Comments on: We fixed it! Oh yes, we did. And saved a pile of money to boot.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:40:27 +0000

Gosh, Dee. I’d be ticked off too! I hate the repair part of dealerships.

It’s really not too bad to install yourself. Go online and order a Haynes manual for your van if you need some help. There are pictures of how to take the door apart in the Haynes manual.

By: Dee Trope

Dee Trope — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:33:52 +0000

This sounds sooo familiar!! Our 2001 Seinna passenger outside door handle has been broken for a while now. It was still attached, but has slowly been broken off piece by piece, even though we have the kids all get in on the other side of the van. I felt so bad, a friend’s little girl, who wasn’t aware the handle was broken tried to get in one day and broke it clean off.

So my hubby wanted to finally get it fixed. He had me call the dealership and get a quote on how much it would cost to get it fixed. About two weeks ago I set up an appointment to go in today to have it fixed. I was told that they had the part in stock and that it would cost $234 and change to have it fixed. I was choking on this price but my husband told me to go ahead and make the appointment.

So I took it in to get it done today. The guy I spoke to on the phone was not there, they couldn’t find our appointment on the schedule. Then the guy, who looked barely out of his teens, looked and said, “This is Friday’s schedule! No wonder we can’t find her appointment!” Then I was directed in to a guy to schedule my service, (which I had already scheduled!!). He tells me “Oh that part is not in stock. Do you want to order it?” Knowing that my hubby wanted it done, I told him to go ahead. In the process the price magically morfed into $264 and change!! WHAT??? I asked the guy why it was more than when I first called and he just mumbled something about the cost of the part and the cost of the service.

Anyway, to shorten this long story, my hubby was NOT happy when I told him they jacked up the price and we had to order the part. He went online and found it for less as well. I think he is going to try installing it himself.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:08:01 +0000

Thanks for this post! I recently broke the side mirror off of my car. I don’t know why, but it would never have occurred to me to try to fix it myself if I hadn’t read this post. I ordered a new one off of Amazon and my husband (who is not handy at all) installed it. Saved me about $250 and all the time of driving to the dealership, etc. Thanks!!

By: DIYLiz

DIYLiz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:01:32 +0000

Yay! I did the same thing with my driver side mirror. I live on a street where people cut into the parking lanes to get into the turning lane going to the train station. My mirror was hit before and it cost me $200. It was hit again and I ordered the mirror. The original is remote but I decided to go with the manual one. I just tucked the cables that control the mirror from inside into the door panel. The remote hook up would have been complicated. It cost me $31.95 to get the mirror and my labor. I saved $168.00.

I got my info from an internet website that gives advice on making car repairs for Ford vehicles. Gotta love the internet!

By: My Do-It-Yourself Car Repair | SELF RELIANCE EXCHANGE

My Do-It-Yourself Car Repair | SELF RELIANCE EXCHANGE — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:49:25 +0000

[...] post is derived from an original post on The Frugal Girl. [...]

By: Cherie

Cherie — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:31:38 +0000

I’ve given you an award. Go to http://renaissancegardenblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/another-award.html to claim it.

By: Angela

Angela — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:17:09 +0000

Great story! I love it and am so happy that my husband is handy and knows how to do repairs (or learns!). I bought a 2-year-old Camry three years ago, and it needed two new tires last week, and when I went to put the receipt in my car folder, I saw that so far I’ve spent less than $300 on repairs and maintenance in 3 years! That’s partly because it’s a Toyota, and partly because my husband does simple repairs, oil changes, etc. And like Yvette, we NEVER go to the dealer. We actually are amused by people who think that’s the best thing to do.

Good for you!

By: Ribbit

Ribbit — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:29:10 +0000

I love auto junk yards for this very reason. If all you need is a single, easy part like this, they’re the perfect place. You can even call ahead to see if they have a similar car in the yard, and some even help pull parts. It can be even cheaper if you pull your own!

By: Yvette

Yvette — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:37:46 +0000

Great story…my husband avoids the dealer like the plague…he swears you bring cars in to be fixed and you’re back in the shop a couple of weeks later with a new problem having to be fixed. The best is when a mechanic told us our transmission was going to die soon and we “needed to get it fixed right away”. Many years later and 150,000+ miles registered on my Volvo….need I say more. Hubby fixes everything he can!

By: BarbS

BarbS — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:16:27 +0000

This story is like deja vu for me.

It just so happens that although we live across the country from each other, my brother and I both own the same make/model of mini-van. (I’m not sure if it’s the same model as Kristen’s.) This summer, we went to visit my brother, and went camping with both families. (An excellent time was had by all!) On the long drive home, with the dog in the back of my brother’s car, the latch on the trunk broke. (It’s a long and funny story of us trying to protect the dog from falling camping gear while letting him in/out of the car through the side door. But that’s an entirely separate story.) Eventually we made it back to his house and unpacked the car, through the side doors only. Two days later, after I had flown home, my brother called to tell me that the latch on the side door broke too!

He called the dealer who wanted almost $1000 to fix both latches! Instead, my brother did some research, found the parts online, and fixed both for $80 and 1.5 hours of time. By himself.

Well, I was very impressed. And after I called to tell him so, well, the very next day the latch on *my* trunk broke! Luckily for me, he had already done all the research! So he sent me the info, I bought the part online, and hope to install it this weekend.

It’s like an epidemic of mini-van latches going bad. Are they susceptible to H1N1?!