I took the 2002 Buick Century in to our regular mechanic Monday. The heater hadn't been working this winter, and I was a little worried it might be something serious (it was also getting rather cold). Plus they've told me the front wheel hubs needed replaced the last several times I've had the oil changed. There has been a shimmy when I get on the highway, and I didn't know if that was the wheel hubs or maybe a tire. The tires were 4 years old.
Well, it ended up I did need to have the heater core flushed. I guess it could have been worse. I also needed 4 new tires (Mastercraft Strategy 205/70R15). They also did an oil change. They did NOT change the wheel hubs, though, because Donny said, while they aren't great, they haven't gotten a lot worse. Since the car has approximately 250,000 miles on it he suggested saving the money. They also said to keep an eye on the lower left ball joint. It has some play, but not worth replacing yet.
So, while I wasn't real excited about spending $577, I appreciated having an honest and trusted mechanic to advise me not only on what TO have done, but what NOT to have done as well.
I had actually started looking at used cars a couple weeks ago, but I'm hoping this one will last me another. We'll see. I will be keeping my eyes open because it's definitely at that point where I would rather be proactive in finding a replacement than have it break down and need to find one right away.