On Jun 15, 6:27*pm, (Larry W) wrote:
In article ,JoeSpareBedro om wrote:

...snipped...It was my friend who told the mechanic that the timing belt was on the
dealer's 90K replacement list and he asked for quote to replace it.

It was the mechanic who replied that 90K was too early. The tranny
fluid change made sense, replacing the spark plugs was probably a good
idea, valve adjustments if there was any chatter, but changing the
timing belt was not needed.

It other words it was the mechanic(s) who made the "pointless attempt
to predict the future".

...snipped...

Speaking from over 30 years experience in vehicle and mobile equipment
maintenance, the likely translation of this is "I don't own the special
tools that would enable me to do the job quickly enough to make any
money at a price competitive with a shop that DOES own the tools.

--
* * There is always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat,
* * plausible, and wrong." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *(H L Mencken)

* * *Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org

That may be the case, but my friend got the same answer from more than
one shop, including the one that I trust...the one that I am sure can
handle that job with ease.