For that car?

I stopped to have my car inspected today. The mechanic after 5 minutes of having the car on the lift came to me with a bill for $736.76 for parts and labor. I went to auto zone got all of the parts for less than $100 and will have everything installed by my hands or a professional for a grand total of less than $200. I have only had one mechanic try to swindle me in the past, he was in Las Vegas and he tried to tell us that our car was on it's last leg, it wouldn't make it another 100 miles but he was willing to trade us another car that he had for an additional $1600. We left and continued driving another 1000 miles before learning that it was altitude changes affecting the fuel injectors.
Today was different, he explained that it wouldn't pass that there were to many things wrong, I asked for a written list. When I ventured to ask for details and clarification he cut me off and said "it's pretty complicated".
Now, this is a new experience for me. I am more often than not told that I tend to come off as intimidating and that people tend to be cautious of me at the onset of a meeting. So for an adult, not too much older than me, to be willing to come forth with such augmented prices and giving written costs with fractions of dollars to each part and item on the list while using incorrect abbreviations for the items and tell me that this was standard and the only way I could save a couple of dollars was to do it my self and it might cost more after I bought or rented tools (free from auto zone) I left.
Now I would not be surprised if this had happened to my wife. She is not familiar with auto parts or general pricing for labor/repairs. But she can understand when things are explained to her and she can make wise decisions that are not fueled by fear or unfamiliar information.
I am pissed because I had to pay for the inspection, which means I have to have the repairs completed and then return there or pay someone else $12 to re-inspect.
As my friend Ethan would accurately state... Dilemma.