Continued Diagnosis

I've done some follow-up diagnosis on my car. It looks like I need a new Rack & Pinion, and maybe some new power steering hoses. I ordered the Hayne's repair guide for my car from Amazon. It had quite a bit of good information in there. The pictures and descriptions helped me to understanding what I was looking at, and what needed replaced. I also consulted with my coworker, who used to work as a mechanic. He agreed with the Hare mechanic that I needed a new rack & pinion, but the price was outrageous. We visited NAPA Online and Parts America to get a better idea of the real cost of the parts. The Hare mechanic told me that the parts were going to run between $800 and $1000 based on if I got the GM part or a third party part. NAPA had the third party part for $300, and Parts America had the same part for $250. Hare was also asking $425 for 5 hours of labor. I'm not sure I can really argue the labor, but a markup of more than 100% on the parts makes me angry. Another thing I learned is the term "core" as it applies to replacement parts. The part from NAPA was $300, with a $160 core fee. The core fee is returned if I send NAPA the rack and pinion that gets replaced. I'm sure that Hare was going to charge me the full price of the part plus core, and not give me the core deposit back when they sent the manufacturer my replaced part. What a bunch of hosers!!!