, because 99 times out of 100 the shop down the street would put the plug wires on back-***-wards. Patients is the name of the game, if you dont have it and need your car to run, then forget about it or buy one for $500 and have a parts car. 7's are a passion, something to enjoy, you dont take your kids to a vet when there sick do you......



Feel better now, sorry if I offended anyone

 

I'm sorry if i sounded offensive... I know there are honest and good mechanics out there that own their own garages--and i'm glad there are still people like them around. I understand that some mechanics just works for the shop owner...

My friend's dad used to own his own garage and worked on 7s... I trusted him but b4 i could let him do some work, he closed shop because of bad businiss...

Anyway, I also wish the same thing...

 

i have the all time B.S. from a dealer. a $800 bill for a 3 day search on why my car ran like ****. a fuse blew so .10 cost me $400 after the dealer ate half of the labor for being STUIPD

 

you know what my dealer said about mine, yunk it, is to old.

 

Tell him he's an idiot...

 

man, freaking belts on an FB is incredibly easy.. they're ALL up front, and so freaking easy to replace it's not even funny.. don't waste your money on them bastards

 

Change your own belts for pete's sake! It is not hard at all and access is excellent especially if you upgrade to an electric fan and dump the stocker! Regarding mechanics, ASK a local shop if they work on rotaries or can refer you to someone. Following that trail almost always leads to some old guy that raced RX4's in the '70s that WILL now how to get the most out your rotary if you don't want to take the time to tinker on it yourself. The local franchise, City Garage, here in the Metroplex has 3 of these kinds of guys by itself that I found easily.