u/billyb351

I brought my 2020 Corolla LE into the dealership to take care of a recall. They call and tell me the front brakes are in critical need of service and quote me over $600 for it and want to start immediately. I already know this and have parts queued up for ordering. They seemed surprised on the phone that I already knew about the brakes. This seems absurd to me, even if you mark up the OEM pads 300%. I recently did all 4 pads, rotors, calipers, e-brakes and flush on my F-150 for just slightly more than that, and that's using higher performance parts designed specifically for hard towing.

Also, they offer to do the front pad/rotor work plus a full brake fluid flush for $992 incl. tax and shop fees over the phone. Granted I haven't had service done by a mechanic for over 10 years on anything, but this seems mind boggling.

Location is central Maryland, just north of Washington DC. I think this is some sort of ornamental cherry? It had tons of white/pink flowers when it was healthy. It was planted by the home builder about 25 years ago. A couple years ago it started dying and I have no idea what caused it. It's technically not mine, it's just across the property line by only about 18 inches. What's causing it to die? Should it be removed or is there something that can be done to help it recover? I can provide more pics if needed.

Bought a 743 on Marketplace a while back never having operated a skid steer in my life. It was $6k and needed a TON of maintenance. Didn't even come with a proper seat, but it did come with smooth and toothed buckets. I just finished building a 700 ft. long driveway with it today. It pulled through like a champ. It paid for itself 4 times over at least with this driveway work. I like how simple it is and it still just works after decades of neglect and abuse. I think I'm going to keep it and start fixing stuff that's not quite right with it. I guess I got lucky.