# Very expensive lesson learned



## jamesd3rd (Jun 10, 2004)

My 2007 3.5SE failed to start last night. Based on my experience with cars I assumed it was the battery. It read 12.6 volts unloaded. I checked brake fluid and battery water level as well. I had planned on going to Costco to replace it even though it was barely a year old. I would have gotten a full refund. I then had AAA come out to jump it but still no luck. The tech said it was the starter. So while it was being towed to where I get my work done, I called about a starter because that's what I was told the issue was.

Three hours later, I get a call and the car still won't start. So now I'm looking at $275 for parts & labor plus tax on a starter I don't need. Not to mention a $65 charge for a diagnostic to find the real problem. Why I didn't ask for that in the first place I don't know. It would have been applied to repair. The mechanic didn't offer it as an option just to make sure it wasn't the starter either.

A couple hours later, they call telling me it was the pre-start switch where the brake is. I didn't even know there was such a thing. But I guess with the push button start it makes sense. So that was going to cost another $125 or so. More than likely on top of the cost of a starter I didn't need.

Then I read how simple of a DIY job replacing this brake switch is. Why I didn't consult the forums like I usually do I don't know. I could have done the job myself since I tend to do that first anyway.

Let this be your cautionary tale. I now have to spend money I don't have when I could have easily coughed up $25-$50 on a switch and did it myself.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

Many of us go through the "school of hard knocks" at various times.


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## wilburk (Dec 29, 2012)

That's how you learn! Had this not happened to you, you could have gone on paying mechanics to do mind-numbingly simplistic jobs on your car for years before you hopped onto a DIY car forum.


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## srspicer (Oct 10, 2010)

Yes, only way to learn. However, your mechanic should have been more thorough and looked for the easy fix first, not just replaced the starter. My mech. would never have done that. There are ways to check the starter with out pulling it. I do a lot of my own work, but big stuff they get and so don't mind when I say "I'll do that work", etc. Sorry to hear about a thin wallet, that hurts the most!


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