This is sort of a long story, but I wanted to share something that happened to me today. A few weeks ago my sister moved to Savannah GA to go to college. Before she left I gave her car the once over and everything looked good. I keep up with all the maintenance on the car (96 V6 mustang dual exhaust 125k) and everything is up to date. Well today she was driving home from class and had a heater hose start leaking. She called me and said she was only about 5 miles from her apartment and that it wasn't overheating so I told her to drive to the nearest shop and get a ride home. They told her they would have the hose fixed in a hour so she waited. After they fixed the hose this is what they told her.. "We fixed your hose, but your car will not make it home you have a bad head gasket cause your exhaust 'smells sweet in the right pipe but not the left' there is 'oil in your plenum' and 'exhaust is going back into your exhaust' you need a engine rebuild and I have a friend who builds mustang racing engines"... Well for starter's her car has an X-pipe so the 'your right pipe smells but not the left' is Bull. I have recently changed the plugs and they all looked perfect. There is no oil in the antifreeze or antifreeze in the oil. She was very upset that he told her that her car was going to leave her.. I told her to pay for what they did and take it home, but he assured her that her engine wouldn't last long if she didn't have it rebuilt. I wish I would have been there to talk to him, and I will defiantly be paying them a visit on my next trip there to discuss all these 'issues'. It just really burned me to have someone blatantly prey on a 20 year old girl that he thought would be a push over. This happened at a Goodyear service center in Savannah. I just wanted to share this, and I feel better now that I have gotten it off my chest.
Mechanic Rip Off
- Thread starter nwjones18
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JHZR2
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There are folks that prey on unknowing consumers... and there are folks who truly think they know something and act like it though they are wrong.
Definitely pay them a visit and report back! Bring the car back to them and have them show exactly what they found.
I'd have had her get them to log all their claims on the bill for reference.
Definitely pay them a visit and report back! Bring the car back to them and have them show exactly what they found.
I'd have had her get them to log all their claims on the bill for reference.
A Goodyear service center...Enough said...Sounds like the ones in Miami and Fort Lauderdale...This goes on every single day down here...She would have been better going to the Ford stearlership...Even if had to towed there.
Call the local BBB on them after you have it looked at.
Well they fixed her hose for $30 so I'm not unhappy about that. I had her get them to write down every single thing they said was wrong and the guy who was telling her signed it, so I have it to take back to them when I go.
This is why an indy mechanic that you trust is worth every penny they charge more than these piles.
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
Well they fixed her hose for $30 so I'm not unhappy about that. I had her get them to write down every single thing they said was wrong and the guy who was telling her signed it, so I have it to take back to them when I go.
That is a very good start.
Well they fixed her hose for $30 so I'm not unhappy about that. I had her get them to write down every single thing they said was wrong and the guy who was telling her signed it, so I have it to take back to them when I go.
That is a very good start.
Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
This is why an indy mechanic that you trust is worth every penny they charge more than these piles.
Ain't that the truth!
This is why an indy mechanic that you trust is worth every penny they charge more than these piles.
Ain't that the truth!
A customer brings their car in complaining of a leaking heater hose. Technician A says that the car must have blown a head gasket and must perform the Exhaust Smell Test (EST) to confirm. Technician B says oil in the plenum will definitively diagnose a blown head gasket. Technician C says take the money and run. Who is correct?
1) Technician A only
2) Technician B only
3) Technician A and Technician B
4) Technician C only
5) None of the above
1) Technician A only
2) Technician B only
3) Technician A and Technician B
4) Technician C only
5) None of the above
*PUTS HAND UP* There is no #6, for all of the above.
This is one of the reasons that I myself started doing maintenance and minor repairs on my 20-year-old daughter's car. I can't stand the idea of someone taking advantage of her lack of auto knowledge.
A single mother that we know takes her car to the goodyear up the street for EVERYTHING.
The last service involved $950 to replace a fuel pump on a 99 chevy malibu.
I have no idea how they can charge $800+ in labor to put a fuel pump in any car.
Its sad really, she took out a goodyear charge card to make installment payments on it.
The last service involved $950 to replace a fuel pump on a 99 chevy malibu.
I have no idea how they can charge $800+ in labor to put a fuel pump in any car.
Its sad really, she took out a goodyear charge card to make installment payments on it.
Originally Posted By: JustinH
A single mother that we know takes her car to the goodyear up the street for EVERYTHING.
The last service involved $950 to replace a fuel pump on a 99 chevy malibu.
I have no idea how they can charge $800+ in labor to put a fuel pump in any car.
Its sad really, she took out a goodyear charge card to make installment payments on it.
Did they charge double book time. Wow. Rip off
A single mother that we know takes her car to the goodyear up the street for EVERYTHING.
The last service involved $950 to replace a fuel pump on a 99 chevy malibu.
I have no idea how they can charge $800+ in labor to put a fuel pump in any car.
Its sad really, she took out a goodyear charge card to make installment payments on it.
Did they charge double book time. Wow. Rip off
Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
This is why an indy mechanic that you trust is worth every penny they charge more than these piles.
+1000
This is why an indy mechanic that you trust is worth every penny they charge more than these piles.
+1000
Is this the 3.8L?
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
This is sort of a long story, but I wanted to share something that happened to me today. A few weeks ago my sister moved to Savannah GA to go to college. Before she left I gave her car the once over and everything looked good. I keep up with all the maintenance on the car (96 V6 mustang dual exhaust 125k) and everything is up to date. Well today she was driving home from class and had a heater hose start leaking. She called me and said she was only about 5 miles from her apartment and that it wasn't overheating so I told her to drive to the nearest shop and get a ride home. They told her they would have the hose fixed in a hour so she waited. After they fixed the hose this is what they told her.. "We fixed your hose, but your car will not make it home you have a bad head gasket cause your exhaust 'smells sweet in the right pipe but not the left' there is 'oil in your plenum' and 'exhaust is going back into your exhaust' you need a engine rebuild and I have a friend who builds mustang racing engines"... Well for starter's her car has an X-pipe so the 'your right pipe smells but not the left' is Bull. I have recently changed the plugs and they all looked perfect. There is no oil in the antifreeze or antifreeze in the oil. She was very upset that he told her that her car was going to leave her.. I told her to pay for what they did and take it home, but he assured her that her engine wouldn't last long if she didn't have it rebuilt. I wish I would have been there to talk to him, and I will defiantly be paying them a visit on my next trip there to discuss all these 'issues'. It just really burned me to have someone blatantly prey on a 20 year old girl that he thought would be a push over. This happened at a Goodyear service center in Savannah. I just wanted to share this, and I feel better now that I have gotten it off my chest.
With 2 exceptions, I know longer deal with service stations or dealerships. They are brakes (because of potential liability if I mess up), and suspension work (because I don't have the equipment to replace something like a strut).
I had 2 service stations essentially kill my last car from botched work that resulted in a dry engine that then threw a rod, after they had twice 'fixed' the problem. Only with two of them having done botched work around the same time, there was no recourse because each shop could blame the other and it was difficult to prove that one of them was the to blame. That was after sinking almost 2 grand into it over 4 months. It now sits in a landfill while I still pay it off through the loan that was rolled into the loan I took out for my current car.
And on that car, its first oil change was botched by another shop that does nothing but fluid changes and also services the local police fleet. They stripped the plug, the pan, and refused to provide any form of compensation. So for now I change the oil through the dipstick hole until I can replace the pan & plug myself (there's a self-tapper in there now, but I prefer to leave it in until I replace the pan).
I've lost all faith in them. Everyone of them was recommended by at least one co-worker or friend of mine. At least when I do my own work, aside from saving on their insane labour charges, I have the piece of mind in knowing exactly what parts are used, exactly what is done, and that its been done right. It takes me a lot longer, but I've never replaced anything unnecessarily or broken anything. And the money saved on labour has been reinvested into a steadily expanding collection of professional grade tools which, unlike with labour charges, I will have for life and can re-use over and over (lifetime warranty on everything I've bought, and I buy when they're on sale for 50%-75% off).
-Spyder
This is sort of a long story, but I wanted to share something that happened to me today. A few weeks ago my sister moved to Savannah GA to go to college. Before she left I gave her car the once over and everything looked good. I keep up with all the maintenance on the car (96 V6 mustang dual exhaust 125k) and everything is up to date. Well today she was driving home from class and had a heater hose start leaking. She called me and said she was only about 5 miles from her apartment and that it wasn't overheating so I told her to drive to the nearest shop and get a ride home. They told her they would have the hose fixed in a hour so she waited. After they fixed the hose this is what they told her.. "We fixed your hose, but your car will not make it home you have a bad head gasket cause your exhaust 'smells sweet in the right pipe but not the left' there is 'oil in your plenum' and 'exhaust is going back into your exhaust' you need a engine rebuild and I have a friend who builds mustang racing engines"... Well for starter's her car has an X-pipe so the 'your right pipe smells but not the left' is Bull. I have recently changed the plugs and they all looked perfect. There is no oil in the antifreeze or antifreeze in the oil. She was very upset that he told her that her car was going to leave her.. I told her to pay for what they did and take it home, but he assured her that her engine wouldn't last long if she didn't have it rebuilt. I wish I would have been there to talk to him, and I will defiantly be paying them a visit on my next trip there to discuss all these 'issues'. It just really burned me to have someone blatantly prey on a 20 year old girl that he thought would be a push over. This happened at a Goodyear service center in Savannah. I just wanted to share this, and I feel better now that I have gotten it off my chest.
With 2 exceptions, I know longer deal with service stations or dealerships. They are brakes (because of potential liability if I mess up), and suspension work (because I don't have the equipment to replace something like a strut).
I had 2 service stations essentially kill my last car from botched work that resulted in a dry engine that then threw a rod, after they had twice 'fixed' the problem. Only with two of them having done botched work around the same time, there was no recourse because each shop could blame the other and it was difficult to prove that one of them was the to blame. That was after sinking almost 2 grand into it over 4 months. It now sits in a landfill while I still pay it off through the loan that was rolled into the loan I took out for my current car.
And on that car, its first oil change was botched by another shop that does nothing but fluid changes and also services the local police fleet. They stripped the plug, the pan, and refused to provide any form of compensation. So for now I change the oil through the dipstick hole until I can replace the pan & plug myself (there's a self-tapper in there now, but I prefer to leave it in until I replace the pan).
I've lost all faith in them. Everyone of them was recommended by at least one co-worker or friend of mine. At least when I do my own work, aside from saving on their insane labour charges, I have the piece of mind in knowing exactly what parts are used, exactly what is done, and that its been done right. It takes me a lot longer, but I've never replaced anything unnecessarily or broken anything. And the money saved on labour has been reinvested into a steadily expanding collection of professional grade tools which, unlike with labour charges, I will have for life and can re-use over and over (lifetime warranty on everything I've bought, and I buy when they're on sale for 50%-75% off).
-Spyder
ouch.
It seems that the bad guys rule the mechanic world, but the gazillions of good ones never get the press that the [censored] do.
Glad sis escaped. They were just hoping she'd whip out the credit card.
It seems that the bad guys rule the mechanic world, but the gazillions of good ones never get the press that the [censored] do.
Glad sis escaped. They were just hoping she'd whip out the credit card.
Originally Posted By: TLMjared
...there is plenty of work out there for shops WITHOUT having to sell un-needed things...
To the contrary, think how reliable cars are today and how often you take them in for service. Since the late 90s, I've only taken in one car for an unscheduled repair. Just once!! Everything else was for things like tires. That's all. Places like Jiffy Lube and Goodyear can't stay in business off of $19 oil changes and $10 mounting & balancing.
Look around, you see repair shops EVERYWHERE. There just isn't enough work for them, that's why they rip off people. It's only going to get worse as the last batch of cars from the 80s and early 90s are retired (cars from that era were crummy). Either a lot of technicians are going to become unemployed or they're going to rip off people more often
...there is plenty of work out there for shops WITHOUT having to sell un-needed things...
To the contrary, think how reliable cars are today and how often you take them in for service. Since the late 90s, I've only taken in one car for an unscheduled repair. Just once!! Everything else was for things like tires. That's all. Places like Jiffy Lube and Goodyear can't stay in business off of $19 oil changes and $10 mounting & balancing.
Look around, you see repair shops EVERYWHERE. There just isn't enough work for them, that's why they rip off people. It's only going to get worse as the last batch of cars from the 80s and early 90s are retired (cars from that era were crummy). Either a lot of technicians are going to become unemployed or they're going to rip off people more often
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