First off, I don’t think anyone on these posts will be able to determine whether or not you have been taken advantage of. All you can do is read all the responses and come up with a generalized, educated opinion based what the majority of the posters say. I do know I purchased a gallon of 50-50 (premixed) prestone (greenish yellow) antifreeze recently and it said it can safely be mixed with all colors of antifreeze. But the price did startle me, I think it was $12 at autozone. The last time I bought some (few years ago) it was more in the $8 dollar range. I didn’t complain, I just felt fortunate that it had been so long since I had to buy some. Is your mechanic ripping you off? That is a relative term. I used to be a mechanic and I can tell you that it is hard, knuckle busting work that I hope and pray I will never have to do for a living again. I have worked along side less than ethical mechanics as well as totally honest and reliable mechanics. I brought my sons car into a shop last year for not starting and when I picked it up, the bill came to over $300 bucks. They told me that his ignition module and coil needed replacement. It is possible (I guess) that they both went out at the exact same time, or one caused the other to go out, but I highly doubt it. (Based on my 4 years of schooling - (Auto Tec BS degree at Weber State U) and 15+ years working as a tech). I think the mechanic might have just changed parts until he found the problem. I could have complained, asked to be returned the old parts, etc, but in the interest of time, I just picked up the car and left. I will never go there again, because I didn’t feel like I had a good experience with that shop. You need to do the same thing. Loyality needs to be earned. I do know technicians that will “find” something wrong with your car in order to generate business. The average customer doesn’t know enough about the mechanical workings in the average auto to even question whether or not the diagnosis is proper. The best thing that can happen for the consumers is to have sting operations (like they do on 20-20 or dateline)in every city, and try to bust the bad shops. And then make the results available for everyone to see, similar to how the Health Department does when they do health inspections at restaurants. But alas, there is no way that will ever happen because the resources are just not available to support that kind of effort. If that were to happen, it might help “keep folks honest”. In these turbulant economic times, I expect auto repair “rip-offs” will continue to grow, as some of the shops are seeing a drop in business because financially strapped consumers are putting off repairs. I think word-of-mouth references are probably the best way to find a decent mechanic. There are a ton of good, honest mechanics out there, the trick is to find them. Even in some of the fast lube and chain shops that get bashed so often on this site, there are hard working, honest mechanics. There is a lot of pressure put on the “service writers” to generate business, and many of them are really good at that. I certainly wouldn’t stay away from a mechanic if I thought he was a good one just because of where he worked. There are very few out of work auto mechanics. (just take a look at the classifieds in any city). That should be an indication that some shops are having a hard time finding good mechanics and have to “settle” for someone who shows up to work on a regular basis. Finally I want to address what you mentioned at the end of your post. “how many repairs were done…”. If it’s a slow day, and you bring your car into a repair shop for a safety inspection (for the counties that have those)or any other work, if the mechanic or service writer says your “tie rod ends are worn” or your “motor mounts are worn” or almost anything else that is worn but you do not have any drivability problems related to it. When that happens, I would be question do you really need to have that work done? How worn? There are limits set by the manufacture, but for the most part, there are very few limits set by states for a vehicle not passing the safety inspection, with the exception of brake pad thickness. It is usually left to a judgement call by the mechanic. If he/she feels it is unsafe or worn excessively, they can fail the inspection. Obviously if you have a leaking brake line, that is a serious situation. But just because a mechanic can show you a small amount of play in the tie rod ends,ball joints, etc, doesn’t mean you’re due for a catistraphic failure. If they don’t put a micrometer (tool for measuring thousands of an inch) on the part and show you exactly how much play you have, then take you to a manufacturers manual that shows your part exceeded maximum limits, you might consider getting a second opinion. I am not saying if your tires are wearing excessively on the edge of the tread, or your steering wheel is shaking, and the mechanic says you need new tie rod ends, then of course that is different. I’m also not saying if the mechanic shows you something and anyone with half a brain can see that it is obviously worn out, use common sense. But what I am saying if you are not experiencing any sort of drivability problem, and the mechanic says you need to replace expensive parts, question it. This might upset many mechanics, but I have seen hundreds (maybe thousands?) of parts replaced that still had many miles of safe reliable life left in them. All in the name of “business generation”. I appoligize if my rant upset any honest hard working mechanics - if they, or you feel I misguided anyone or told any untruths. This is strictly all in my humble opinion… If I shed some light on the subject anyone out there can use, then I probably did more good than harm.
