The Weekend of Good Results
On Saturday we pushed the rolling box o’ beds out of our garage, and set it up on the driveway. We’re thinking about selling it, and wanted to see if a coven of hedgehogs had taken up residence inside. And, I’m happy to report, they had not.
I don’t believe we’ve used that trailer since 2006, which means it’s been idle for two full summers. Clearly, our camping days are behind us. So we might put it on Craig’s List and see how it goes.
But it’s a funny thing… All four of us felt kind of sad when we climbed back inside the ridiculous contraption. It still smells of ancient campfires, and we were getting all nostalgic with it.
Why do we only remember the good times? Why is the past so often romanticized in our minds? We were fixating on the rare days when everything went perfectly, when we were all happy and smiling and enjoying fantastic burgers cooked out of doors.
Yet there’s a reason why we haven’t gone camping in two years, and that’s because reality almost never lives up to the fond memories. We’d go chasing that Norman Rockwell dream, and it would be two hundred degrees and humid outside, all of us would be breaded in filth, and I’d have gnats whitewater rafting down the length of my crackal region.
Yeah, maybe we can make enough money to pay for two or three weeks-worth of stays at Courtyard by Marriott?
A few weekends ago Toney did our taxes, and the results were not satisfactory. The little window at the top of the TurboTax page told us we owe the United States government $6000.
I just about shit my pants — every pair.
No way it could be true, no way. We’ve always gotten at least a small refund, we’ve never had to cut a check. Maybe she made a (significant) mistake? The house was rockin’ with middle school shenanigans as she plugged in the information; there was a good chance something went askew. Right? That’s the hope we clinged-to.
I suggested she close the program, and we give it some breathing room. We could revisit it in a couple of weeks, when things are quieter and calmer around here, and be extra-careful with it.
And every time I thought about it during those two weeks, my stomach twisted like somebody was wringing-out a washcloth. I believed it was wrong, but my former employer had paid me out for 500 hours of unused vacation in 2008. What if it got jacked-up somehow? What if we really did owe six grand? Gulp.
On Saturday Toney returned to the computer with all her scraps of paper, and started over. The final verdict: a $41 refund. Whew. We owe the state of Taxylvania about $200, but under the circumstances… I’ll dance to the mailbox with it.
I guess you shouldn’t try to prepare your taxes in the middle of a Guitar Hero tournament? Is that the moral of the story? I think that might be one of them.
More good news: I got my car inspected on Saturday morning, and everything checked-out. My Camry is in good shape, but you never know. Those garages, I think, use state inspections as an opportunity to bend you over the credenza.
A few years ago, in fact, I took my Blazer (worst vehicle ever) to a well-known outfit, and asked for an inspection. And when they were finished I was handed a long list of problems that needed correcting. I think the bottom-line quote was in the neighborhood of $750.
My brain almost exploded with anger — the dude was trying to rip me off — and I told him to put everything back together; I wasn’t paying him a cent for “repairs.” Then I took my vehicle somewhere else, where it passed with no issues whatsoever.
So, I’m always hesitant going into those deals. The garage we’ve been using seems honest, but they have a revolving door of employees there. Who knows what today’s guy will be like?
But I was pleased with that result as well; it was the weekend of good results. I got an oil change, tire rotation, and all necessary inspections — for $71. It seems almost impossible to me.
Have you ever been ripped-off by a mechanic? I have no doubt that I have, but nothing overly blatant like the walking, talking alimentary canal I mentioned above. I’m stupid, especially when it comes to cars, but not that stupid.
Use the comments section to tell us your horror stories — or near-misses — involving car repair. The pricks.
And I’ll leave you now with an exclusive peak inside the new Yankee Stadium, with Smoking Fish. Check it out. The Yankees are trying to keep all this under wraps, but the vast network of liars and backstabbers never sleeps. Pass the beer nuts.
Also, be sure to check out today’s Further Evidence. I’ve watched it at least five times, and always ended up with tears in my eyes. That’s some funny shit right there.
Have a great day, my friends.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Filed under: Daily
FIRST?!
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2!
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I know someone who recently took his car to Walmart to have the tires on his car rotated – he marked them to see if they did it. Of course, they said they did, but they did not.
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No luck with REDDIT. But I keep trying….
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I was groped by a guy who fixed the dents in my car. Does that count?
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What are you asking for the camper?
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I’d never trust the local Wal-Mart to do anything on my car ever again, Took my brand new car in for an oil change and they snapped off the dipstick. They tried to tell me it was “old”
I pointed out the car had less than 5000 miles on it. They kinda shrugged and said I should take it to the dealer.
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Tada!
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good afternoon, surf reporters!
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Top ten! Yay!
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I hate most auto service centers but the dealerships or more like “stealerships”, are the worst. If they are not doing work under warranty, do not take your car back to the dealer. Find a trusted independent garage.
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Having a couple good friends that are mechanics (including one who owns a shop), and having worked as a mechanic myself, I have a few opinions on the matter…
First of all, of course there are shady mechanics out there, but that doesn’t mean all mechanics are out to rip you off.
Find a good honest mechanic through word of mouth. Ask your friends who they use, then go check out the shop and see if you are comfortable with the shop and it’s employees. Once you find a good mechanic, KEEP GOING BACK! Yes you might be able to get the work done a little cheaper at some other shop, but if you do that then your good mechanic you finally found will go out of business and you will be stuck trying to find another one.
Good mechanics don’t need to rip you off, they rely on the return business of satisfied customers. They know that if they were to rip you off they would lose your future business, and it would hurt them in the long run.
Find a good mechanic and stick with them! You and your car will be better off in the long run!
‘K I’ll get off my soap box.
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Good Afternoon Surf Reporters……
As a valued (heh) employee of a new car dealership, I’m happy to say that I get a break or two on things here and there.
But honestly, our place has a good reputation and our service department is always jammed with customers, even the SOB’s that bought their car somewhere else.
As far as my personal ride, the Ford Crown Pigtoria, all it ever needs to pass inspection is a case of beer and a $20 spot to the mechanic.
He does the 360 degree inspection, that is he walks around the car once then puts fresh stickers on.
Works for me.
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Sweet 16
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Top 20 baby!
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Last year my brake degradation light lit up on my dash and so, like with most routine maintenance, I took it to the BMW dealership. My car is no longer under warranty, so all the maintenance isn’t covered anymore.
I’m used to paying $120 for an oil change and I can legitimize that by the fact that I only have to get it changed every 15,000 miles, a valet brings me a car to drive for the day, and when I pick it up it’s been detailed.
When I went in to the dealership to pop in the new pads and rotors, however, they came back with a quote of around $1,200 for parts and labor. Now, my father is a complete “Do It Yourselfer,” so growing up I have had to change brakes before and I knew that price was BS. While I talked to the service adviser I decided to call AutoZone to see if they had the parts, which they did… for a grand total of about $150. About 2 hours later I had new brakes, hands covered and brake dust, and a replacement brake degradation sensor on it’s way for an additional $5 – courtesy of eBay. I may be lazy, but I’ve got a degree in economics… cost benefit analysis, bitches!
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A mechanic you can trust is just about the only thing that trumps a good barber. When I moved to Chemical Valley, I lost one of each. The barber I’ve managed to replace, the mechanic, not so much. Speaking of which- any of you native Kanawhans care to recommend a shop for my oh so dear to me Toyota?
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Oh for the love of Jesus I’ll be praying for you if you put your camper on Craigs List… In my little slice of heaven here in the Bluegrass it’s a sure fire way to pull your hair out. (i.e. Male Pattern Baldness)
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Oh, that being said my next service appointment is tomorrow morning for… dun dun dunnnn… my state inspection / oil change / WTF is my service engine soon light on for?
This should be fun, I’ll report the damage manana!
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Have one girlfriend whose husband own’s his own shop; another that manages one…so I’m in pretty good shape there. But in my “yout”….I was hosed quite a few times only to find out after the money was down the shitter. Yeah, they see the blonde with the big fun bags walkin in and they were instantly on the phone with their wives telling them to call the fucking travel agent as “our vacation just walked in”…
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The blonde with the big fun bags – good name for a blog.
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Thankfully, I can fix just about any problem on my cars . My brother told me years ago, “If it’s already broke, you can’t break it any more – so try fixing it.”
Words I’ve always lived by.
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Had a “66 VW Bug that would not hold a charge, took it into a shop that some friends used to have it checked out. They told me I needed to change the regulator. Had them fix the regulator and when I picked up my car they told me I also needed a major tune-up When I left I had less horsepower. Turns out they had actually taken one of the spark plug caps off. I was running on three cylinders. Popped the cap back on and went on my merry way. I never used them again.
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I trust the mechanic I go to, thank god. However, the fuckers at the dealership can kiss my ass. Wally traded in a Chevy S10 with the transmission in the bed of the truck and they gave him $2500 for it. I traded in a ’95 Ford Escort in great shape with low mileage and they gave me $500. I bet they sold her for $1500, bastards.
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I’ve got a good one, and, as a car guy it pisses me off every time I think about it.
A number of years ago, when my regular guy lost his transmission guy to retirement I was in a bind, and needed the trans in my truck refurbished. Now, being in with some of the local racers I asked around and a particular shop kept popping up as a good place to go for a well built transmission.
I explain my usage to the guy, a bit of drag racing, some towing, and I drive it like I stole it. I get my quote, its in line with what I expected to pay. Come time to pick it up and I get dinged by a few hundred ontop of the original quote…. Parts damaged that usually are not therefore extra–Okay, I drive the piss out of it, I can accept that. I drive it home and find the thing shifts like a friggen worn out powerglide and WOT shifts are way below the expected and even factory rpm (4100rpm shifts if I was lucky)… Back I go… ‘may be some dirt…’ yeah asshole, your a trans specialist, dirt IS A FOUR LETTER WORD around a transmission thats apart… Get it back. Same shit, WOT shifts are not what they should be. Back again. Leave the truck yet again. Can’t find anything wrong with it… I said to the guy, okay, lets go for a test drive. I tell the guy AGAIN about when it is acting up and what it is not doing properly. I tell him, feel free to leave black marks on the road, I don’t care about the tires (hey, if your customer gives you the okay to do burnouts… that should tell you your customer does not drive like grampa…) So the guy takes it for a spin… He drives like a friggen grampa… I say to him, floor it, you’ll never recreate the problem with the way your driving… So he gives it a little more… FOR F”"”" Sake! For a shop that works on race transmissions, you sure don’t know how to put your foot into it. I tell him to pull over, I’m driving. We swap places. I demonstrate the problem. Get the acknowledgment from the tard that yes indeed there is a problem. Returned the white-as-ghost tard back to the shop. I told him, ‘when I tell you to floor it, I mean floor it’. Got my truck back, running like a factory trans (instead of the hopped up unit I was expecting). That lasted all of two years… Fortunately, my regular guy had a transmission guy again.
Gave my details. Found out that the last guys didn’t torque the valve body properly, fluid leakage had eaten a new channel into it, my final drive planetary gearset had managed to dig into its shell (got it here on my bookshelf as a reminder).. Anyway, this guy made my transmission do what I want, the first time. Shifts like a prepped trans should when I’m WFOT, and drives smoooth when I’m cruising. Manually rowing through the gears is a pleasure as well. The kicker? Cost me less for a performance build and an entire new valve body and other hard parts than the “recommended” shop.
STAY AWAY FROM MURRAYs Transmission in London.
They don’t listen to what you tell them, and certainly don’t come across as knowing their trade despite good recomendations.
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Wow….speaking of car repair I will be visiting the on the way home Jiffy Lube, for the lube of course. Never had a problem with mechanics, my dad was a mechanic not professionally, but he was raised in the 60′s/70′s so pretty much ever boy/man was a car geek. Like “D in Seattle” who lays it out, straight to the point go to someone that you know is good from your peps. I myself go to my dads buddy who’s fair, and if I have time I’ll do it myself. Oil changes are a little different; I personal don’t feel like waiting overnight to have my oil changed so I’ll take it to some lube place for an hour…never had the horror Wal-Mart story yet.
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Neighbor’s mother-in-law died a few months ago. So, said neighbor had late 1990′s Buick Something to sell, and tried Craig’s List.
Turned out a horror show. Phone calls at midnight, people make appointment and no-show. One guy offers to pay half today, take the car, and pay the other half in a few months. Yea, right.
The best one. Fatass toothless guy asks to take the car for a short test drive. Guy is gone for a couple of hours and puts like 80 miles on the car. Neighbor was ready to report it stolen.
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When my WOT shifts are wonky, I like to hand-ream the flux capacitors. (Sorry Alex, but your story made no frikking sense to me. Maybe because I’m American? :> ) Truly, the ‘final drive planetary gearset ‘ thing makes some part of me think you’re BSing. HOWEVER, I am quite sure you are not.
Now then, what’s WOT? Worms on toast? Wiggly ol Tranny? Worn-out tampons? More info is needed please.
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Adam’s so fancy he probably wears a monocle.
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Our 2000 Ford Windstar is on its 5th pwr steering pump. We would take it to Wilson Ford in Fairmont for the pwr steering issues. I insisted that it had to be a design flaw and when they were putting on the 5th pump system, they admitted that this time the line was thicker to allow for more fluid. Don’t know if they were snowing me or not. That van is not our primary vehicle but we’re going to keep it and use it till the friggin wheels fall off.
We take our other vehicles to an independent mechanic in Fairmont who has served us very well for many years. If he ever retires, we’ll be lost.
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I have no idea what most of you are talking about. My eyes have a fine layer of glaze over them now and I have an ache in my right frontal lobe. Can we talk about poop or something else that I have a more intimate knowledge of?
To avoid getting ripped off by mechanics, I just don’t service my car. So far it’s worked for me. Although, I had a car for about 3 years without a single oil change and when I blew out a tire, decided to have the tire shop go ahead and change the oil while that had the thing hoisted up there. About an hour later, a dirty man with a condescending look on his face came out and said “just HOW LONG has it been since your last oil change?”. I told him I didn’t like the tone he was using with me. That car made it to over 200k miles on a single oil change.
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WOT = Wide open throttle.
Regular English. = Floor it.
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Wide Open Throttle
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Hate to say – I know exactly what Alex is saying.
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I had a primer colored 78 GMC Pacer that was to the floor and had the flex pulled to the ass, down 2 and nasty with the top. My mechinic neighbor and I had spent months fucking out the pipes and slicking up the valves.
The time came to take her out and make her puke.
Well, I don’t have to tell you, we expected that sumbitch to light up like a Christmas tree and flat-out walk the dog. But it didn’t. Turns out the new orange shag carpet I’d put on the floor was so thick it was keeping the cool “barefoot” gas pedal I’d installed from going all the way down.
Just goes to show ya, I don’t know shit.
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Years ago I had some work down at a Midas Muffler in the off hours (the criminal neighbor landed a job from his parole officer fixing mufflers). I showed up right at close and the manager lets the guy do a little work on the side for cash (and kickback). Anyway I am hanging out with the manager and he shows me the Regional Managers latest memo. To Paraphase it went something like this “your store revenue is down. I want an average of $475 per customer. Sell complete exhausts and shocks to all customers. Tell people with Car seats that brakes are important saftey devices. Any car older than 2 years needs shocks and brakes….”
It was quite the eye-opener to me. These national chains have revenue goals where as the local guy relies on repeat business. Find a repair shop where the owner has enough guts to put his name on the sign and sends his kids to the same school as you.
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I had a primer colored 78 GMC Pacer that was to the floor and had the flex pulled to the ass, down 2 and nasty with the top. My mechinic neighbor and I had spent months fucking out the pipes and slicking up the valves.
The time came to take her out and make her puke.
Well, I don’t have to tell you, we expected that sumbitch to light up like a Christmas tree and flat-out walk the dog. But it didn’t. Turns out the new orange shag carpet I’d put on the floor was so thick it was keeping the cool “barefoot” gas pedal I’d installed from going all the way down.
Just goes to show ya, I don’t know shit.
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You try to live a good clean life and one day you wake up and there’s a tranny laying in your driveway.
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Gearhead talk is kinda zexxy when they really know their stuff
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Jason – tranny as in transmission or transexual?
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Tampons wear out?
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Alice in WV – you decide. Either one would be bad, a clear sign that you’ve given up clean livin.
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I’m actually headed to the mechanic in a few minutes. Got a check engine light that AutoZone says is probably a vacuum leak or faulty purge solenoid. Purge solenoid?? The guy couldn’t even explain to me what it was. I think it’d make a great band name though. I’m going to a place that a friend recommended that specializes in Volkswagens. I’m sure they’ll do a good job, but probably charge me for it. But I guess it’s better than going to a cheap place that will crap it up.
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Just for Alice in WC
Purge solenoid is a little electrical vacuum switch that lets the engine suck out the fumes from the charcoal canister which is what captures the fumes coming from the gas tank. (Tanks vented to the atmosphere in the good old days). Since the engine will run like crap if it purged the canister constantly, they put in a purge solenoid. So, if the monitoring computer doesn’t detect a pressure change in the emmisions system (its kept pressurized slightly these days, if the computer detects a loss of pressure, you get your CEL with a generic ee fault) it assumes the solenoid is toast. Might be as simple as a pinched hose… but that level of fault detection is a few decades away at best.
WOT: Wide open throttle.
WFOT: Wide Fucking Open Throttle.
Planetary Gear set is the little diameter jobby in the center of this photo. 4 small gears are pinned into the circumferance-hence the planetary name.
http://image.carcraft.com/f/8579951/116_9508_tran_01_z.jpg
(if it doesn’t show, put a question mark after the .jpg and press enter).
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When I was in college a mechanic charged me $800 for a new oil pan and some associated parts and I drove it home to Michigan… where it promptly shit the bed. Turns out they diid exactly nothing to my car. To top it off, I had to pay again to get the f-er home. I took it back to the original shop and they denied eveything and insisted that they put in the new oil pan, etc… ever since then I refuse to go to a mechanic without a big guy friend who speaks “car.” It makes me ill to have to do that, but there it is.
Similarly, in a different state, my mom took her car to a garage and they stole the hubcaps and insisted that they were missing when she brought it there.
I know there are honest mechanics out there, but I have had a lot more experience with dishonest/incompetent ones.
As for the state inspections…. highway robbery here in Texas. In my neck of the woods they will practially disassemble your car to find something wrong. And they always do. I had a friend whose brand new car failed an inspection! Bullcrap, I say.
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just had my car keyed today for the very first time & my damned lease is up at the end of the Month I am your typical middle of the road Canuck but I would happily pay good money to have whoever did this fingers broken one by one!
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Misselle… you’re right. My car once failed Texas Inspection because the douche at the inspection place didn’t like my alignment being slightly off… which I had planned on getting fixed because my tires aren’t cheap, but still!
I’m fairly sure I’ll have to shell a little something out to pass tomorrow’s inspection. At least I don’t live in DFW, Austin, Houston, or SA where you have to have emissions inspections. I know I won’t fail, but it’s an extra $50 to pay for the emissions inspection! Wotta rip-off!
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I once took my car in to get all the fluids, belts, etc. before a road trip. Mechanic told me all was shipshape and I pd the bill. Two hrs later, I was in the boonies of friggin’ Egypt and the car overheats. It was past 8:00 at night, so the sandbilly town I walked back to (2 miles) had nothing open, and the trucker whose door I knocked on in the gas station parking lot was apparently afraid of lil’ ole me and wouldn’t open his door. I finally had to walk up to a house and ask to use the phone. Instead, the guy came out, discovered that the jackhole mechanic hadn’t shut the coolant properly, and it had all gone bye-bye. He filled it back up, and followed me about 20 miles to make sure it kept running.
When I got back to Hickville, I marched in to the mechanic, and we had a little come-to-Jesus session, at which point a stammering minion returned my money and the boss was made aware of my displeasure. Now I change my own oil, check my own fluids and belts, etc. which is much better than bending over and singing Moon River every time I need a little work done.
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[...] Read the rest here: The Weekend of Good Results [...]
State inspections are simply a con game played by politicians and garage owners. The garage owners pay off the politicians and the politicians facilitate the garage in ripping people off hand over fist. You should have heard the cacophony of squealing and pissing from auto repair shops when in my state of Missouri it was proposed that inspections be done away with. The garage owners actually admitted that they would lost 70-80% of their business if they weren’t allowed to continue the scam.
Luckily living in a rural area of Missouri we have places which are amicable to certain fiduciary arrangements for passing vehicles which would not normally pass inspection. A number of people sorta rotate the inspection racket around. One will run it a few years until he gets busted for passing vehicles for cash or simply handing over the stickers without even inspecting the vehicle in question. Once that guy gets busted the racket goes to another guy who’ll run it until he gets busted and passes it to the next. Thing rotates around through the same half a dozen people. By the time the last guy gets busted the first guy is eligible to take it back.
Last time I got an inspection I didn’t have a muffler, high beams, horn and had bald tires. Passed with flying colors.
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I am a relatively young guy, but I have an amazing job. I fix commercial espresso machines. I’m talking about starbucks, and your local coffee shacks, their 10-15-20 thousand dollar machines. I started while I was still in high school, and have been doing it ever since, on the side now that I am finishing college. What this job has taught me, is compassion for (most) mechanics. I have quit two jobs, and have been fired from another, for not wanting to screw a customer(various fields, most service industry).
My job fixing espresso machines is a lot like fixing cars, believe it or not. When someone’s machine malfunctions, they bring it to me to fix. The problem is that the only way I can do my job is by diagnosing. I fire up the machine and try to figure out what is wrong. All I can fix is what I see when I have a machine in my shop. There have been dozens of times when a customer claimed I cheated them, or added on unneeded parts to jack up the price. This breaks my heart, because I realize every machine I work on is the lifeblood of someone’s business. The funny thing is, I WANT them to succeed, I like most of the people I work for. Yet they seem convinced that my only priority is to screw them over. This is why I feel for auto mechanics.
Let me give you an example: A customer says their espresso machine is malfunctioning. They haven’t had it serviced in 10 years, and the wear and tear has taken its toll. The problem sounds simple, and I quote them $300. When I take the machine apart, it turns out that the customer lives in an area with extremely high mineral deposits in the water. They weren’t using a water filter to ensure clean water. All of their copper fittings ( some of you should know how easy copper is to bend or break) are almost sealed shut due to calcification. As soon as I try to remove them, the fittings break, or they crossthread when I try to put them back on. My estimate is doubled, and the customer hates me. I had no intention of ripping someone off, yet their lack of maintenance has cost them dearly. What do I do? What do I say?
Give mechanics a break I say. At least sometimes.
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I’m a mechanic, and i own my own shop. I was the shop foreman at a dealership that had a rep for doing pretty shitty work. It got to the point where sometimes I was embarrased to tell people where I worked. One issue was its hard to find good techs that actually give a shit about what they are doing. My manager kept hiring these kids fresh out of school that couldnt fix a ham sandwich. I had been working on cars almost as long as some these greenhorns had been alive. Its ok to be young and inexperienced, but not when there are 10 or 12 of these punks F’n up cars left and right and nobody , even in management, gives two shits .
I said F dis and opened my own shop. I go by the saying, Karmas a Bitch. Dont fuck people, always be honest and straight forward. Always be fair , to yourself and the customer. Ive got so much work to do I cant see straight. At the end of the day I know I did an honest days work.
Renee —— I specialize in Volkswagens. The EVAP purge solenoids do go bad, but most of the time if there is a “gross leak detected” you left the gas cap loose
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For car repairs, the advice to find a good local mechanic is right on the money. I found mine by asking around on a web forum that pertains to the brand of car I drive. OK, I’ll name names – if you’re in northern Virginia, Convenience Car Care in Manassas is the place to go. They are not super-cheap, but they do the work (which the dealership might not), and they do it correctly (which the dealership might not). On top of that, they are nice folks – and have an espresso machine for your use! They also sell used cars, and there is usually something interesting to look at on the lot – Porsche race car, Unimog, etc.
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Have I ever been ripped off by a mechanic? Hmmmm, let’s see, oh yes, why I do have a vagina. I could write a book about the number of times I have been ripped off. Bikerchick I am right there with ya’ (minus the big fun bags). Here are two of my personal faves:
1) Tilly and I were on a road trip after I had a several hundred dollar engine repair. We start hearing this terrible knocking noise. Tilly says she can fix it. I say, you can? And she turns the stereo up full blast. Before we can even get to the next exit the car is dead. It was serious coin to have the car towed back to the original mechanic, who I thought would do the right thing. After several hundred more dollars I found out that was not his intention.
2) Dropped the car off at WallyWorld for new tires. They promptly drove it into a post causing more that 3K in damage. If I want them to pay for fixing the car I am going to have to sue them, not because they say they didn’t do it, but because they say it wasn’t their fault. Oh my, I may be blonde, but I am not a complete maroon.
P.S. I know there are good, honest mechanics around. I just can’t seem to find one when I need one. Rats.
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I think the mud bearing on your muffler pump is wore out.
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We got my hubby’s Mom’s car that had sit undriven for a couple of years after she died. Somebody started it every other day and drove it once a week, but otherwise it was a sitter. I took it to the local dealership for that type of car and gave them a list of things to be checked. One was the tires. They had to be rotten and the treads looked mighty thin to me.
Oh, no. They swear it’s all fine. I pay $250 and leave. I make it to Frosty’s Chevron (now defunct) and as I used to always do after an inspection or a fluid change, I paid the extra for full-service fill-up and had them check the oil. It was out of oil. It didn’t even register on the stick. So, I leave the car there and have them check out everything on the list. Nothing had been done at a price of $250. The mechanic was so mad when he got it up on the rack he sent someone over to get me to take me to the shop to show me the dry rot on the tires and how there was no possible way that car had ever seen a rack or a mechanic before the stop at Frosty’s. I never went back to that dealership, and when that car died we bought its replacement from a dealership we know we can trust.
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I never get taken by mechanics. Ever. My mechanic has full access to the cotton candy amusement park of wonder and glee.
Well, maybe not full access but enough to insure I don’t get fucked, figuratively at least.
I get my oil changed at a drive thru ‘monkey lube’ or somesuch every 3000 miles and refuse all over services. I drive a 10 year old Honda…and in ten years I will be driving a 20 year old Honda.
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I spent 7 years in the Army Reserves pretending to be a mechanic, so I can do most work myself if I want to. These days one of the contractors I deal with fixes my van for free, which is good because my MPV just ate it’s 3rd alternator in 6 years.
D in Seattle gives good advice on finding a mechanic. The only thing I can add is to check out the shop: if it’s a mess, go somewhere else. Any decent mechanic I’ve ever seen keeps a clean shop.
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I come from a family of mechanics, which I am often thankful for, especially when reading crap like this.
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Reporting this mornings appointment… canceled… rescheduled for Thursday at 7:30 am. I just found out I have to drive to Dallas for a meeting Thursday morning so I figured, I may as well put the 350 miles on the dealer’s loaner car
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I was a young girl about 22, and I had just gotten new rotors and brake pads on my ’85 Dodge 600 a month before I took it in for an oil change and alignment. The shop manager had the guts to call and tell me that my rotors were worn and by law he couldn’t turn them again. I told him to put it all back together, don’t even change the oil, and I would take it back to where I got the brakes done. Not even 5 minutes later, he calls me back and feeds me a story about how he has a new tech who measured wrong. Whatever. Like I just fell off the turnip truck. I went in to pick up my car and he tried to charge me a $75 “diagnostic fee”. What a thief.
Then I took my dad’s original advice and went to his mechanic, and got an alignment and oil change for less than $100. After that, I figured that maybe my dad did know what he was talking about. (If you’re ever need any repairs in Bellefontaine, Ohio, you want to take your car to Jacob’s Auto Repair)
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I told a mechanic that I thought my truck had dropped a rectal plate and he replied “well, let me put it up on the lift and see if it’s completely gone”. I laughed out loud.
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I grew up in a car-guy family, my Dad raced cars, my brother, cousin and I now race cars and although I’m not a licensed mechanic my part time job throughout high school and for a few years after was in a garage, doing oil changes, tire installs and eventually rads, alternators, brakes and exhaust, etc. I even had the luck/pleasure to work with Len Bertrand of Lentech Transmission fame (you drag racers should know that name…)
The advice given here is good. Find a local owned shop through work of mouth that you can trust, look for a clean shop (Lenny was always meticulous when working on a vehicle) and keep going back…it is a great benefit to a mechanic to get to know your car and it will be less expensive in the long run.
I also sympathize with mechanics and shop owners (see expresso machine story above.) It is nearly impossible to give an accurate repair estimate when you are dealing with people who never maintain their vehicles, aren’t even capable of basic fluid checks or wiper changes and lie about it all.
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Best line EVER!
[quote]all of us would be breaded in filth, and I’d have gnats whitewater rafting down the length of my crackal region.[/quote]
Jeff, you made my day! That one’s going in my repertoire.
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