mechanics that cheat you

[LMTLMT]

If you find a bonafide HONEST mechanic, consider yourself lucky and never let him go. I don't want to give mechanics a bad name in general but its just the "nature of business" in that industry. Its so easy to them to take advantage and sell you things you don't need or do shady and incomplete jobs cause how would you ever know and let the next guy take care of it. Honest mechanic is hard to find, like i've said, if you found one, never let go. Otherwise try to do everything on your own.

The above advice was told by a old school mechanic who in his early career was doing the same old tricks "nature of business" stuff but later in life karma caught up to him and he tells it straight now.

 

[jonsun]

I watch at the shop everyday. the owner does things I consider to be shady, frankly. People love it, we're swamped. the few that do complain move on and never come back and never get a second thought. We price things at half of what other people get quoted and often they get what they pay for.

for example on a motorcycle the charging system is a stator and separate regulator. guy comes in with what to me is a decent bike that won't charge. Shop owner, to save money, tells the guy we can get him a used stator and regulator off ebay. doesn't bother to order a stator gasket. it comes half blackened from heat (meaning it's condition is iffy) and he pulls a parts bin regulator out for me to change. I have to cut a gasket (to save $8 I have to spend an hour I dont get paid for making a gasket then get questioned why I dont get more done). Put stator in but the regulator is from a different make. It will work but the connectors are different. So Im told to splice the wire harness. Now I have to sit there for another hour destroying a $400 wire harness on a nice bike and it turns out the regulator was bad too. I tried 3 more all bad. Finally we pulled one off a different customers bike that's waiting for parts and soldered it in. It output 13v at idle. and it's fuel injected. It supposed to be at least 13.8-14.4v at 1200RPM's. shop owner gives bike back and the guy breaks down the next day with a totally dead battery. gleefully brings the bike back and pays for the service and parts all over again.

the customer loves it because he still is under what every other shop wants. He has no clue to them we're saving them boatloads of money. I got robbed 2hrs for the hackery and this guy broke down but he sits there on the phone and refers his buddy to the shop. New used regulator comes in a week later but since wire harness is spliced it becomes a giant chore to swap it out and turns out it's garbage too. shop owner proceeds to buy a new chinese stator despite the old one outputting to spec.

again, we're swamped with customers. can you tell I want to quit and hit the road?

 

[CautionToTheWind]

bardo, that's some crazy stuff there.

I have a shade tree mechanic lined up to replace all struts on my mother's caddy. He has "rescued" local people broken down on the side of the road. He has a good reputation with honesty following. In fact, one of my friends used him the beginning of the year. He teaches mechanics at a local university. I'd use my mechanic (Brian mentioned earlier) however struts are super expensive on labor. This guy will charge $260 (labor only). Bought the parts through Summit Racing (cheaper than Amazon or Rock Auto).

It's more a challenge when roaming the country to suss out quality and honesty. I really like the idea of the forum "Positive Reviews for Repair and Service Providers," as we can get a network created.

 

[bullfrog]

Between cheap non factory universal parts and shop owners having to deal with rising costs and dishonest competitors not to mention jobs going to the lowest priced shop most smart people if they can afford it buy the most reliable new vehicle they can afford and learn to do their own maintenance. As a former shop owner I would price a complete rebuild for let's say $3,000 and tell the person it would take about ten days as the machine shop was often backed up as they did quality work. My competitor would price the same rebuild at $1,500 and tell them it would be done in five days. He would get the job, pull the motor and take it apart. Five days later the person would come to pick up their car and there it would sit, hood off, exhaust on the ground, motor apart "waiting" on those cheap parts that never were to come in. If the person wanted to take the car somewhere else he had to pay for work done as well as a restocking charge for parts on hand and towing. Usually they chose to wait for the parts that would never come for a few more weeks. When finally fed up they were told "We can get the really expensive parts or a long block tomorrow for about $3,000 more so for $4,000 you can have your vehicle by the end of the week." The shop owner would bring me the pieces and I would build and install the motor for $2,500. He made $1,500 for pulling and take down, I would have only made $500 if I would have gotten the job. Several times people would just abandon the cars but some would save for months to get the repairs which would be even more as fuel systems don't sit for months well, bills would be $5,000 or more. Most honest mechanics have been bankrupted by these business practices, seems the pen makes more money than a wrench in most garages.

 

[Gideon33w]

Sorry to hear about the troubles. I know not everyone can learn to wrench (or heck, my back makes it hard now) but anything you can do yourself is one less thing to be concerned about.

If you are in the same areas or travel a loop it is worth it to research the mechanics available to you. Yelp reviews can be helpful though there's always someone who complains about something.

I think that if I was travelling and had an issue I couldn't handle but did have the budget I just might go to a Sears. Don't know if that idea is still any good but the chain places from large companies have way more to lose and strict rules on things getting checked to avoid complaints. Heck, even chain oil change places will refuse to change your oil if your car has too many issues just in case 10 minutes after you leave it dies from an unrelated problem.

 

[TrainChaser]

What is the highest 'core charge' that you guys know about? If you're not sure about the mechanic, would it be 'cheaper' to eat the core charge and get the part back?

Most Americans have been so trained to go for CHEAP, that they're shooting themselves in the foot, over and over.

 

[TrainChaser]

I can't find the sticky that Rob is referring to, "Positive Reviews for Repair and Service Providers"

Link, please?

 

[Almost There]

Train Chaser - it's not a single thread. It's a whole forum section in the area that's entitled 'Reviews and Recommendations'.

If you only ever access threads here by 'today's Posts' or New Posts you won't find it easily. Click on the top link 'Vandweller Community Forums' and scroll down.

 

[GotSmart]

I think that if I was travelling and had an issue I couldn't handle but did have the budget I just might go to a Sears. Don't know if that idea is still any good but the chain places from large companies have way more to lose and strict rules on things getting checked to avoid complaints. Heck, even chain oil change places will refuse to change your oil if your car has too many issues just in case 10 minutes after you leave it dies from an unrelated problem.

Sears is no more.  Just a shell of a company with bad reviews.  

 

[highdesertranger]

the highest core charge I have seen is for a Prius battery. many parts have a higher core charge then the rebuilt part cost. the higher the core price means that the rebuilders need that part back because they don't have enough. you know there is a whole industry built around cores. there are companies that buy cores and resell them to the rebuilders. highdesertranger

 

[GotSmart]

I just might have got lucky in mechanics.  In the middle of NoWhere MO.  

This is the second time I have been to this shop.  Both for inspections.  About half of you will know what the next sentance means.   Inside the parts filled shelves ~~~there are original CarToons comics.   :idea:   Rodding trophies and placks.  This guy fine tunes carberaters... :angel:

In the yard, nothing newer than the 60's.  In the garage a 29"T"  project.  Parts everywhere.  GOLD MINE.

  Mechanical work $40 an hour.  If you bug him, more.   

 

[bullfrog]

Gonna have a hard time fixing anything newer than 2000 without a laptop, but man give him a Chevy 350 with a carb and a stick shift 4 speed watch out!

 

[TrainChaser]

AlmostThere, thank you! I always skip over that like it wasn't there!

I did the main Search, and choosing the Search Option of titles only, there was nothing like that. Chosing the All Text option provided 49 pages of possibilities. The SEARCH option on most discussion boards leave a lot to be desired, because they will only accept one word.