Should I tow my car to a different mechanic for a second opinion?

Maintenance/Repairs
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Hi everyone, I don’t know much about cars and I could use some advice. My car was a Toyota Corolla 2012, and it was well mantained, regular oil changes and whatnot. It had about 200,000 km on it.

I was driving it one night when the dashboard battery light came on. I didn’t have time to check it just then, but planned to the following night. But on the way home the next night, the power steering stopped working.

I assumed it was the alternator. That it caused the battery to die, which in turn caused an issue with the power steering. The car still drove fine, but we didn’t want to risk driving it on manual steering. Our regular mechanic moved away recently, so we had it towed to a new garage that we don’t know very well.

When my wife called them, they told her the engine lost compression and needed to be replaced for over $3000. They then offered to buy it for $500. There was no mention in the quote about the battery, power steering, or any of the symptoms we had. The engine seemed fine when we had it, and no warning signs of an issue.

When I went to the car to pick up things we needed from the trunk, I decided to try it out. It started easiy, and purred like a kitten. I was able to drive it a different part of the lot with no issues. (except the steering)

If I’m being honest, I’m finding this confusing. But I recognize I’m no mechanic, and maybe this all makes sense. Does their analysis sound legit? I’m trying to figure out if I should sell the car to these guys, or risk the expense to have it towed to another mechanic for a second opinion.

Thanks!

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Yes, this sounds scammy, and you should take the car elsewhere, ASAP. The engine is supposedly shot, but these people plan to replace it (with what? a junkyard engine of questionable provenance? for $3k, which is deceptively low, even for that) but oh, now they want to buy the car? GTFOH. For all you know, the problem is something minor.

And of course, if it really is true that the engine has failed, I would want to know exactly what went wrong with it. Not a B.S. explanation that the engine doesn’t work anymore. And of course, I would want the existing engine repaired or rebuilt if possible, rather than swapped out for a junkyard engine, which might itself be on its last leg.

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+1 to bcohen’s assessment of the situation!

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Also, I believe that $500 is an unreasonably low offer for this car, even if it does need a new motor. If running, this is a $6500-7500 car all day long. If it needs the engine replaced, I would tow it home, post it on Craigslist as a “mechanic special” for $2500 obo, and be prepared to accept as low as $1500. I would not go any lower.

And this brings me to my next point. When you sell the car yourself, you can make the buyer sign the title in front of you. Even if they don’t bother to transfer the registration, at least you can write down their name, address, and driver’s license number on the bill of sale, and keep a copy for your records. If you sell to a shop, you will have no idea who the eventual buyer is, which can end up biting you big-time!

Many years ago, I had a car which needed major repairs, which I could not afford, was out of work, and the shop offered to buy it for scrap value, $200 at the time. I was living with my parents at the time, and my father wanted the car gone and ordered me to do it, so I sold it to the shop. Big mistake. I assumed the car was gone for good, but several years later, I received a letter from a city that I had never been to that the car was subject to being impounded due to unpaid parking violations, and that my driver’s license could be suspended as well.

The car ultimately ended up in a towing yard, and I received another letter as the last owner on record. It was a big hassle to get this all cleared up, with the towing yard and with the city. My father, being an attorney was able to get the charges dismissed, though. The shop, of course, never transferred the title into its name, nor did the eventual buyer. Fortunately, I kept my license plates, so the parking violations were incurred under a license plate which did not belong to me, or the car.

The point I am making is that if I was willing to sell a car for scap value, or close to it, then I’d sell it to a junkyard, that way the car won’t bite me in the backside later. And if selling privately, get the buyer’s contact info, and if they won’t provide it, then refuse to sell to them.

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It drives fine with no power steering?
Go get it. Drive it home.
I think you have power hyd steering.
Broken belt to pump?

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Thank-you very much for all of that detailed info, it’s really helpful!
And it puts things in perspective for me.

I might try to drive the car home. If it doesn’t make the trip,
I’ll have it towed. Either way, it’ll be better than selling it to these guys.
And I’ll keep in mind what you said if I sell it.

Much appreciated!

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Cavell, it actually has electric steering.
So I’m not sure what the issue could be.

But I believe electric steering is powered by the battery.
So it might be related to the “battery” indicator that came on.

Sadly, fixing cars is just not a part of my skill set.
My dad tried to teach me as a teen, but I was too busy
going to the mall and chasing girls to bother with it.
And boy do I really regret that now.

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Perhaps this is obvious, but when you make this drive, turn off all possible electrical accessories (including the daytime running lights). If your battery isn’t being charged, you want to save every bit of power that you can.

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That vehicle has electric power steering. I think that all Toyota sedans had electric PS by 2008, or perhaps even earlier.

Whoops!
I see that the OP beat me to it by 6 minutes.

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Ill second that.

+2

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You wouldn’t have been able to drive the car if the shop’s diagnosis was correct. Get it to another shop.

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So I have a bit of an update.

I learned a bunch about engines so that I could talk intelligently with the mechanics. Then I called them back, and asked for specifics. Eventually they got the mechanic that worked on it. He said that it didn’t have compression and it needed a new engine.

I asked if it was a single cylinder or multiple. He said “What does it matter? There’s no compression, you need to replace the engine.” That didn’t sit well with me, so I asked again. He said 3 of 4 cylinders have low compression. I asked what was causing that, and I suggested maybe the head gasket. He replied that he didn’t know, because it would “cost a fortune in labor to find out what they already know, there’s no compression.”

I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere, so I asked about why the power steering gave out. He said, and I quote “Your car is going in a safe mode because it shouldn’t be driven in this state.”

Safe mode? Is that really a thing? And if so, would it disable the power steering?

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If it had “no” compression, the engine wouldn’t start and you wouldn’t have been able to drive it.

Safe Mode does exist, but it wouldn’t cause your electric power steering to fail. And, if it was in Safe Mode, the Check Engine Light would be lit-up.

It is becoming more and more clear to me that this mechanic is a thief whose main goal is to be able to buy your car for a bargain price. And, if you didn’t sell it to him and instead paid him $3k, God only knows what repairs he would–or wouldn’t–do in order to pry $3k out of your wallet.

Please have the car towed to a different mechanic.
If there are no reliable mechanics near you, then have it towed to a Toyota dealership, but wherever you take it, don’t provide any of the info spewed by the first mechanic. Get a new diagnosis, and more than likely, it will just involve repair of the alternator and the electric PS, and not an engine overhaul.

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Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.
And I’ll do just that!

I’m tempted to leave a bad review for this place.

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He must have inspected the wrong car, your car has a charging system failure.

A Toyota alternator is $700, 1.5 hours to test and replace.

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Unless you have actual proof that the place was trying to cheat you just take your vehicle someplace else . If you call them crooks or something like that you might find youeself in a slander suit. Being dishonest is one thing , being in competent is another .

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Yep belt, alternator or battery. Get it out of there. And you’ll never get your ten minutes back you spent talking to those people. I might even suggest the dealer if nothing else.

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I’m with the others here, good idea to have the car towed to another shop to confirm or disprove the diagnosis. Whenever there’s a claim of loss of compression, ask the mechanic for the measured compression in each of the four cylinders. When new each cylinder probably had 180 -190 psi; for a 2012 with 125 k miles, engine is slightly worn, so I’d guess typical compression numbers would be in the 160 - 180 psi range. If you are able to get the shop to tell you their measurements, you are welcome to post them here, likely get some more ideas.

Best way imo to find a good shop is to ask folks you know, you work with etc which shop they use for their cars. Shops then unlikely to give you bad advice b/c if they do, they know you’ll tell their other customer what happened.

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Yes, but the OP’s original shop clearly can’t be relied upon to provide accurate compression numbers, and I think that asking them for their compression numbers is just giving then another opportunity to lie to the OP. Let’s not forget that those Charlatans claimed that it had “no” compression.

When the OP gets it to a new shop, after they have diagnosed the actual problem, he might want to ask them to do a compression test of the engine and report their findings to him.

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I can imagine a mechanic speaking to a car-owning repair-newbie might say such a thing to summarize their opinion the engine is shot and needs to be replaced, when the compression in fact measured 100-120 psi. Not disputing that another shop’s opinion is requried.

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