One of my former students worked in a shop (commercial, well known chain with “boys” in the name) where speed was pushed well beyond reason: he was disciplined by the service manager for NOT using an impact gun when installing spark plugs, as using a ratchet wrench was too slow. When he asked the manager what to do about the inevitable stripped threads, he was told that it’s a repair they can charge for. They just tell the customer that they were either already stripped, cross threaded, or that the plug was frozen in due to prior lack of maintenance.
“Glass waxing” might be the application of Rain-X.
Several years ago I was hired as a service writer at a new car dealer. The standard practice was that the mechanics were paid a higher pay rate for any “added” on replacements, other than what the vehicle was brought in for. It is the only time in my life that I told these people to “take this job and shove it”.
Every time I take my Scion in for servicing, I’m told I need a new cabin air filter! Even after just having one installed few thousand miles ago. I do not drive on dirt roads and I feel this is just a ploy to get a little something extra out of me.
We bought a '95 Plymouth Acclaim new, just off the showroom floor. Shortly afterwards, I noticed that the driver’s side front tire made a ‘thump’ when it was turned all the way to one side. The car was under warranty, so I took it in to the dealership: they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. The tire eventually wore unevenly, and had to be replaced. Once the warranty period was over, the dealership ‘discovered’ that the car needed new struts, and it would cost %600 to replace them (this was in 1998). My husband and I were upset, and took the car to a local mechanic, who diagnosed a bad strut, probably from the time the car was new, and offered to replace it for $60. I avoid dealerships like the plague now.
AIR FILTER - The Greasy Monkey tries to sell you a $20 Air Filter every oil change. They showed the old one to me, and I said it was fine and I didn’t need it changed. Later, when it was time to go, they charged me for it, and said their tech had put a new one in anyway. I said I wasn’t going to pay for it, they made me wait an extra five minutes so the tech could go through the trash and put the old one back in instead of giving it away for free!
I took my Buick to the dealership for NY State inspection and oil change. I had a warranty I had bought thru AAA. I was told I needed a gear rack. They had the car for less thas 1 1/2 hours. When I got home there was a message on my machine that my bill was over $1,000 including the gear rack. When I asked how they could do that job in such a short time they said they charged by the book. They said my warranty covered it and the warranty company paid me. I took the car to my regular mechanic. There was rust on the gear rack. I got a refund from the dealership for $750. and returned the payment to the warranty co.
Phoneman550,
MOST shops use “book rate” for calculating labor. Meaning, the customer is billed for “typical” labor for a repair, not “actual” time.
While there are obvious corner-cutting issues with this, it actually benefits the consumer to roughly know in advance the labor costs, even if the shop runs into complications (such as a rusty bolt that shears off and has to be drilled out.)
I went to an Acura dealer for their free car care clinic check up. They told me I need a transmission fluid flush $65, replace the cabin air filter for $99 and a brake fluid flush for $90. Odd because a week earlier I changed my tranny fluid and checked my the cabin air filter which was clean. My brake fluid hasn’t been 3 years so I had the dealer do that.
I’m very surprised the PC editors of this forum allow a deragatory and bigoted term as "Grease Monkey " to stay posted. Is this in reference to an African American mechanic?
The terms Jap,Jew,Kike and the “N” word are no longer used in our lexicon out of respect for other people ,no matter if you like them or not. To paint an entire race or profession with a wide brush of disrespect is very shallow and narrow minded.
There are many highly trained proffessional Technicians working on vehicles that are honest and fix vehicles right the first time.Shop around .“Word of mouth” is the best reference.The best shops spend very little money on advertising.
Went to a newly opened quick-lube place for an oil change to help a new business. They told me I needed a radiator flush and new coolant because it was only good to 30 degrees above. I checked it the day before and my hydrometer read -35. They also said the front differential was dry and needed lube. My son, the auto tech, and I had checked it the week before. There were no leaks or signs of oil anywhere around it. The also wanted to top off my windshield washer fluid for $5.00. It’s about $1.50 at WalMart. After all is said and done, they charged $40.00 for an oil change! The local Ford dealer charges $20.00. I paid it, but I’ve never gone back and will continue to do my own maintenance. They could have gotten away with all this with someone who was not mechanically inclined.
I believe oil changes should be a “loss leader” to bring in customers. Apparently the Ford dealer thinks the same way I do.
Lets say a shop retails the oil filter for $5.95. 5 quarts of oil @ $3.oo per quart. $15.00 Labor to burn fingers, hand and arm while the customer waits .{ The mechanic earns $6.00 or less for this job.} Oil disposal and pick-up is approximately $2.00. That also includes shop rags and handcleaner to do the job
Thats $38.oo plus tax. The above prices are for generic parts and oil. Use quality parts, and oil, and the price might be higher. The labor rate might be higher depending on where you live. Alot of vehicles use over 5 quarts of oil.
Most mechanics have over $200 worth of oil filter wrenches. When I started out in this business over 30 years ago, I had two oil filter wrenches. I now have over two dozen of them to service all the different types of vehicles on the road.
Shops don’t make alot of money on an oil change. Some oil filters are $9.95@ cost or higher and premium oil cost $3.50 a quart or higher.Keeping an oil change at a low price these days with the cost of petroleum at a premium is difficult to do.
The amount of money a shop nets on an oil change seldom covers the overhead {and high insurance premiums}to make it worth while.Quick lube places stay in business because they pay the help very little,hence the stripped or loose drain plugs, and the oil and filter are bought in bulk from unheard of suppliers.Do you want an oil filter that cost them a $1.00 to be installed on your car?
If someone complains about the cheapest insurance for their vehicle, an oil change, I ask them how much is it worth to them to change and dispose of the oil and filter.
$17.00 worth it ? Especially if the vehicle has a splash sheild that has to be unbolted and/or an oil filter that is almost impossible to get to. Thats the cost of a pizza!
I tell them I have no problem if they supply their own oil and filter.The labor is the same. They can dispose of their own oil also!
The term “grease monkey” has never referred to the ethnicity of a person. It is not an ethnic term since it is used to describe mechanics of any shape, size, color, and gender. Personally, I see it as an endearing term, not one of shame. It is the kind of person who gets her/his hands dirty and works for a living, which is something to be proud of.
Perhaps you should ask yourself why you associated “monkey” with people of African descent.
On a Tuesday I replaced the ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings. Marked everything to get an approximate alignment so I could get to a shop for new tires and proper alignment. On Wednesday went to Sears to take advantage of a printed advertisement for the proper size. At the shop I was quoted a price 250 above the advertised price. I was told by the salesman, condescendingly, that the sale was very specific as to size for sale and the size I was requesting was not the sale size. Lo and behold I had a copy of the circular in my back pocket. Sure enough the requested size WAS the one on sale. So, up went the car on the lift. 10 minutes later the shop manager came up to me and told me, based on the deplorable condition of the front suspension, that I would need (you guessed it-new ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, control arm bushings etc) I swallowed my fury and asked to see the parts on the car that needed to be replaced. as we walked over to the car, the manager became rather reluctant to approach the car. I walked underneath and asked the tech to show me the ‘bad’ parts. He merely shrugged. I asked the manager to come and show me. He did and I pointed out the several hundred dollars of parts that I replaced THE DAY BEFORE. I walked back to the waiting room and began to tell the other 15 people waiting about my experience. The manager heard of this, came in and asked me to leave. Unfortunately for him, I couldn’t leave-all four tires were off the car at that point. He walked out of the waiting room in a huff. Two minutes later, four techs were at work mounting and balancing my new tires. Looked like a damn NASCAR pit competition out there. When presented with the bill, I asked to see the store manager to tell him/her about the situation. The salesman tore my receipt in half and said “just leave.” Still running on those tires, and suspension. Thanks Sears
Agreed…Grease Monkey NEVER referred to the ethnicity of a person…Click and Clack have referred to themselves as Grease Monkey’s on their show more then once.
A scam that seems prevalent at some chains is to get the wheels off and find conditions too dangerous to allow the car to be driven away. I have seen the estimates and re-inspected the cars within hours of the life or death problems being found and often found nothing serious wrong and never found anything that was life threatening. But how many people were clipped in that kind of scam?
The term “grease monkey” is somewhat benign unless used in a pejorative context. It could easily be used as an insult, though. Within the shop such jargon is common between mechanics.
Had a similar exp with my wife’s favorite mechanic. He was “so niiiiice!”. Any man that was as polite and smiley as he was couldn’t possibly be incompetent or a crook. After one particularly expensive session (many hundreds of $s) when the prob still wasn’t fixed, my wife finally let me check the vehicle out. Turned out all the car’s troubles were being caused by a failed $80 O2 sensor, which I personally replaced. No more problems with her car and she lets me take care of her vehicle now instead of that “niiiiice” mechanic.
“Grease Monkey” also used to be the name of a local quickie-lube place in my area. I used to take my car there when I was younger. I stopped after their second screw up. First screw up the oil filter was leaking. Second screw up I got a coolant flush, smelled burning antifreeze and opened the hood. My engine was saturated with coolant. There were no leaks, they just did an incredibly sloppy job of filling it.
They were also lucky I came back. They were apparently short staffed that day and the manager was vacuuming my car—he had dropped his keys in my back seat and was very relieved that I showed up.
Whitey, Are you offended that certain fringe elements of our population use the derogatory term" monkey "for our president. I do, even if I don’t agree with his policies. Don’t turn the facts around on me.
I don’t know of any technicians that think of this term as endearing. I doubt the person who started the quick lube place was a hard working technician that tried to eliminate the stereotyping of this profession. Goober wiping his face with a greasy rag does not represent todays professionals.
Its very sad that alot of people have had bad experiences getting their vehicles fixed. You never hear from the people who had a good experience.That is why it is important people seek out schooled and certified technicians that take their jobs seriously and with pride.
For those of you who work on cars and are not insulted by this term,you will never elevate
yourselfs from making less than a carpenter, electrician or plumber.What endearing terms are used for these professions?