Cheap car mechanic (inside heater installation)

[aniorek]

Anyone can recommend a good and (relatively) cheap car mechanic in the capital area (preferrably Espoo)? I need to have the interior heater thingie installed and I am wondering what's the normal price range for this job? My workshop in Malminkartano wants 169e for the interior heater cable assembly and 76e for a small heater. Is this reasonable? Thanks!

[network_engineer]

Hi!

I would opine a very resounding NO! I don't believe the work is worth that much, which is why I turned down offers in this regard. This is just about extending the connection towards the inside (the connection point is already there when the engine block heater is installed), by drilling a very small hole in the car, preferably somewhere where water and moisture don't hit directly and then running some anti-corrosive material there for protection. Considering the amount of labour, tools and the skills required, I don't find the price justified.

In fact, if you find somewhere cheaper, please let me know as well. For the moment, I leave the car door open a bit and let the internal heater run, but then I have an garage, which makes it a bit easier. But then again, I haven't had to do that for the past two winters (climate change was it?), in fact, sometimes I feel like running the AC - cold!

Kind regards.

[Upphew]

There is an old story about a multi-million dollar power plant that had mysteriously ground to a halt. All efforts to restart it had failed and an expert was brought in. After studying the problem for a few minutes he took a hammer and hit one of the valves. With a rumble, the plant came back to life. Incredulous glances were shared, grateful cries and high-fives were exchanged. Later, the expert’s bill arrived for the amount of $10,000.00. The outraged executive in charge thought “All he did was hit a valve with a hammer, this bill is ridiculous.” he asked for an itemized breakdown and the consultant responded with a bill that read: “Hitting valve with hammer $10.00. Knowing which valve to hit: $9,990.00.”