I’ve only had that experience once when my timing chain went 50 miles from home on Friday night. The guy at the place it was towed to told me over the phone that the valves were bent and offered $500 to buy the car so he could put his wife’s good engine in it. I said no thanks and called my tow guy to go get it. I think the tow was $100 and another $125 for a chain and sprocket but by Sunday afternoon it was on the road again. Put another 150,000 on it.
Somebody tells you this, run.
Motor was running when it was towed from your house. Will it run when it gets to shop #2? I’d tell #2 shop it ran fine last time you saw it.
Do any of your local TV stations have a consumer affairs reporter? This attempted ripoff was so blatant that perhaps they’d want to set up an undercover sting. That’s always good for ratings.
I know you are upset but actually I think it is just best to get out of there. I’m not sure what good reviews actually do and they can counter and make you look like a fool.
I ended up turning my transmission guy into the state for sales tax fraud and nothing really good came of it. He owed $500,000 legitimately and who knows how much more by fudging invoices. So I’d just forget it. Naturally I wasn’t about to take advantage of the year warranty. So just go someplace you trust and be happy.
Anyone can sue anyone for anything. Winning is another matter, of course. By definition, slander is untrue negative information, and truthfulness is an affirmative defense to any such claim. And the very idea that documenting one’s true negative experience with a business via review websites constitutes slander is not legally (or practically) correct. It is actually very difficult to advance a slander claim against a consumer who is merely a customer, not a competitor/employee of a competitor, unless the business has proof that the review is abusive (blatantly false, customer threatened blackmail, etc.)
Personally, I would not let the extremely remote chance of a possible lawsuit–which should be easily defeated by even a pro-se defendant–dissuade me from posting a truthful online review. That being said, I would wait to post anything until after the car is safely in my possession again. It is much more probable that a dishonest shop or mechanic would respond to a bad review by damaging the vehicle than that they would respond with a (spurious) lawsuit.
Just get that car off the lot, one way or another. The next ploy will be that the mechanic will want to charge you a storage fee. I would just go to the lot and if the car is accessible, get in it and drive away, do not say a word to anyone there.
If they have it in a place where you cannot do that, then tell them you intend to drive off the lot. If they block you in any way, call the police. You may have to pay a diagnostic fee and if you have to pay a storage fee if the police don’t back you up on that, the pay.
Once the vehicle is repaired and if the repair was not consistent with the diagnostic from this mechanic, then take him to small claims court. Small claims doesn’t usually cost you a lot.
Coworker friend (and fishing fanatic) went on fishing trip to Minnesota, Wisconsin area. HIs econobox car broke-down in the woods. Tow truck happened by, couldn’t resolve the problem, so driver offered $250 for car, with the incentive he’d give friend a ride to town, and no tow charges. Friend accepted offer, cash in pocket, and tow truck driver probably got a pretty good car.
Co-worker (single guy) decided this was opportunity to replace his econobox with a sportier car, an AMC Javelin. I have to say he really loved driving that Javelin. So it all worked out, a win/win.
The op drove the car in the lot and ran well. But a diagnostic fee would surely be charged for what work they did or didn’t do. They can legally put a lien on it.
If it has electric power steering, a short in the power steering motor or wiring probably caused an excessive current drain, which would explain the dash light. The short has burned itself out or blown the power steering fuse. It could be that is all that is wrong.
You’re a better man than me. I’d be tempted to burn down this place.
Hi Everyone,
I appreciate all of the comments!
Just a quick update, I had the car towed to a completely different shop for a 2nd opinion.
I had planned to drive it but I couldn’t get my wife on-board with that. Maybe it was for the best.
I didn’t bother to mention the first mechanics at all, and I just gave the new mechanics the symptoms. They replaced the alternator, and now the car’s working great. But they saw the quote from the first shop, which apparently I’d left on the passenger seat. They had a lot of questions. To their credit they tried to play it cool, but they were clearly shocked we’d been quoted a new engine. They checked the compression, it’s fine.
This whole thing ended up costing us way more than it should have, but honestly, we’re just happy to have our car back. Thanks to everyone for the great advice!
I’m REALLY glad that you were able to find a mechanic who was both honest and competent, and that you had the real cause of the problem repaired. 
If I was in your situation, I would do that, on Yelp and perhaps on a few other sites. Honestly relating your experience would be a service to other area residents who might be tempted to patronize that scamming shop.
I’d say the “win/win” of this story is greatly dependent on the time frame we are talking. If this was 2 weeks ago- this is not a win. Late 70’s? probably a win.
If you do leave a review, don’t go overboard on criticism. Just present the facts. You don’t want to make it about you by overstating your dislike for the shop. It’s ok to say you’d never go back, but that should be obvious.
Agree. If you do leave a review, simply state that Shop A recommended an engine replacement for $3000 but that Shop B was able to get your car up and running again for a $600 electrical repair.
It’s quite difficult to prove malicious intent, demonstrating incompetence is much easier. Just state the facts and let reasonable people come to their own conclusions.
Glad it worked out. As far as reviews go, I never leave reviews and never read reviews. I simply do not trust them and like I have said before, it is not my job to tell someone how to run their business unless they pay me a consulting fee.
A response by the shop might be who? I’ve never heard of that guy and he was never here.
So the alt dies and disables elec power steering? Hmm, my equinox has elec steering.
Well, isn’t that logical?
I suppose that it could function for a short time on just battery power, but then…
This should be the red flag for everyone. When the repair shop claims it needs a new engine but they immediately offer to buy it from you.
This has come up a few times here. On one of those, I related the story of a co-worker that encountered the same scam. Drove in with a squealing noise, told the engine was shot and needed to be replaced. Then offered to buy it from her and claimed they would give her a good deal on a new one. I told her to go get the car back and it turned out to be a belt for the AC. Later, she was nosing around the place and a salesperson told her the owner’s daughter liked her model/year of Landrover. You connect the dots…
Land Rover only needs a belt? Inconceivable.