[TallGuyShort]

Maybe find a different shop? I've had mechanics that acted the way described, but I called around and found one that would give me an upfront price for a diagnostic and then called back with a detailed plan for parts and labor to do the required work. I've lived in a number of cities in the US and always managed to find one that does this over the phone.

[pmiller2]

My shop does the same thing. They charge a diagnostic fee that's equivalent of 1 hour's labor and give me an estimate to fix the issue. The diagnostic fee counts toward the repair. Sometimes they find other things when doing the work, but I can relate: who hasn't gotten into fixing a bug and found out it's more complicated than they thought at first?