Car Problems... The Broke Person's Nightmare

I drive a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero with approx. 110,000 miles on it. This is fairly average for the typical American driver these days.

What they don't tell you, when you buy a car, is that things will eventually need to be replaced. When I drove from Alabama to Nashville last year with my car completely loaded with all my things, my brakes were squealing and squeaking so badly that I was scared to drive back to Alabama to get the rest of my stuff. I didn't. I left my car at my Mom's house and my uncle actually drove me down in his SUV to pack up the last load of my things because he heard the noises my car was making and was scared for me. I had completely worn the right back brake pad down to the rotor and it needed replacing immediately.

This is where it pays to have a mechanic in the family. He bought me the brake pad and replaced it for me, letting me know that I would DEFINITELY need to replace the right back rotor and the back left brake pad and rotor eventually. I said okay and went on my merry way. This was in August of last year.

Well, my back left brakes are starting to make the same grinding noise, especially when I am reversing out of the parking garage. This noise is echoed in the dense garage and it is embarrassing. My car is not that old nor is it ugly. I don't drive a beater, but good lord, could it make a worse sound that signals "hey. my car is a piece of crap, stare at it."

I think I'm going to have to suck it up and get the rotors and other brake pad replaced this weekend. But, seeing as how I AM a girl, most car repair/mechanics shops want to rip me off. I know this to be a fact. I once went into a Midas to get a $25 oil changed and walked out 1.5 hours later having spent over $80 on stuff they HAD to do that day that I was grossly overcharged for. Example: I had a screw in my tire. The cost: $25 to remove and repair. I also got a rotation with my oil change. They broke one of the lug nuts on my tire. Replacement fee: Another $25 that should have been on them, but somehow wound up on my bill.

I swore never to go back to a repair shop where I didn't personally know the employees after that.

This means that I will have to drive over an hour to go to my hometown where my uncle lives and my mom's friends have a repair/mechanic shop.

Although, if it saves me a few hundred dollars and lets me do laundry for free, I'm all for it.