| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/23/2006 6:21:25 AM | | as a govt certified mechanic presently operating a engine shop let me give some input...there are good and bad shops as there are good and bad people..find a good one and stay with them and remember we're human...we do make mistakes...how we deal with them is the difference | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/23/2006 6:57:46 AM | Hey well I guess getting rammed by your mechanic... is better than getting rammed from a so called friend .. right.... We understand u make mistakes... and that there are good and bad... but the point being that you dont know that in the beginning... sometimes it takes a long time to find someone you trust, someone who isnt out for JUST the all mighty buck | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/23/2006 7:00:47 AM | but why do WE have to pay for your mistakes??? that is the question? I screw up at work I fix it on MY time and if I use the wrong parts it is our cost.
I didn't think this was so much about getting taken for a ride by your mechanic but the COST of the ride. LOL | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/23/2006 7:41:49 AM | | You cant always just blame the mechanic . The mechanic is just doing his job . Its the shop owner charging $90/hr shop labour ,and wanting to charge 40 hours for diagnosing a bad battery , thats the kicker . If youre lucky , you can find an honest guy , who used to work for some rip off artist , and quit because he couldnt stand it anymore , but loves working on vehicles . It pays to know people ,lol . I go to Lordco , buy what I need , negotiate a discount ( because its fun ) and go to my buddy and ask what he's up to this weekend ,lol. | |
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nrk
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Joined: 3/31/2005
Msg: 30 | |
| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/23/2006 4:27:20 PM | | well like others have said...there are good shops/owners and bad shops/owners. and I don't like to pay for car repairs anymore than the next person but the overhead in a MODERN shop that can diagnose your problem with the latest computer equipment is very high. that equipment costs big bucks! I did the backyard mechanic route for a while and discovered I pretty much got what I paid for...crappy work that had to be done over...sometimes more than once. now I have an excellent shop where the techs know their stuff and ya...they charge a little more than a 'grease monkey' but the work is guaranteed so I don't worry that I'm going to break down in the middle of nowhere because of shoddy workmanship. they don't want to see me come back b*tchin' because something went wrong. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/24/2006 7:11:56 AM | I think Ill stick to getting my parts from my girl at lordco for below mechanic cost.... and getting a very good bad man to do the work! .... ramming optional  | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 1:54:47 AM |
bullsh*t.
2 years ago i put a dent in the box of my truck.
it just happened again.same spot on the truck.
i was quoted $1400 MORE for parts than when i fixed it the first time.
thats about right. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 5:35:47 AM | I have a real issue with paying $85.00-90.00/hr for labour/shop fees.
Try even higher with the dealers...yikes! I only put my cars into the dealer as they are under warranty, but my fleet of trucks, a private shop. Actually have found 3 excellent mechanics in Abbotsford, honest, good work, and thier rates run from $50 to $64/hr.
I agree, women seem to be targets for some mechanics. Dealers are reputable, but too expensive. Private garages try to over charge women, and the uninformed man. Those scum buckets aught to be hung by the toenails (or some other more appropiate appendage). | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 6:14:41 AM | I don't really mind paying a higher price per hour, IF the job is done properly. I do though, take exception to the practice of billing a full hour when it only took a portion.
In all fairness though, I think some car problems are with the design itself and when things go wrong we make the assumption that any mechanic should be able to fix it. I had a North American made car once that was nothing but a gas guzzling, money sucking piece of metallic poo-poo. No sooner was one thing fixed, then another problem presented itself. The car manufacturer aptly named it well though ... cuz it was real BULL I tell ya .. real BULL! | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 6:39:45 AM | I had an out of province car I needed inspected when I first
moved to Vancouver.
Before moving here, I made sure my car was mechanically sound (Although I'm a woman - I do have car sense, lol). I did an oil change, replaced my brakes, muffler, struts, and tires with a mechanic I knew, but before ICBC would allow me to put insurance on my car, I had to have an inspection.
I didn't know of a good mechanic in the lower mainland, however was referred to a shop by a co-worker. The shop I took my car to told me that my front brakes needed replacing. I told them my brakes were replaced before I moved and found it strange that they needed replacing. The shop told me that it didn't matter what I did before I moved - they said my brakes needed replacing - and that's what they were going to write on the inspection sheet so before I could insure my car - I had no other choice but to replace my front brakes. They also told me that I could go to a different shop - but the inspection sheet would still indicate I needed new brakes before my car could be insured. I had to bite the bullet and get new brakes.
By the way - my car was only 7 years old with under 100,000kms
Talk about getting ripped off! | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 7:27:53 AM | my favorite is when they don't know what's wrong and just start replacing parts until the problem goes away. And every part they replace, if the old one is in perfect condition they're still "Whoa its a good thing we got rid of that part anyway, it was just about ready to break" 
But there are some good mechanics out there as well so I shouldn't generalize. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 8:20:15 AM | My car would not start.. repeatedly.
Got a final jump start, and went to the local gas station.
Was told it was my alternator.. cost $475
Decided not to do the work there, and was charged $45 for the "test" on my car.
Got back home to my regular mechanic... he told me an alternator for my car would be under $300.. but he'd check it out. Ended up costing me $110 for a new battery.
Two years later, the alternator was still fine.
Some mechanics "are" honest.. even to women!
B. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 8:32:47 AM | hmm well not knowing any mechanically inclined friends...when my poor little car broke down..i had to take it to a garage..i was quoted $500...well i had to get it fixed.....so i got online..searched my car..searched the problem..found the part i needed was only $90...so anyways...when spoutin off all this information to the nice gentleman behind the counter...i guess i sounded like i knew what i was talkin about.. ...and i got it fixed for $138..
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 9:42:41 AM | I am pretty good friends with my mechanic, and we always flirt with each other jokingly. If I said anything about my mechanic ramming me, it'd be meant in an ENTIRELY different context | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 9:51:56 AM |
If I said anything about my mechanic ramming me, it'd be meant in an ENTIRELY different context
what happens when you ask him to check out your tailpipe?  | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 3:26:11 PM |
what happens when you ask him to check out your tailpipe?
he'd grab my ass and then start giggling
a bunch of us usually go out to Earls on Kingsway for Wings Wednesday, and we are forbidden to sit together. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 4:12:04 PM | Good sound advice on MSG 7 lol.
I know enough about car's to not get rammed by anyone,
and I know a little bit more about resourcefulness when & if it's called for.
see (checkmate lol.)
It's best to get someone you feel you can trust,
to refer you to someone they trust.
You might still get rammed, it just might not be as hard or dry.
Depending how much control they have in the shop to begin with.
And how much they really like who referred you in the first place. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 4:22:17 PM | I drive older, simpler cars to fix, and fix most things myself. It isn't rocket science, mostly un-bolting, then bolting back together. You do need to know how to properly go about things though. Extra parts at the end is no good. The 60's and early 70's was full of simple yet practical cars that parts are still readily available. You can insure them as collectable to. Cheap!
....ummm so no, I haven't been rammed. I know enough to get my old parts back, and I usualy buy my own parts, and supply them. I get a discount at Lordco. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 4:24:20 PM | Yes, taking any one of my vehicles into a shop scares me. Although i do know many mechanics here in town that cut me a good deal ----- i'm a student at the university thus i don't pay labor and i get 25-30% off of parts. Sweet deal?! Helllll yeah!!!!!! A plus on being a student. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/12/2007 6:17:34 PM | I worked in a shop for a year.... it was actually going to be my career, except the place I was working at really soured me on the whole thing.
Price markup is incredible, for one thing.
And yeah, while the store may charge $85-$90 an hour for shop labour, we Tech's MIGHT see 1/4 of that.
The same part for one car might cost 2-3x more in another. Why you may ask? For some stupid reason, parts are becomming more and more model-specific.
30 years ago, one type of starter would have fit MILLIONS of cars. Today, 1 starter for 1 car. Heck, even MUFFLERS are starting to become model specific. The industry is moving away from "One Size fits all" parts.
If you think being a wrench jockey is EASY, I've got some ocean-front property in Wyoming for sale.
Do NOT get me started on the imbecillic customers I had coming in with the most retarded requests!
Finally, yes, Some mechanics have become quite jaded and do tend to rape some customers. I don't condone it, but sometimes it's the only way they can actually make any money. The shop I worked at, I was actually paying to work for them. Hence why I got out. Now, I just do work on the side for certain people. | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/13/2007 10:11:19 AM | the visuals of this headline!
let's just say Im thrilled to have 1 bro who does mechanics and the other who has his own body shop! | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/17/2007 10:28:40 AM | Umm have heard many stories about people being ripped off and although have been out of shops for many years still available to help friends out... This said -a friend had taken his van to 2 shops--he was told the lifters were shot-- this was to cost him in the nieghborhood of $1100. to 1300 $ so he called me{again} it was the Cam gear or sprocket--I retreived one from the auto wreckers at and unforgivable price of $5.00 and while doing this replaced timing belt and crank seal--- for a total cost of{drum roll lol}with tax under 68.00..I did charge him labor a total of 280.
There are good shops out there.Although with labor costing up to 110/hour every little fix is expencive..
I do not have the time to fix every ones problems but will if I'm able? give answers on the ? right thing to do... To the unlucky lady with the brake problem--I would have had them put the car together and taken it to another shop !! Did you have the repair bill from where you had the brakes done ?? Then reported these rip off artists --Enough said  | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/17/2007 2:40:08 PM | I'm with Peach and Fluffy on this one.
Being that I am not at all mechanically inclined I was assuming this thread was gonna be
a little raunchier.
*****Also pulls my mind back from the gutter ******* | |
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| Getting Rammed By Your Mechanic...
Posted: 6/17/2007 7:57:27 PM | I have almost always done my own work, however:
The last 4 times i've ended up at a GM dealership (2 times for warranty, once for Insurace claim and once, while out-of town, for electronic/computer malfunction) they misdiagnosed, and/or didn't complete the work. Worse, they (3 times) lied when asked questions about the work. These were GM DEALERSHIPS!
Plus - they always tried to tack on an arbitary (unquantifiable) charge for "shop supplies" (illegal in many locales) and jacked-up the (previously-verified) price for an oil change (I decided to get that done as lon as the car was there and it was on special).
I had even worse experience from a local RV Mfr and their dealer! and a small garage that replaced the wrong worn balljoint - a couple of weeks after they had diagnosed it!
I'm tempted to conclude that the rule with cars (and houses btw) is "If you want something done right, ya gotta do it yourself." However I have found some good shops, an local alignmet shop and local rad shop come immediately to mind (and they aren't the cheapest). I view these shops as honourable people working in a very slimy industry.
btw for several years I was be employed p/t in a garage that I like to think was fairly honest, though not lilly-white (as if any are).
oth it is difficult for, especially the independants to keep up with the technological changes, and modern difficulties hireing qualified people.
In short I feel your pain. Good luck finding a good shop. Try asking around BEFORE you need one. | |
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