Hey, quick question. My father-in-law's car (Oldsmobile Aurora) broke down yesterday, broken serpentine belt and compressor. My father-in-law is old and gullible, so he took it to a mechanic who said the compressor would cost $1000 to replace. I don't know too much about cars but I'm pretty sure that's way too high. He also said that if it just replaces the serpentine belt without the compressor, that the belt will fail again soon and that there's no point in fixing it at all without doing both. Again, I'm thinking this is bull****, but I don't for sure.
Any truth to this or is the mechanic trying to rip off my father-in-law? I don't trust the guy anyway, I took my Impala to him last year before a double cross country road trip, he said I had a coolant leak that was leaking into my oil and that if I didn't get it fixed (To the tun of $700) that the entire engine would likely break in the next few hundred miles. I drove that car 6,000 miles over the next 20 days, and another 10,000 or so since then, and absolutely no problem. Please let me know what you guys think of this, if it's gonna cost this much they're probably just going to get rid of the car. I'd stay and try to learn how to do it myself if it weren't for the fact that I'm moving today.
Thanks guys
