so i'm gonna need to do some costly repairs on my car and i've heard that you should call around for quotes.

I called this one place and they won't give me a quote and they say i have to bring it in for them to know how much it will cost. is this a sign of a bad shop?

is this a common practice?

should i not bother with this place?

maybe they're just trying to avoid people who shop around.

 

I am not sure. What is needed to be done on your car?

 

I don't know what the exact problem is but there is alot of noise coming from the car. It maybe a muffler problem.

I was just wondering if that sounded a little fishy, them not willing to give me a quote on a muffler or something and pretty much saying i'd have to bring it in and have them look at it before they would give me a quote.

 

In this case, I'm with the shop. They probably get lots of calls saying "May car sounds funny, how much will it cost to fix it?"

They can't know what's wrong until they actually look at it.

 

^^ Exactly. I was under the impression you knew what was wrong with the car.

 

If i did tell him what exactly was wrong with the car and he still wouldn't give me a quote unless i brought it in would that seem a bit iffy?

 

You told him what you think is the problem from what I am reading. The problem may be a hole in the muffler, or the B-pipe is broken, or something else. The mechanic probably want to see it to check the condition of the rubber hangers, and to see if the bolts are rusted (if the problem really is exhaust related) and would need to be replaced in order to give an accurate quote. I am sure they would need to be replaced as exhaust bolts get rusty and seize up after awhile.

I installed an exhaust kit on my 99 coupe, use all new bolts, put anti seize all over them, too. 1.5 years later, I dropped the exhaust to work on the shift linkage, and all the bolts were rusted and needed to be replaced again. Oh wells. Being in the North East with salted roads during the winter doesn't help either I am sure.

 

How do you even know that fixing this mysterious noise is going to be "costly?" (If you go to a shop with that preconception, they're likely to make sure that it does cost a lot).

Without examining the car and identifying the exact problem, no one has any idea.