WARNING: Don't trust Auto Repair shops!!!

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captaincold

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circa: 3 weeks ago....

I had a severe Anti-Lock brake problem on my 93 Cutlass Convertible which i bought like 9 months ago. Like a month before i bought it, the orginal owners had new calipers & pads put on it.

I take it to WALTS Auto Repair and they do an inspection. They say that my whole entire brake system needs to be replaced & rotors need to be re-surfaced which would cost roughly $1200. I found it hard to believe that the brakes would need to be replaced so soon so i declined .

I then take my car to Buckys.
They say that i need a ABS Master Cylinder and that my whole brake system is in very good condition.

I immediately drove to Shucks Auto Parts & bought the Master Cylinder for $90.
Drove back to Buckys and paid them $140 to install it & my brakes are perfect now.
 
I always get things looked at a couple different shops. If I get different answers, I SUE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM/get suspicious.
 
Shit Sears fuck the hell out of my car when I was in college. I just asked them to put on a new tire. I don't know exactly what the hell they did (my guess is dropped it off the jack). They denied doing anything wrong and I ended up having to go up to the district manager to get it resolved. District Manager never told me what happened, but he came back to me within a day saying something did happen and they would pay for the damage and my troubles. I had a Ford Dealer do the repairs and told them look they screwed up just make sure its done right. There was $2800 in repair costs to the left front where the tire is. They paid me about $4800 total to settle it.

Overall I have to admit the district manager took charge of the problem 2 days after it occured. Even though the location was still denying any issues he got back to me in a day and I had a check in 14 days.
 
Good call on getting a 2nd opinion.

I luckily know some trustworthy mechanics so don't have to worry too much about getting ripped off. Just need to make sure I do the things I can do. For example they asked if I wanted them to put new windshield wipers on my car because mine were pretty screwed up. They did need to be changed, but for their $30 price tag I passed and went to Wal-Mart. :)


Kjauburn, glad you got your money back so fast and that they were eager to cover up their screw up. Of course sucks you had to go through that, but at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
 
it's best if ure AZN like dat.

then u can go to the AZN mechanics

and the dudes wont rip u off, or at least they wont rip u off dat much.

they even show u exactly what's wrong w/ everything and how they gonna fix it.

dat way the labor fee seems more justifiable
 
One of the guys at one of the Walmart Auto places actually severed a bunch of wires in my Aunts car. I was only a child then, so no one listened when I said we should file legal business.

We couldve had it made.
 
Thats just like with anything OP. We had a tree fall in my yard and we've had estimates from $750-$2,000.

I should actually post that story. How does one resize pics?
 
OMG! car mechanics rip off people that don't know much about cars?! when the hell did this start?! well at least the politicians are still honest.
 
You really have to know the policy of where you take your car to as well.
Lots of places (like Sears) have a set charge for most things that they charge for labor. They have something that says how long each repair should take, so thats what they charge. If they do it faster, you still get charged based on the time it should take.
 
This is why I do everything to my car myself. I get to replace a lot of suspension pieces quite often, too.
 
One time I had a problem with my radiator (A small leak that could be covered for i nthe short run but would eventually get bigger). It didn't need to be immediately fixed, but my Honda Dealer said it would cost $500-600 (which is why I didn't do it immediately) When the leak got bigger, I took it to a local mechanic I like and he laughed when I told him how much the Honda Dealer was charging. He got me a replacement radiator and installed it for like $180
 
[quote name='ZForce']One time I had a problem with my radiator (A small leak that could be covered for i nthe short run but would eventually get bigger). It didn't need to be immediately fixed, but my Honda Dealer said it would cost $500-600 (which is why I didn't do it immediately) When the leak got bigger, I took it to a local mechanic I like and he laughed when I told him how much the Honda Dealer was charging. He got me a replacement radiator and installed it for like $180[/QUOTE]


buts thats with every dealer....they normally charge that much because of the OEM parts...i bet your radiator is from an after market manufacturer...which isnt bad but its the reason why it was cheaper and then throw in labor and all that....
 
Just learn how to do minor mechanic stuff yourself or get a mechanic buddy and buy him a 12 pack of his beer of choice and the parts and shoot the shit with him while he is fixing your car.
 
[quote name='WinnieThePujols']QFT.[/QUOTE]

Yea, it is even worse if you are a woman. I had a bunch of work done on my car last year (passed a certain mileage), and they were trying to sell me the same thing again this year when the car didn't need the work done. The guy was so embarassed that he gave me a discount on the oil change, which is really all that I had planned to purchase to begin with.

I have had many experiences like this, you just learn to be skeptical of what is being said. Yea, if it was a really huge repair job, I would consider a second opinion.
 
[quote name='daria19']Yea, it is even worse if you are a woman. I had a bunch of work done on my car last year (passed a certain mileage), and they were trying to sell me the same thing again this year when the car didn't need the work done. The guy was so embarassed that he gave me a discount on the oil change, which is really all that I had planned to purchase to begin with.

I have had many experiences like this, you just learn to be skeptical of what is being said. Yea, if it was a really huge repair job, I would consider a second opinion.[/QUOTE]

This is why I always try to bring a friend with me. When I was calling around asking for quotes to get someone to install springs to lower my car, some places quoted me twice as much as when my guy friend called for the exact same thing.
 
I have gotten to the point that I don't trust anyone when it is something I can't do myself. I had to get transmission work done my old car (93 Lincoln Continental) and it cost $3,000 and it still didn't work completely right.
 
[quote name='ZForce']One time I had a problem with my radiator (A small leak that could be covered for i nthe short run but would eventually get bigger). It didn't need to be immediately fixed, but my Honda Dealer said it would cost $500-600 (which is why I didn't do it immediately) When the leak got bigger, I took it to a local mechanic I like and he laughed when I told him how much the Honda Dealer was charging. He got me a replacement radiator and installed it for like $180[/QUOTE]
it's pretty common knowledge that dealers often charge more than your average (non-specialty) mechanic shop. i'd only take it to the dealer if it's covered by a warranty.


*ALSO, a side note to everyone. it is well worth it to purchase a repair manual for your vehicle, regardless of whether you plan on doing any work yourself or not. haynes makes great manuals that go for about $15. they detail everything that could possibly be done to your car aside from modifying it and have an excellent trouble shooting guide so you can tell if a mechanic is bullshitting you. i've bought one for almost every vehicle i've owned and got my money's worth out of them.
 
[quote name='darkmere']
*ALSO, a side note to everyone. it is well worth it to purchase a repair manual for your vehicle, regardless of whether you plan on doing any work yourself or not. haynes makes great manuals that go for about $15. they detail everything that could possibly be done to your car aside from modifying it and have an excellent trouble shooting guide so you can tell if a mechanic is bullshitting you. i've bought one for almost every vehicle i've owned and got my money's worth out of them.[/quote]

Great advice! I always have had one for every car I owned as well, they are good and available at most every Advance Auto/Autozone type of store or Ebay.


Also i'd like to warn the OP that water is wet! :roll:
 
Also: don't trust the police.

captainobvious.jpg
 
[quote name='camoor']Also: don't trust the police.

captainobvious.jpg
[/QUOTE]


Was that really needed? Is it that hard to just ignore a post? Do you think i was unaware that some people already know this?

Alot of people could get ripped off by repair shops & all i did was post my experience to hopefully help them out when getting estimates.
 
[quote name='captaincold']Was that really needed? Is it that hard to just ignore a post? Do you think i was unaware that some people already know this?

Alot of people could get ripped off by repair shops & all i did was post my experience to hopefully help them out when getting estimates.[/quote]

Just a joke man.

I thought you nick CaptainCold was a reference to how you remain cool at all times.

Maybe you should change it to CaptainHothead

mooveeho_triumph_the_dog.jpg


I keed I keed!
 
[quote name='captaincold']Was that really needed? Is it that hard to just ignore a post? Do you think i was unaware that some people already know this?

Alot of people could get ripped off by repair shops & all i did was post my experience to hopefully help them out when getting estimates.[/QUOTE]I'd be more offended by the laziness of it all. Sentiments to the effect of "duh" were posted within the first 5 replies. Coming this late to the party is pathetic.
 
My 92 maxima had issues with the electronic door locks and the air conditioner. The locks stopped working one day took it to the dealer he wanted $800. looked on the web found the answer fixed it with a hot butter knife ( i don't have a soldering iron)
Air conditioner only worked on max... dealer wanted to replace the air conditioner $600. looked on web found answer fixed it for $26 in parts.
Reminds me of a joke
Old lady has repairman come to her house to fix the boiler.
guy taps on boiler in a few spots kneels down alot, turns it on and off a couple of times then drawns a line across one of the pipes and tells the lady a friend will be there later to cut the pipe and reattach it. she thanks him. Next day she recieves a bill from the the guy who cut the pipe for $50 and a bill from the repairman for $500! She was shocked at this and soon asked for an itemized bill. Bill came back
drawing line $1
Knowing where to draw line $499
 
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