Could replacing leaky CV boot risk damage to other parts if mechanic is incompetent?
TL;DR: mechanic friend damaged CV boot while replacing control arms. Should I risk having him fix it for free, or pay 600 bucks to have another shop do it? Im broke
2016 subaru forester. A mechanic friend (who owns a small local shop that is supposedly licensed) replaced my control arms/ball joints. They said they ran into an issue with the bolts because they were so rusty. Drove that car home after the replacement. Traction control, hill assist, and ABS lights are on. They said they didn't have the equipment to do an alignment and that we should get one done since we got front end work done. This seemed consisted with Googles explanation of the lights being on. Brought it to VIP for an alignment today. They show us this. Said the bolts likely needed to be heated to be removed and that they damaged the CV boot in the process. So two questions: is this something they would've definitely noticed at the time (and so were hiding it)? And also, since VIP quoted 600 to replace it, would i be better off paying them or having my mechanic friend do it for free since hed be fixing his mistake? I dont want him to further damage things.