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I hit a deer last summer going almost 80 in my lego and the damage was extensive. I drove it back home 2 miles, but the hood, fender, radiator,grill, lights and power steering pump were gone. I was pretty bummed because i have put alot of time and money into this car and now it was pretty ruined. I made the tough decision to fix it and spent most of my money all summer to get the parts. I bought a sawzall and cut a new front core from the junkyard and dropped almost 700 bucks on a new t-belt seals and waterpump. I also got an aluminum radiator and used power steering pump. Just the parts alone cost well over $1100.
I have another dd so i wasnt too worried about getting it done quickly. This is where it gets complicated. I couldnt do this without the help of my friend/roomate who has helped me all along with this car. I was under the impression that he wasnt worried about getting paid because this was more of a hobby and learning experience for us. Also he owed me alot of money for back rent/bills and various bailouts I have helped with. Between July and December progress came very slowly. whenever i tried to arrange time to work on it together he would dissapear. At this point the car is still not quite finished, the new front pan got rivited on and the panels dont all line up yet, lots of nuts and bolts are missing, and there is a number of bugs to work out. Its all very frustrating but i have been extremely patient. I have given up on him ever working on it again. During all this he never logged any time spent and in the rare cases he did get down to buisness it was at his own convenience and he would always leave a giant mess for me to deal with in the garage. I appreciate the help he has done but i am insulted that he wants me to pay him or subtract a signifigant amout of debt. He is not a professional mechanic, he did not finish it even after six months, and he doesnt seem to care about a car he oughta be proud of at this point.
From this I learned that communication and mutual agreement is very important in these cases. What do you guys feel his time is worth for doing the t-belt job and replacing the front pan? I can only specualte on the hours he has into it. He apparently told my other roomate that he feels he has done $1400 woth of work Am I reasonable to think this is pretty extreme given the circumstances? I would expect to pay that much at a professional shop but not to my good friend who i have bent over backwards to help out the last few years. He owes me for unpaid rent and bills plus a car that I bought for him when he had a money crisis a few months ago. I could go on and on about why he is indebted to me but the point is that I have been taken advantage of and now he is holding this work he has done against me. WTF

Most of the trade mechanics I know do side jobs for $25/hour. So unless he has put over 50 hours in the car, I'd tell him to get bent and pay you. Is that how much you have helped him out? I'd rater have the cash, personally.


Oh, and $700 for a timing belt, seals, and water pump? Who do you buy your parts from? Yikes.

I got all the parts from evergreen subaru in auburn maine and i got a 15% discount because im a member of the local subaru club. I got the t-belt, all seals/pulleys tensioner and a waterpump, plus brand new covers because old ones love to break. I agree it was pretty steep . All that little shit adds up real quick.
Rite now his tab is just almost $1200, but I also have loaned him my vehicle many times without reembursment, I also got him his job where i work that he just got fired from for not showing up multiple times and having lousy work ethic. I am pretty bitter mostly because of the principal that his mentality is that i owe him something after I basically rescued him over and over. He has an over inflated sense of self worth imho.

To be honest tell him to screw off. Don't worry about him, and just figure out things on your own. Read around on this forum and the internet.

Sounds like one of those floater parasites that go through life taking advantage of other peoples' generosity until they exhaust them and they move on to another victim. I've known too many people like this. My advice is to write him off. Who needs enemies with friends like that?

I'd work on a friend's car for free. Well, he'd have to buy the beer, maybe an occasional pizza or something, but that's common courtesy.

Don't pay his ass that's not a true friendship. A friendship is what you done for him and he should hit you back up and you shouldn't half to ask for it or deal with this s*** he's throwing your way now. It's all about helping a friend out and then giving it back no questions asked.

What he's done for you is worth you helping him pack. Get what you can form him and cut ties. The longer you assosiate with this 'friend' the more he'll drag you down. A roommate who costs more than he 'contributes' is worth less than his weight in feces.

I do have to point out that in posts like this, we only get one person's side of the story. So any advice, however well-intended, is somewhat of an assumption.

Nonetheless, from what you've stated in your first post... I'd say you two are about even.

He may have helped you a lot with your car, but you've loaned him money and he's behind on his rent.

If there's some heat percolating, then I'd say come to an amicable agreement that all debts are paid and that it's best to just part ways.

i think its an unwritten code that you help me i help you with car repairs. i wouldnt pay him a damn cent, even if YOU owed him money and he worked on your car with you. you owe him some labor on his car, or maybe on his house or w/e, def not cash. sounds like an asshole altogether. time for a new friend for sure.

I finally got his broke ass to move out, im just gonna swallow the $1200 and be alot more careful in the future when it comes to "friends" working on my car. I would rather learn how to do shit myself anyways. I have the support of a great local subaru community around here so im confident i will have no problems getting stuff done in the future.

urabusturbo wrote:I finally got his broke ass to move out, im just gonna swallow the $1200 and be alot more careful in the future when it comes to "friends" working on my car. I would rather learn how to do shit myself anyways. I have the support of a great local subaru community around here so im confident i will have no problems getting stuff done in the future.

You paid him $1200?

hell no! he has had a tab with me since when we moved in together in the summer. I loaned him 500 to help buy his car of shtbxr22 and then he was broke the day we moved in so I covered his rent. He got in the habit of never having rent on time and assuming i would cover it. He also stiffed me on all the bills. shit adds up quick... It was always three steps foreward two steps backwards.