Evil Mechanics - too many out there

[Goshawk]

Okay am just going to say it.  There are a lot of mechanics out there doing repairs that are evil.  No honesty.  No integrity.  Are likely starving for any work they get, so they hype everything to be a terrible problem.  Sometimes I cant blame mechanics, given the competitive market of shady dealers and hyped repairs making way too much money ($500 to $1000 every visit).  

So what do ignorant people do?  They keep going to these places.  They keep failing to review places for shared good experience, and making sure good mechanics get noticed and get all the work.  Or if they do review, they never mention that it cost them $500 to $1000 to fix anything.  

Do you check YELP for reviews?  Do you check GOOGLE REVIEWS to see if your mechanic is recommended?  Is there another review tool that you use for the mechanic shop?  Do you submit reviews, or do you keep it quiet because you sure don't want your mechanic getting too much work.  Did you check the history of your vehicle online in consumer reports. or from others who have owned your vehicle?  Are there municipal-city-county support mechanics who can recommend a shop for you (someone repairs police cars and fire trucks, and maintenance trucks in that city, so find out who and ask them for recommendations)?    

So have been watching travelers on Youtube post about their experiences when the mechanic works on the vehicle.   Its just one disaster, or hard luck, or just plane incredible good luck story.  

So lets set some ground rules for what you say to a mechanic

1)  What will you charge me to just diagnose this issue I am having.  No repair, as I can not afford it.  "Am driving away for a week and letting the vehicle sit" so please do not push me into a discussion about the car blowing up.  (this gives you some leverage - as you drove in, you can certainly drive out).

2)  If you need to tow a vehicle for a repair (catastrophic problem), try to think in big terms, and decrease costs from there.  How much to replace the engine?  how much to replace the transmission?  You want a 100,000 mile warranty on that with labor?  good luck finding that.  But you best know how much it will cost, before you need it.  Who do you trust?  (answer trust no one, but communicate and let people know in a nice way why you will have a hard time trusting any new mechanics).

3)  What is the total OUT THE DOOR (OTD) price to fix this exact issue only?  Nothing else.  No extras.    But you expect a full repair to work and hold fine for a week.  If the issue I am having repaired shows as something else, what is your policy on return repairs?  will you stick by the original issue and fix it, no additional cost?

4)  Always ask another experts who they go to when they dont have time to work on things.  Call the body shop, and ask them about the top three mechanics. Call the city-town-county highway maintenance shop and ask them who they go to when they cant work it out themselves.

5)  Expect to get proposed a hype, or bullshit repair that is not needed.  Expect to say no.  Expect to need to drive to three shops to get others to estimate.

 

[LoupGarou]

Regarding home or auto repair, I ask questions I already know the answers to. Based on the responses I can determine if someone knows their tradecraft. I've done this for years, it's never let me down.

 

[highdesertranger]

knowledge is king. if you know what the problem is and know the price of the parts to fix it. you should never get ripped off. I feel it's important to know your vehicle. get a shop manual for your vehicle and read it front to back. if you don't understand something ask someone who does to explain it to you. do all this before it breaks down so you have a working knowledge of your vehicle. highdesertranger

 

[djkeev]

Evil is a harsh title.

I think that while there are indeed rotten apples in the mechanic basket, that isn't the over riding problem.

The problem is a glaring lack of skills.
Not only skills at removing and replacing worn items but diagnosis skills.
If it doesn't have a computer port built onto it, today's younger "mechanics" haven't a clue where to begin a repair.
These kids begin to guess that it is this item or that item causing your problem.

We have effectively dumbed down the World so much that we are now struggling to fix simple things.

Anyway........ I refuse to pay "professionals" good money to screw up my stuff when I'm perfectly capable of doing it!

Dave

 

[Mobilesport]

Organized crime!!!
There bottom line 
" get as much money as they can out of each customer as long as they think they'll get away  with it"
Slick con artists

 

[Gary68]

yep,you have to dig through the weeds to find a flower and when you do they are worth every penny

 

[Goshawk]

I have a very good mechanic. But he always charges me the book rate. Sure it gets done. But would think he would cut me some deals. Nope. Always the book rate. Problem is he does the work right. And only fixes the problems. That's better that half the mechanics out there. So I pay the man.


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[DannyB1954]

I don't think there are as many bad mechanics as there are bad customers. Go to a trade school, spend about 20 grand in tools, rent a shop pay for insurance then tell everyone how easy it is. Everybody wants a deal, until they are working for somebody else.

 

[Goshawk]

Am willing to pay $30 an hour. But not sure that's enough to run a business. Maybe it needs to be $100 an hour for mechanics.


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[Baloo]

As a mechanic, I will say a few words on this topic.

Yes, here are many shops out there looking to make a dollar on your ignorance. There are more shops looking to earn an honest living.
The real issue is neglect, and that is you (most people reading this). If you skip the required scheduled maintenance or when a shop advises you on some worn parts that should be replaced. Take a look at a Mercedes Benz, they recommend all sorts of parts to be replaced at certain mileage intervals. However if you look around you will see many out there with well over 250k miles on em.

I can not tell you how frustrating it is to explain to a vehicle owner that it is already apart and some of the unrelated parts that have been removed are worn. I suggest to replace then since they are already sitting on the bench and there is no additional labor, and all of suddenly I am trying to rip them off.
I gave up fixing vehicles for this reason, now I fix aircraft for the military (they don't argue when something is bad).

Long story short, if you take your van in for an alternator and the tech tells you the belt looks a little worn, change it! Then you won't end up with a broken belt in the middle of nowhere.
Have an idea of how your vehicle works and explain the problem accurately, unless it is obvious "van doesn't start". The more understanding you and the mechanic share on the issue the better the repair and the lower the cost.
If all else fails, message me, I will do my best to help you properly address the issue to a technician.

There, I am getting off my soap box!


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[Mobilesport]

Van was leaking oil 
Paid a shop $320 to install a new pan and gasket 
6 months later it was leaking again.
Paid a different shop around $600 to install new oil pan gasket and timing chain cover 
2 months later leaking again
Shop installed new oil pan gasket and timing cover under warranty , tech said i need a new oil pan , i'm thinking my pan aint that old but if he says i need it throw it on , i want it fixed 
I pay for the new oil pan.
Year and one month later it leaked again and warranty run out
Have a shop install new oil pan gasket and timing gasket $550
Leaked again
Took it back , shop manager says its leaking from distributor gasket 
I install dist gasket and that is'nt were its leaking from .
To this day it still leaks and i give up , i pour oil in it once a month at a cost of $15 a month

Paid $440 to fix my ac , it works for mayby 2 weeks , i take it back and they say it needs all new lines fabricated and mayby a new compressor , they quote $1200 more for this , i say no thank you

 

[Baloo]

Drive to Tennessee, lets fix that oil leak! As far as the air conditioner, I don't understand the "maybe compressor". It is doing its job or not. They should have put dye in it and checked for leaks with a UV light. You can go to an auto parts store and buy an over the counter A/C dye an check yourself. Lines can be cheaply purchased through RockAuto. I too hate how shops make air conditioning so complicated, it is one of the easier systems to deal with. If you are ever passing though, seriously, lets fix both problems.


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[Goshawk]

Van was leaking oil 
To this day it still leaks and i give up , i pour oil in it once a month at a cost of $15 a month

Paid $440 to fix my ac , it works for mayby 2 weeks , i take it back and they say it needs all new lines fabricated and mayby a new compressor , they quote $1200 more for this , i say no thank you

What kind of vehicle has this issue? I seriously think the designs of some vehicles are very very poor. Not just annoying but down right crappy and hazardous designs that will fail. This is why I tend to favor Ford and Toyota a little more as brands. Their designs tend to have better tolerances (down to the 1/1000 instead of 1/100) according to an engineer colleague who worked for Toyota, who was having to host Ford engineers at his plant to teach them how to improve tolerance in the manufacturing process. Many years ago.


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[Goshawk]

As another example of crappy design. Look at the various INTERFERENCE ENGINES. There should be a computer setting that shut down the vehicle, or puts it into "limp home" mode at 100000 miles until the timing belt is replaced. Plus there should be warnings on the cover of the user manual in bright letters "TIMING BELT MUST BE REPLACED AT 100000 MILES". Or such. That is a poor design. Sure people should be smarter. But they are not, and you need to compensate for that.

Of course can imagine the drama of a mechanic telling you your vehicle needs this and it costs $600 in parts and labor. At the same time as you have a minor fuel filter clogged up. There are stupid owners that will not fix this because they are too poor that month.


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[djkeev]

For those of you with chronic unrepairable problems such as the oil leak mentioned, it may NOT be the mechanics fault at all.

You see.......
We as a buying public have become annoying thrifty when buying replacement parts.
To answer that price point market manufacturers have popped up producing what are basically barely functional replacement parts.
These are often made in some emerging 3rd World nation with little oversight on tolerances, proven manufacturing methods or more importantly raw materials used.

As a result the replacement part market is literally flooded with cheap garbage!

Sadly this insane mindset of shopping only by price has put the squeeze on historically quality minded suppliers so they are either selling out and leaving the industry or beginning to "do likewise" for that is what the market wants today.
Try to buy brake discs made in the USA today.....
Electronic components too.....
The old reliable brands that I willingly paid more for are embarking upon that same garbage road today and amazingly we're all just fine with this because it's saving us money!
.......or is it?...........
That recurring oil leak? Every mechanic isn't a screw up, there's a common thread here......if you were to search and I'll bet it comes down to your engine model and the supply of parts being limited to low quality crap only today.

The only way that I know to assure a quality part today is to purchase it from the dealer.
In an OEM box, OEM product inside the box. You see, when one builds a new car you CANNOT have cheap and quick failing parts, the warranty claims would bankrupt you! You must install quality or your brand will suffer horribly!

I feel for the mechanic today, those who are doing quality honest work but being forced to put in crap parts that WILL NOT LAST!!!!!
They are being drug through the court of public opinion as in this thread. The truth is that YOU the accuser have been too damn cheap for the past 20 years to buy known quality parts, instead you focused only on the part COST!
YOU, thinking that you were a smart consumer have set this entire crap part supply chain into motion!
YOU have driven the quality manufacturers into bankruptcy!

Those of us who drive older units will feel this pain more than those in newer units. Once the manufacturer drops a model from production it is only a few years before they no longer support the replacement part supply chain for it and NLA pops up on dealer computer screens everywhere.

To be fair, with this oil leak there may be a damaged pulley that is being overlooked, bent, out of balance, worn harmonic balancer, grooved oil seal surface, etc. maybe even worn bearings allowing lateral movement of the shaft "egging" out the seal?

Don't be screaming LIAR! CHEAT! THIEF!!! Too quickly. Until we stop accepting literal garbage as legit replacement parts, this trend will only get worse.
The big chains of famous discount auto parts stores is doing nothing to help fix this problem either..... cheap, cheaper, cheapest.
They are putting the local quy who knows you and focuses on quality out of business....... he cannot or will not sell you quality at cheap knockoff prices.

Right now Advanced wants my local parts guy's retail spot, he's seriously considering letting them have it, it will help him out as he nears retirement and he's got a second store 20 miles away that he'll focus on until he does call it quits completely.
Sad........

Dave

 

[GotSmart]

I recently had the experience of going to several shops for an inspection.  Every one found different problems to be repaired, (at $500)  and said the parts failed by the previous shop were fine.  The last shop mechanic I went to screwed up my vacuum lines so bad my motor over heated.   Defend the stealorships and the local grease monkeys all you want to.  Blame it on the parts.  It is a poor mechanic that blames his tools or fails to inspect the parts installed.  

It is either too early, and they are not fully awake, too close to lunch and they are either hungry or need a nap.  Then there is quitting time in an hour or three, and they are not paying attention.  They are thinking about the race this weekend.  I have found too few mechanics that really care about doing a good job.  Overpaid, and under caring.  

HELLO!  I am here, and deserve a honest job at an honest price,  Not two days wages for the one hour labor.  Dont give me that "overhead" BS.  

When I was plumbing, I gave a guarantee on my work.  The same with my electrical and construction.  I seldom was called back for a re do. 

I may be out of line, but this i just my

 

[djkeev]

ha Ha HA !..................

This is simply too funny! ^^^^

Mechanics are all evil, expensive cheats but PLUMBERS are stand up people who are dependable and great workers?!?!? Oh please ...... let's have a plumber feedback survey now.......

Truth is, there isn't a single professional group who are all good or who are all bad. Every group has outstanding professionals in them (as you were one of them most likely) and they all have bottom dwelling scum suckers too.

Thanks for the morning chuckle!

Dave

 

[cyndi]

I'm closing this thread. It's going no where.