Recently, the blower motor for my heater and air conditioner in my car stopped working. I had to take my car into Gateway Kia in Quakertown, PA for an oil change anyway, so I asked them to check out the problem with the blower motor. They told me that I needed a new wiring harness, a capacitor, and a new relay switch to the tune of a total of a little more than $500.00.
Since, I don't happen to have an extra $500.00 laying around, I decided to get my car re-checked by a mechanic I know I can trust. I learned that the only problem was some burnt wiring around one of the plugs on the wiring harness. All I really needed to fix the car was that plug and a length of wiring that attatched to that plug. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any parts supplier that sold only that part and the wiring, which would have probably only cost a couple of bucks. I did find the wiring harness, so I purchased that for $83.00 and the total cost to replace the wiring harness was $25.00. So, for a job that Gateway Kia told me required in excesss of $500.00 to fix, the whole thing was fixed for $108.00.
It's very sad that today in America it is so difficult to find an automotive service center where the mechanics will be honest. Maybe it isn't that their dishonest, maybe it's just that their service mechanics are poorly trained and just don't know how to do the proper repairs, so they just guess and tell you that you need to replace every part that goes inbetween point A and point B to fix a problem.
That being said, the best solution is to learn how to do your own car repairs or find someone you know you can trust (which isn't always easy.)
