Common Auto Repair Scams

Maintenance/Repairs
141

[i]Everybody FREEZE, and put your hands on the car. The Politically Correct Police are here to tell you what you are and are not allowed to say!!![/i]

I am not attempting to “turn the facts around,” whatever that means. Is that another phrase that means “disagreeing” with you? That’s all I am doing; disagreeing.

oldwrench, I know a secretary who doesn’t like being called a secretary, but she is still an executive secretary (it’s her official title). If you don’t want to be called a grease monkey, then please object whenever someone does so. However, the rest of the fine folks who work in your profession can fend for themselves. I don’t think they need you defending them on their behalf.

Many of the mechanics on this board, and even many non-mechanics, recommend independent mechanics over national chains and dealerships. How many owner/operators of independent shops walk around in clean white lab coats? At these shops, “Goober wiping his face with a greasy rag” is what I expect to find, and I often do. One of my favorite garages (Davie Garage in Davie, FL), is such a place, and they do great work.

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.

How do you figure? How is taking offense at a particular term indicative of success? I think the opposite is true. Not being offended by such a term will not keep anyone from succeeding to a certain level. In fact, humility, and the capacity to not take oneself too seriously are important assets when trying to succeed professionally. You catch more flies with honey…

I know a truck driver who wants to be called a “cargo transport specialist” instead of truck driver. It’s always funny to see the looks on the customers’ faces when they call him “driver” and he corrects them.

142

I agree. In cases where mechanics say it’s a situation of imminent failure that could cause catastrophic injury, I’d say they’re blowing smoke 9 times out of 10.

143

I’m surprised this thread is still going, and we are getting off base. Your points are well taken Whitey. I have succeeded very well in my 36 years in the business and achieved my goals.

Most mechanics refer to themselves as “wrenches”.

I remember going to a party where the host introduced me to an old friend of his.“This is my mechanic”. The friend refused to shake my hand and declared " I hate all mechanics".

I guess this is why I have strived ,taught and encouraged all rookies to take pride in their profession and strive for excellence.

Being continually put down and stereotyped does not allow the public to realize how difficult and complicated it is to diagnose and work on modern vehicles.

I was a shop foreman in a British car dealership where I did wear a white shop coat and held a very high standard of conduct.Later as a BMW mechanic, we were told to change our white shirts if we had a drop of oil on them.

I guess Mercedes, BMW,Ferrari,Porsche,and other mechanics that work on performace vehicles take a different view point of the car repair industry as do others in this business.

BMW mechanics score the highest on certification test for some reason.

144

That sucks that someone would be that rude to you. I hope the host apologized for his friend’s rude behavior, but I also hope you realize there is nothing you could have done to prevent it.

145

I was hearing a thumping sound whenever I went over a bump. I took it to my trusty Sears, where I usually have tire changes done. They told me I had to have all 4 struts replaced for about $800. I declined and took it to the dealer, where within 5 minutes they tightened a grommet or spacer that is under the hood. This secured the hood and cured the thumps, no charge.

146

Unfortunately, it’s far too common in the auto repair industry for people to be “stung” by the repair scams that are the subject of this thread as well as having bad experiences due to inept ir uncaring techs. Add to that the shops that actually make a parctice of “upselling” needless services, and the unskilled contingent that makes up the quickie lube population, and it’s no wonder so many people hate mechanics.

The good (bad?) news is that mechanics aren’t alone. Crooked, unskilled, and dishonest ndependents in the construction industry have also destroyed people’s confidence that they’ll get a good honest job for a fair price. And then there’s the banking industry, and the financial services industry, and the credit card and debt collection industries.

Oldschool is right in promoting training and professionalism in the automotive repair industry. But I honestly feel that people in general are justified in their perceptions. Way too many have been burned way to often.

147

I worked with a guy who had a bunch of cars, even a brand new Corvette, but he didn’t want to license them because he’d have to pay the sales tax. He always tried to keep customer’s cars overnight and on weekends so he’d have a set of plates to use.If your mechanic’s a big loudmouth who brags about all his stuff, keep an eye on him. I also knew another guy who, when faced with a car that he couldn’t diagnose, would find a similar car at a rental agency or car lot and rent it or take it for a test drive and then swap parts until he got it fixed. Then he’d return the car with the messed up parts. What a jerk!

148

A study done some years ago compared the total annual national car service & repair costs with what these costs SHOULD have been with owners doing dilligent maintenance and garages only doing (correctly) work that needs doing. The scary answer was that 50 cents of every dollar is wasted. The three main causes being owner neglect, mechanic incompetence and garage dishonesty. Bad design by the manufacturer was far down on the list.

If this surprises you, I see this all the time in industry; some world class companies spend only 1/3 as much on maintaining their plants as the bottom quarter. Before the reorganization, GM spent at least three times as much (as a % of replacement capital cost)on plant maintenance as Toyota.

149

I agree Old Wrench, I am 30 years old, was an auto technician for 8 years, worked myself up through the ranks from oil change boy to a Ase L-1 master tech. I went from no tools to the 30k plus of tools rusting away in my garage now, I spent countless hours attending school and seminars after work becoming proficient at diagnosing advanced drivability problems ect…

I left the field, I was making 50k plus a year which was good for a tech, I was so sick of being treated like a second class citizen by the public, our customers, and my employer. I now have a job where I am making 55k a year, working a quarter as hard, thinking a quarter as much, and spending nothing on tools.

My last job in the profession was working at a large nation wide used car chain, where I got paid ok, had good benefits and had an air conditioned shop. We we still treated as just “Grease Monkeys”. After all, How hard can it be? Thats what they would say.

Well my last 3 months there I was a horrible tech, instead of diagnosing cars for a half hour diagnosis charge, this stupid grease monkey spun the parts wheel and threw parts at the car, After all I was just a dumb guy that didn’t know a whole lot… What business did I have trying to diagnose something. This was internal work for a big chain, no customers were screwed directly.

At the Independant shop, the Chevy Dealer, and that big national used car retailer I worked at, we never lied to a customer, yes we made mistakes, but never lied, but the national car retailer was wierd because your work got charged to the company from the service dept., and the company hated mechanics.

I have been called a grease monkey, to my face, and it hurt, All because the crazy old biddy thought I took her 10 dollars from her car, yes its still taped on my wall, i look at it everyday and smile, Thanks old biddy… Just kidding.

150

Two things would greatly help customers and techs. One, Flat rate commission almost forces guys to cut corners, upsell money making jobs and stresses out the mechanic. Two, if we paid mechanics better wages, you could get better people. I was a good tech and I left the industry because I was tired of the pay and conditions.

151

CivicMinded, that “Goober” comment was something oldwrench said and I repeated to address what he said.

Have you ever heard the riddle about the town with two barbers? One has a clean shop and a great haircut. The other has a messy shop and a terrible haircut. If you judge a book by its cover, you will end up with a lousy haircut. Likewise, when I see a mechanic who is dirty from working, and is too busy to change his shirt, it might be because he does a great job and has so many customers he doesn’t have time to think about appearances.

Personally, I am not the kind of person who judges a person by what he or she is wearing. The only thing I care about is the quality of the work.

152

Thats funny…weren’t those air cooled?

153

I had Midas try to sell me a rebuild on a front suspension for my 72 Plymouth Fury…it had a practically new front suspension in it, only a few months old

154

That’s pretty funny, but just so you know, manual trans fluid does need to be changed about every 25,000 miles to ensure smooth operation and non binding gears. It’s a cheap service though, usually around the same price as an oil change.

155

If you have your mechanic grease your caliper slide pins when you have your tires rotated, you will have much less trouble with them.

156

If you have a bad fan clutch, when you pop the cap, the coolant will look foamy, similar to soapy dishwater.

157

With modern gas (unless you always buy cheap no name, and even then I doubt it) and cars there is no need for this (fuel) service. Older cars without fuel injection may benefit though.

158

About the only thing an air filter does on a modern car is help keep dirt out. Unless it is filthy black with dirt that you can’t knock out yourself, it’s fine. It does not affect your engine performance or gas mileage except in the most extreme cases.

159

You’re talking about back in the day when you actually got service and people took pride in their work

160

I would gladly pay a mechanic $25 an hour and have him take his sweet time versus paying the $70 or so an hour for a rush job at a shop.