the Cost of Nissan Repair

We took our 1998 Nissan Altima into the shop because of a popping sound in the front end whenever the wheel was turned (168,000 miles on vehicle). It was the CV Joints needing replacement on both sides.

We dropped our vehicle off first thing in the morning at a local, independent auto repair shop and had it back by early afternoon (about 5 or 6 hours total in the shop). We did not receive a rental or loaner vehicle during this time period.

I found out after having the car repaired that this could have been done a lot cheaper by buying the parts yourself and having a friend or someone who repaired vehicles on the side to do it. The cost of parts from a do it yourself type auto store is around $300 with almost $150 in core charges (which means you take the worn out parts back and they refund the core charge to you). Had I known this at the time, I would have called either someone who did this as a sideline job or taken it to the auto repair program at the local school (although I probably would not have gotten the vehicle back as fast).