The quality of mechanics that work on your vehicles and the quality of their work is a crapshoot now days.
- Thread starter JimPghPA
- Start date
All the tire shops I have dealt with tell you to come back in 100 miles and have them checked. I reset my trip meter and make sure I do it.
I’m a semi mechanic. We are not to be pulled off anything when a driver does a pull up for a burned out headlight or whatever else when we are doing brakes or tires. A pull up is when a driver comes to the shop and wants something minor fixed right now.
Its beyond bad.
Ive had to send back 2 out of 8 jobs to be finished properly and had one job catastrophically explode - an improperly mounted fan clutch took out my brand new CSF radiator.
I actually reviewed one shop and gave them a 3 our of 5 despite me having to return and the owner called me and begged me to change the review which I ultimately did because they worked with me in good faith to make it right.
Ive had to send back 2 out of 8 jobs to be finished properly and had one job catastrophically explode - an improperly mounted fan clutch took out my brand new CSF radiator.
I actually reviewed one shop and gave them a 3 our of 5 despite me having to return and the owner called me and begged me to change the review which I ultimately did because they worked with me in good faith to make it right.
But why doesn't anyone care about their job?
Most people need to feel a sense of accomplishment and investment in order to do their best work. Many employers treat their workers like they don't value them at all, and that they are easily replaceable.
My experience has been if you treat people with respect and show that you actually care about them they will be more likely to be invested in their work.
Great question.
it's because they don't like it.
Why don't they like it? Why aren't they doing something they like?
Keep following the questions and you'll get to the answer. It's one word and it's been mentioned before.
It is why they come from all corners of the world, and it is why they are all miserable.
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It sounds to me like the lug nuts were spot-tightened with the impact wrench, but the mechanic forgot to precision-tighten them with the torque wrench. Odd, since all the mechanics I've gone to in the past decade say they always use torque wrenches to tighten lug nuts to avoid snapping bolts or otherwise causing damage that might result in repairs they have to pay for themselves, but I suppose mistakes happen.
Next time, take it to the dealer. If they screw something up, the car manufacturer gets mad at them too, and if they make enough mistakes they can lose their franchise. Dealers are therefore less tolerant of mistakes.
Next time, take it to the dealer. If they screw something up, the car manufacturer gets mad at them too, and if they make enough mistakes they can lose their franchise. Dealers are therefore less tolerant of mistakes.
I don't live in the US, our industry is a different world so won't comment...but. Something that has come to my recent attention - these young mechanics, they know everything...except the basics. Having been in this trade 52 years now, some things are basic, and you start with them - sparkplugs, very important and we replaced them every tuneup or service because they were worn out. They are now hard to get at, and last forever now. I bought a car 6 months ago, a Honda with the L15 engine...it had one new coil and was missing bad, and made the CVT feel like it was faulty. I thought maybe another coil out, but checked the plugs first as usual - they were totally flogged. I guess the young mechanic put the scanner on it - misfire on No3 cyl, replace the coil, still misfires...time to sell the car.
My daughter bought a Fit, with the L13 twin spark engine. It had 8 brand new coils, but thought I'd better have a look at the plugs - totally worn out. Who would go to the length and expense on replacing all the coils on one of these engines and not even pull one plug. I've been noticing it at work too...Nissans in particular. Engines in the Tiida, Wingroad, you need to remove the inlet manifold to check them - can't smack out a service fast and look good on your times if you have to check basics.
My daughter bought a Fit, with the L13 twin spark engine. It had 8 brand new coils, but thought I'd better have a look at the plugs - totally worn out. Who would go to the length and expense on replacing all the coils on one of these engines and not even pull one plug. I've been noticing it at work too...Nissans in particular. Engines in the Tiida, Wingroad, you need to remove the inlet manifold to check them - can't smack out a service fast and look good on your times if you have to check basics.
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It’s a very tough industry to work in right now, and quite honestly it’s been like this for a very long time. The pay isn’t good. The costs are high. Tools, training, equipment, time spent learning new technologies, time spent diagnosing...all while the employers and manufacturers lower labor times and wages. Not worth it. It’s why the people now working on your car are inexperienced (because a lot of techs have since left the industry and will never come back).
I was recently asked by a dealer association how to get more techs into the field: we were 30 minutes into this conference call and no one on the other end of that line mentioned wages, instead it was “free training”, tool incentives. That was about it. No one mentioned pay. No one mentioned benefits. No one mentioned the fact that techs will spend $20,000 plus on their own tools, work in hot shops barely making above what is considered welfare territory for most states - and only have two sick days and a week vacation for the year. Never crossed their thought process WHY they now have to hire people that have never worked on a car before, and cross their fingers that everything will just be A OK. I have ZERO sympathy for dealerships or their work shortage issues. Because those workers got smart and became plumbers or electricians (or went back to college). Good for them.
I was recently asked by a dealer association how to get more techs into the field: we were 30 minutes into this conference call and no one on the other end of that line mentioned wages, instead it was “free training”, tool incentives. That was about it. No one mentioned pay. No one mentioned benefits. No one mentioned the fact that techs will spend $20,000 plus on their own tools, work in hot shops barely making above what is considered welfare territory for most states - and only have two sick days and a week vacation for the year. Never crossed their thought process WHY they now have to hire people that have never worked on a car before, and cross their fingers that everything will just be A OK. I have ZERO sympathy for dealerships or their work shortage issues. Because those workers got smart and became plumbers or electricians (or went back to college). Good for them.
I don't know. It seems.to me.like the world was a better place when mechanics got paid on "piece work". The percentage was based on experience and level of expertise. If the job came back and had to be done over then 25-40% of nothing is nothing. You did the job right or you did it twice and got paid once. Mechanics today should be making $30-48 an hour at a $120 an.hour garage rate.The Mechanics would be motivated and the managers might not feel as much need to constantly push them. Would be better working conditions all around. If the mechanic is making good money the shop is too.
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So, here's the thing with piece work/flat rate. The tech is hustling to make a living. Ok, great, right? Except they are moving fast trying to beat the clock - to make more money - or else they won't make enough. Then they will also be FORCED to perform warranty work. Warranty work is payed by the manufacturer and manufacturers don't want to pay techs fairly because they are spending money on warranty repairs. It eats into their profits and they certainly don't care about the guy fixing the car. Therefore the tech is running around, rushing to "fix" things anyway he can. Right or wrongly. He's getting it done as fast as humanly possibly...cutting corners...making mistakes...doing it right/doing it wrong. Doesn't matter if they're making $38 busks or more an hour when at the end of the week they are only pulling in 25 hours. They want to make 40...50...60...100 hours a week, and that's not always possible. In some places it's darn near impossible. Either way the employer doesn't care because they are not going to lose a thing. And the manufacturer doesn't care either because a job that normally pays 6 hours labor, is going to be cut in half by the manufacturer...and they're getting labor for half the price.
Just food????
I used to take my company cars to a local Jiffy Lube which was well run. I got to know the shop mgr. because I was in there every 3k miles. It mostly depends on the local management. If they are good, the people are well trained and work together competently. Where you find these guys, I don't know.I have all my tire work done at my local Les Schwab, great group of guys, same group everytime I go in, not all new faces every visit, waiting room has a big window to watch all the work done on your car.
Costco told me that I needed to recheck the torque specs on ours within 50-100 miles when I had the new tires put on a few months back.
My CR-V has the factory rims on it. I had it for 2 years and checked the lugs after it was driven some after each time I worked on it. They never have moved much at all. Maybe one lugnut turning a very slight amount a few times, but not much at all.
I even asked the Honda dealer about if the lugs required checking after a certain number of miles, when I bought it. They said no. After 2 years of owning it and never having any significant loose lugs, I am sure that the only way all 5 were loose on one wheel is that they were never tighten properly when it was worked on that time.
Btw, while that shop may own torque wrenches, but I never ever saw them use one.
That is why I brought my own.
I even asked the Honda dealer about if the lugs required checking after a certain number of miles, when I bought it. They said no. After 2 years of owning it and never having any significant loose lugs, I am sure that the only way all 5 were loose on one wheel is that they were never tighten properly when it was worked on that time.
Btw, while that shop may own torque wrenches, but I never ever saw them use one.
That is why I brought my own.
My mom had a local mechanic that dropped two cars off their lift. Buick lesabre and mercury grand marquis. Both cars are not what you call tricky to lift correctly.
The mechanic lived a couple houses from her. He got very injured when the front tire on his motorcycle fell off. Yikes. True story. Bay view area of south side of milwaukee. His shop was on oklahoma ave
The mechanic lived a couple houses from her. He got very injured when the front tire on his motorcycle fell off. Yikes. True story. Bay view area of south side of milwaukee. His shop was on oklahoma ave
It starts with the automakers. Expensive parts, assembly efficiencies which run counter to repair efficiency ending with high overhead make it a hard slog.
This is one of the biggest reasons why I do my own work where possible, especially out here in the Middle East. With multiple vehicles in the fleet, I can afford to let a vehicle sit until I am done with whatever it is I am working on. I'm also extremely picky about replacement parts; just because it has a Motorcraft or an ACDelco sticker on it, or comes in a brown box with a Ford or GM part number doesn't mean jack anymore. Those days are gone, and most parts are garbage right out the box.
Here's just three examples of what I've faced in the past:
I think I've had enough trusting others to do my work for me.
Here's just three examples of what I've faced in the past:
- The last time I paid someone to replace the engine mounts on my GMC Envoy, the genius working on it somehow got the oxygen sensor wire tangled around his socket/extension and tore it right off. Not only was this was a brand new sensor at the time with barely 500 miles on it, but this was a dealership technician. There was a CEL when I went to pick it up, and that was the end of that. How did this get through "quality control"?
- When I took my Mitsubishi Pajero in to replace the brake booster, I had a flickering low oil pressure light immediately afterwards. I parked the vehicle until I could verify oil pressure and in the end, it turned out the genius doing the work squashed the wiring harness above the brake booster between the brake booster and the firewall, damaging the wire. This was supposed to be a "Mitsubishi specialist".
- The Ford Explorer was in for a brake job; rotors, pads and brake hoses. Without checking to see if the parking brake was engaged, the "tech" took a giant hammer to the rear rotors, which caused the friction material on the parking brakes to tear off the backing plates. Parts are hard to come by for this vehicle locally, and that put a giant spanner in the works until new parking brake shoes were ordered and shipped in. Shame, because the old ones were in great shape with barely any wear. So much for being a "Ford tech", specializing in Fords only.
I think I've had enough trusting others to do my work for me.
They already are, though.....the garage rate is usually over $200/hr.
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