Originally Posted by abaya (Post 2522258)

Well, again... it's Iceland, and everything is at least twice as expensive as in the US. I'm going to ask him if he'll give me a break if I pay in cash, as they do sometimes here, but I've gotten away with that for the last few repairs with a friend-of-a-friend... this time, I needed a trusted shop to take care of it, so I probably can't pay under the table.

The junkyard trip itself will take him almost an hour, so there's that as part of the "labor," I suppose. I would have gotten the part myself, but then I'd have to go back to the shop--a 40 min busride + walk, in addition to making another appointment for the car repair another day, and then having to do the bus thing all over again--and I'm just tired of it, want it to be done NOW! Did I mention that gas is $10 a gallon? Anyway, the costs do add up.

Funny thing is, if I'd had this fixed a few months ago when the currency was 30% stronger, the cost would have been more like $500 instead of $350. (The dollar was THAT bad.) So I should be grateful that I'm spending 30% less, right? :p

EDIT: Remember that the MAF is used... if he got it new, it would be $300+ for the part. So there's that as well.

Originally Posted by Tully Mars (Post 2522262)

I guess it's all where you're at.

Originally Posted by abaya (Post 2522264)

Yup. And yet another reason for why we want to leave... !
-----Added 11/9/2008 at 12 : 15 : 35-----
Btw, I picked up the car and asked the guy candidly, "So can you tell me why it took 3 hours to do this?" and laughed. He said (without laughing, because Icelanders don't do that), "Well, it took an hour to figure out what was wrong with it, because there were no codes or anything... thought it was the cat first, but that wasn't it." Add that on to fetching the parts and then fixing it, and yeah, I guess it all adds up.

Anyway, RUNS LIKE A FREAKING CHAMP now!!! :D :D :D I am all ready to take it on another round-the-island tour! :lol: (Which is partly why it died in the first place...) Turns out that crack in the air filter box was telling... the MAF filter was filthy as hell, so it could have been part of the problem. At least he replaced the cover for like $10.

EDIT: Also forgot to mention that tax is a bitch here... about 24%, so tax itself was $70-$80. That's why I usually try to get it done under the table, since they accept cash and don't give a receipt...

Originally Posted by abaya (Post 2522244)

you didn't tell me that the shop was in GRAFARVOGUR!!!.

Originally Posted by MSD (Post 2522571)

Funny how your place names look like Americans slamming on the keyboard in frustration.