Quick Lube places and Air Filters: At 19.99 an oil change at a shop is hard to beat… for $5 than I can do it myself, I don’t have to worry about oil all over the driveway. Until they told my wife she needed a new air filter and charged $40 for a $10 filter, She said ok, I reminded her that any services that anyone advises for her car needs to get run through me first.
They also show you “dirty” fluids that they got from their dirty bin in the office, or under the pit so you can buy their overpriced flushes.
Small ticket Inspection failures (Depending on state)
I always recommend you state law and car out before you get your car inspected and avoid fees that are just slightly lower than the part plus new inspection if you do it yourself. Things like $18 for 2 licence plate bulbs, $14 for 1 wiper, $13 for a brake light. Sure you can do these for $2-$10 for your own time, but then you need to re-do your safety inspection at a cost of $15 (At least in my state)
Inspections / brakes (Also aroudn inspection time)
Of course you need to replace your brakes, but often times you should look at the laws for your area, and actually look at your brakes (Before inspection). Quite a few places bank on the idea that you don’t know jack about your car, and that if they tell you your brakes need to be done regardless. And brakes are mechanics bread and butter, not sayign that mechanics shouldn’t make money, but there’s a lot of profit at some places.
I’ve Had Firestone in Amherst, NY tell me on the phone that my car failed because my front brakes were worn down to 10% and would fail inspection unless I coughed up the 496 for replacement.
Problem 1… inspection place #2 told me, you shoudl only fail if there is metal to metal contact, and that 10% pad left wouldn’t fail…
Problem 2… I did my brakes 2 months prior, there was no way I could have gone through even the cheapest pads made of material that was made of anything hard in 2 months and 2,000 miles. The pads I bought were not made of orange peels.
I took my car to another inspection place that day and passed with no issue. I even went back the shop out on it and they tried to backpedal saying that the order was written wrong and that they meant that the brakes were 10% worn… the clerk must have made a mistke when calling. Meanwhile I could hear the other guy on the phone tryign to sell fuel system flushes to every customer who’se car was done for $120
Sounds like a fuel line broke and was either sparked by the distributor, or hot manifold. Not sure what 7k entitled, you can buy a turnkey type 2 motor for around 4-5k… 2k for an installation seems high. (Someone with decent skills can do it in a driveway over a weekend or on a saturday with a few friends)
This may not be a real scam, but wanted to share it with you. I was taking our daughter to her SAT exam on a Saturday morning. We
had to leave pretty early to get to the test center on time. With her
younger brother in the back seat, we headed out and did a drive
through McDonald’s for breakfast. We were waiting at the drive-through
as two men in an old, beat-up truck ahead of us were getting
their order. As I turned around in my seat to strongly encourage my
son to make up his mind as to what he wanted before we got to the
window, I inadvertently eased off the brake. This resulted in my
bumping the rear end of the old truck with my Jaguar XJ12. The men in
the truck, while getting out to inspect the damage, could not speak for laughing so hard. We determine that the only damage was to
the piece of trim on the grill of the XJ12. Any damage to their already distressed truck was indiscernible.
I took the XJ12 in for repair. Returning a week or so later to
retrieve the car, I knew something was wrong. It took me a little
while but I finally said to the rep, “This is not my car.” Naturally,
he told me that of course it was my car. I could not put my finger on
it but kept insisting “This is not my car.” I checked that it was an
XJ12. I checked that it was my license plate. The stuff in the trunk
was mine. I took a serious look at the new trim, given that this was the
only change there should have been, and realized that it was the wrong
piece of trim. Not being a car person, or a detail-oriented person, it took me a while, but I finally could articulate that the new
trim was not the smooth trim of the XJ12 but the bumpy, pie crust trim
of the Vanden Plas model. I confidently and authoritatively told the
rep, “This is the Vanden Plas trim, not the XJ12 trim .” He said, “No
it’s not”. After going back and forth on this for a while, and seeing that I was not going to back down, he said, “Well, we have the old trim in
the back. I will go get it and show you.” He came out a few minutes
later, looking rather perturbed and acknowledged that I was right, it
was indeed the wrong piece of trim. Then he actually asked, “So, do you like it?” After assuring myself that I heard correctly, I said indeed I did not like
it. I said, “It’s the wrong part.
This is an XJ12, not a Vanden Plas. You put XJ12 parts on XJ12’s and Vanden Plas parts on Vanden Plas models. What would corporate Jaguar think if
they knew that you were corrupting and defiling their models. You
need to take this back and put on the right part.” Nonverbally expressing an excremental expletive, he gave me that universally recognized look that combines utter disbelief with extreme dislike.
Was it an attempted scam? Maybe. Was it stupid? Yeah. Did he get away with it? No!
So I am not a car person in any way as you will read from my odd experience. I live in Omaha, NE. I have a 1999 Jeep Wrangler. 4 years ago it was leaking antifreeze so I took it to a mechanic at Jenson Tire, which is a local shop similar to Firestone. He says I need a new radiator, water pump and thermostat. $850. Well I did was most girls do, I called my dad, who called his local mechanic (he lives in a small town). It turns out that the local mechanics’ radiator distributor is in Omaha and he called and got me the name of a small mechanic shop that charged me $175 to replace my radiator. Nothing else was wrong with it. The water pump and theromstat were fine. The first shop couldn’t have tested the water pump or thermostat because the radiator leaked so badly. I’m not sure it was a scam but I haven’t been back to Jenson Tire since.
It’s a sad fact, but the incompetent mechanics outnumber the crooked ones by far. In your case it was a “parts hanger”, a “mechanic” who replaces everything in order to catch the thing that is really the cause.
I needed an oil change, so took my car to the local Sears service…they had the oil chnage on special so it was a good deal. I went on to the mall to do a little shopping and got a phone call from the service dept telling me that the service technician had discovered that my power steering fluid was very dirty and he was recommending that I change it. I have a friend in PA who is very clever about car issues, so I called him to check on the necessity for this service. He said it was nonsense and that my owner’s manual did not list it as a required maintenance for my car…I called the Sears folks back and declined their offer. I have a 2005 Toyota RAV4 with 40K miles. I feel fortunate that I had someone to call to give me some unbiased advice.
I took my 1988 Nissan Maxima to a well known auto repair chain. I didn’t have time to get the car ready for its annual inspection and just needed these guys to do a quick tune-up. I got the dreaded “we found more things wrong with your car” call. I was told my throttle-body needed to be carbonized, the fuel injectors needed cleaning, and a bunch of other stuff that added up to over $600. I told them just to do the tune-up and I would come back after I got paid. I was told they couldn’t guarantee the work because of the other things they found wrong. I was okay with that. So I picked up the car and it was skipping - something it’s never done before. Figuring it was an electrical problem, I decided to check the spark plug wires first. Since the engine was transverse mounted I checked the hardest to reach wires first. I found that they had put the #3 spark plug wire on the spark plug but pulled the boot up high enough that it created an arc off the valve cover. I put the boot back on nice and secure and the skipping went away.
Lower radiator hose in 2003 Impala with 3.8 went out. Had a long day at work and decided to let a shop repair it. I was quoted $238.27. I was figuring about $100. When I asked why, they said it was hard to reach, so the engine would have to be pulled forward to reach it and that there was a special plastic bracket on the water pump that would be $500 from the dealer if I tried to do it and it broke, and it took a speecific tool to get the hose off that end. They said it was a temp sender for the lower side of the engine. Also, it would be a 1.5 hour job. I let them know I grew up working on cars and that I have nver heard of such a thing and that I would be doing it on my own. I was told I would blow my engine if I drove even 1.5 miles. I drove 5 miles to my father-in-laws. It took me 45 minutes and just under #16.00 to fix with a pliers and screwdriver.
You got scammed for teh Throttle body, and fuel injector bit as well…
My guess they never remove and cleaned your throtle body, they probably just pulled off the intake and sprayed a can of TB cleaner in there. Which isn’t really needed anyways because you have an air filter to catch that crap.
They probably also just dumped a bottle of Injector cleaner ($10 or less @ pep boys) into your tank.
In 2005, my 2002 Ford F250 4x$ Diesel truck (36500 miles) was experiencing an increasingly noticable shimmy when accelerating from a stop, especailly when towing a trailer. I thought the vehicle was still under warranty, so I took it to the local dealership to have the problem fixed. The truck was in the shop for 15 minutes (no test drive) and the service manager told me the transmission was failing- the new transmission would be $4500 because the drivetrain was only covered for 36000 miles. I refused the repair.
Immediately after leaving the dealership, I stopped by a local domestic vehicle transmission shop and asked the owner if he could take a look. We took the vehicle for a test drive and he felt the shimmy. He said “I know what the problem is.” We got back to his shop, he went and found a small can of friction additive, opened the fill plug on the rear differential, and poured it in. He told me to drive it for a few days and if I still notice the shimmy to come back and he would take another look. He didn’t even charge me for the fluid.
Five years have passed and the problem hasn’t occured again! I also discovered the wealth of knowledge that exists at reputable local repair shops.
I’ve done service work in many fields and have always found it was the people in the “Upscale” neighborhoods who were the most difficult to deal with. Talk about Cheap! People from working class neighborhoods were always the nicest people.
Yeah they sure are.
I have two -- first, I went to the oil change place -- this is not a mechanic but not the infamous "Quicky"lube either. Them: "Wow, you need a new air filter, look how dirty this filter is!" Me: "Umm, that's not my air filter, I replaced it yesterday". Them: (long pause).... "Oh OK". I do still go there, they have too good a price, too good and fast of service, to give up -- but I make sure not to buy any extras unless I know I need them.
Second, I went to a shop in town -- I don't think it's a chain, but it's looks more like one than like a mom&pop "Bob's shop" type places. My lower radiator hose was leaking and it was the only place I could find open on a Saturday afternoon. I didn't ask for an estimate, because I knew about what a radiator hose should cost -- I was flabergasted when I got the bill and it was for like $200 (this isn't a car where the hose has stuff getting in the way either). Even worse, when I got out I realized it was leaking! On Monday I went to a *second* shop to look at that since I sure as hell wasn't going back to the first one, they were like "Umm, when you install these hoses you have to remove the plastic loop that had the price tag on it" and removed it no charge. I pointed out I didn't install it, this other shop did and we all had a big laugh about them making such a dumb mistake. I guess the moral of the story is 1) Always get an estimate. 2).. well, I don't have a #2, but I've heard similar stories from others about that particular shop, getting overcharged and finding mistakes in repairs -- unfortunately since it's a college town, even though most people will only go to this shop once, there's enough new students each year to keep them busy.
Normally when the timing belt is changed, a sticker is put on the timing belt cover or the door, to indicate the belt was changed at a certain mileage. So if you didn't do this, there was no record of it being changed. I don't see this as a scam.
Oh those places still exist -- I listed a bad experience back on page one. Maybe Iowa City is just lucky, but other places I've gone too -- I know enough to know if they are being straight with me, and they have been. They will find what *has* to be fixed to solve the problem I've come in for, if they find other problems that really aren't an immediate problem, they'd point out what they had but not pretend they are something that has to be fixed right away. When I've had something that turned out to be a 30 second fix (once, even after looking under the hood, I missed an unplugged vacuum hose for instance) they've even done it for free, and turned down an offer of a $5 or so tip. This may vary by the part of the country, but the mechanics here DO provide good service and take pride in their work.
The fuel sensor is the most shocking -- normally, the fuel tank has to be drained, lowered to make the fuel pump/fuel sensor accessible, and it's a general PITA. On the older Volvos, there's an access hatch behind the rear seat and this work can be done with the tank installed, easy peasy. My friend replaced the pump on his volvo. I can't believe they'd just say "keep track of miles" when the fix is that easy.
"Windshield wipers need no conditioning. They should be replaced every 6 months to one year, depending on the climate where you live, and are cheap and very easy to change yourself. "
Well, I’ve had a few times when my wipers became ineffective, I was ready to replace them and just for the heck of it ran a paper towel along the blades – it turned out there was like crusted up dust on them, and wiping it off made them behave brand new. These shops basically do that, and I think the stuff on the little wet wipes they use may try to keep the rubber from drying up and cracking too. Of course I think the cost of the “wiper conditioning” is almost as much as new wipers.
What meanjoe75fan said .... I've had plenty of jobs that they charge 2 hour book rate, and I'm in and out in like 45 minutes or an hour. But to make up for this, I had a nice and rusty 1985 Chevy Celebrity where a 2 hour book job took something like 7 hours to complete since every piece on the car was completely rusted together. I probably could not have afforded to pay for 7 hours labor, and luckily the shop didn't even think of asking for it since they go book rate.
On a tangent, I had a Buick Century that was even MORE rusty, and needed a fuel pump -- the mechanic said frankly it was too rusty, they did not want to work on it.. I asked what it would cost in theory and was quoted $1200, it would have needed a new fuel tank, fuel tank straps, and fuel lines from the tank to under the hood (along with the new fuel pump). I did take a look underneath and, yeah, the entire bottom was basically compressed rust. This was a $300 car, I did not go for the repair. So if a car is TOO rusty, book rate can go right out the window 8-).
The second good thing about book rate.. while, most of the mechanics in my town are quite honest. But unscrupulous ones, as it is they could find unnecessary repairs to do. But it'd be worse without book rate, because then you could leave the car for 2 days, and when you come back they could be "Wow, that work took way longer than we expected, it took a full 16 hours labor!" As it is you know how much labor you'll be billed for.
$600 is way too high, but you really can't say they were pocketing $450 in labor -- you are getting a knockoff rebuild MAF, while they could have gone for anything from the exact same Autozone part to a brand-new factory-original MAF (which would be considerably more expensive.) I do want to be clear here, I would have gone for the knockoff too, I'm just saying.