Anyone see ABC "Primetime" last night?

[novadude]

They were talking about shady practices at Jiffy Lube type places. Some examples were, charging for a Fuel Filter replacement, and never touching the filter. An $800 repair estimate for a car that had just been completely serviced, etc. They interviewed former workers that were told to "be creative" when looking for items to repair / replace.

Watching this show made me glad that I do ALL my own repairs / mainetenance!

 

[Ray Garlington]

Where I live, Jiffy Lube does state inspections. My son took his 91 Honda Accord for a state inspection and mentioned that the driver's door wouldn't open so they would have to enter via the passenger's door. As he was departing (leaving the car for the inspection) a couple of 'mechanics' ran after him and told him his car definitely wouldn't pass inspection with the bad door; however, if he paid them 'under the table' they would be able to pass the car. He didn't like the sound of that, so he retrieved his keys & left with the car.

It turns out that the driver's door opening is not an inspected item.

 

[T-Keith]

How does the saying go? If you want something done right......

Sadly, crooked, ignorant, or just plain dumb mechanics aren't uncommon. I'd like to point out though, that one shouldn't blanket all employees of a company, just because of a few bad employees. I'm sure there are plenty of good people that work at Jiffy lube, although I don't know of any personally. Granted though that managment can be blamed for alot of the bad workers, be it through low pay, low standards or outright instructing the employees so.

But remember that it depends more on the person then the place. I've seen major screw-ups and shady practices and virtually every kind of shop. , dealers, chains, quick lubes, local shops, and "back-door" mechanics.

Moral of the story. If you must bring your car in for service, ignore the sign out front and find a "person" you can trust. Odds are you'll find bad people at ANY place you go.

-T

 

[novadude]

My thought on Auto Repair is as follows:

For ALMOST any job, I can buy/borrow/rent the proper tools to do the job myself, and learn something in the process. If things are not done right, I only have myself to blame! LOL

Of course thier are some exceptions. While I have torn Valve bodies apart to install shift kits, I have never gotten into a full automatic transmission rebuild. Something like that is better left to pros, IMO. However, when it comes to brakes, suspension, and engine I will always try to so it myself.

 

[Titanium_Alloy]

quote:

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Originally posted by T-Keith:
How does the saying go? If you want something done right......

Sadly, crooked, ignorant, or just plain dumb mechanics aren't uncommon.

---

Agree!!!

quote:

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I'm sure there are plenty of good people that work at Jiffy lube, although I don't know of any personally.

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HA HA HA HA

No offense to you personally but - I laugh my butt
off

[ February 20, 2004, 11:29 PM: Message edited by: Dan4510 ]