J saves the day!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had an awesome week. I am so glad Friday is FINALLY here.

I am posting this as Kudos to J for a job well done! Hopefully, he'll see this and buy me something nice ;-).

A couple of weeks ago on my way to a friend's daughter's party, my car AC conked out! Now, anyone who lives in the DC/MD/VA area knows that summers here are BRUTAL! I tried not to let it bug me too much and went to the party as planned.
The following Monday, since I had an OB appointment, J took my car to the dealership to have it looked at. That's just one of the many reasons I love him because he was willing to delay his work arrival time to make sure I was taken care of. A few hours and $132 later (yes, they charge you just to look and tell you what's wrong!), he called me with the news. They said it'd cost $4,500 to fix the AC!
The car is a 2003 Honda and according to KBB, is only worth about $3,800! Imagine my surprise when they said they wanted to charge me $4,500 to fix it. That coupled with the weight gain news I had just received from my OB as well as other upcoming expenses (baby, new car, new home) all got me a little down. Side Note: I know I shouldn't be upset about gaining weight at this point in my pregnancy but the pregnant emotional me was...

J decided to bring the car back and take it to the guy who did the last work on his car. He also told me not to panic and that he would take care of it. (That's another reason I love J...he knows how to calm me when I am going or about to go nuts!).
J went online, ordered the parts for the AC (total cost of $445). To be sure he got all he needed, he also went by his car guy's shop the following morning to make sure he didn't miss anything.

This past Monday, J dropped off my car to get the AC fixed. We were charged $297 for the service since we brought the parts ourselves. Total cost for AC repair was $742. I am a happy gal and you know what they say...Happy Wife = Happy Life!

Here's what got me...why was one shop able to fix the car for a total of $742 while another was willing to charge me $4,500 for the same work? One thing is for sure. At this point, I won't be taking my car back to the dealer unless it involves a recall notice.

So...KUDOS to J for saving the day!


Thoughts/Random Questions:
Do you take your car to the dealership where you got it or do you typically go somewhere else? If so, why?