Mechanic shop question

[daniel@procarpet]

If you take your truck in to have an engine coolant leak fixed which can be a complex problem, would you expect to know everywhere it is leaking? If they missed something and came back a few days later with a much more expensive solution, how would you feel and what should be done?

Example: The mechanic tells you the water pump was leaking and the cost to fix it was going to be 400 parts and labor. Not bad but it needs fixing so go ahead. You go in the next day to pick truck up and it is still leaking but from the intake manifold gasket. Oh this is going to be a big job and you are looking at 1200 to get this fixed. Damn shouldn't that have been included in the initial assessment? Ok so you pay to have it fixed along with some other things.

The next week you are driving around and smell a really strong burning smell. Maybe it is just engine coolant burning off. Nope now the oil filter adapter is leaking which previously was not. And guess what; the truck still has an engine coolant leak. The heater control valve is leaking. This is the second leak point that was not discovered. Ok so you fix that. Two weeks later and the truck is still leaking. Now it is coming from the radiator.

All this happened to me.

I took my truck in to get a full tune up, intake manifold gasket fixed, and I had already paid for the water pump so the total was 1900 ish minus the water pump so 1500 ish. That is what he told me on the phone. I took my truck in Tuesday and he said two days would be plenty. Wednesday about 5pm I call and he says he is not going to finish. I explain that I must have my truck tomorrow and that I need it for a big job. He stays and works till 10 that night and then calls and says he will have to finish up in the morning. The next day I pick up truck and he says 1700. What you added two hundred dollars? I just wrote the check out.

Now my radiator is leaking.

It's not going to be pretty Monday morning cuz I am going to give this guy an ear full.

 

[Bob Foster]

Repair shops are one of my biggest pet peeves.

You obviously need another shop. I would suggest you find a small one man shop. Maybe even a person who works from their home. They usually are honest, stand behind their work and don't flat rate you and in the end cost you considerably less.

The leaks should have been picked up with the initial diagnostic inspection especially the manifold leak. They usually weep and stain. When you did the initial inspection you can ask them to break down the time they spent and if they were using some of the most common flat-rate books/software. From this detailed explanation of the hours for the job you well see where you PAID for the check out of the cooling system as part of the repair. That is an integral part of the repair process.

Remember, the service writer is paid commission and don't trust them - EVER. They get paid on how many hours they book and mechanics are also often paid flat rate per job. Many flat rate mechanics take great pride in telling other mechanics of their ability to do jobs in less than half the flat rate time they are paid for that job. But also in a flat rate shop the mechanic is usually responsible for fixing for free their screw-ups. But just try and get a mechanic or a shop to admit that, let alone RnR their screw up for free.

I hate those fookers!

 

[joeynbgky]

I have a one man band shop. I get free estimates and tell me what's wrong then have my mechanic fix it.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk

 

[Connor]

Been there, done that.

I gave a local Ford Dealer a negative Angie's list review over trying to sell me a front end, that wasn't why I even came in . They loosened my tie rod end and tried to tell me that it was going to fall apart. I called for an axle hub inspection because I got bumped on the rear wheel by an Intrepid I wanted be sure nothing was cracked. The car only contacted the wheel and hubcap and no body work, yet my rotating hub pulled his entire plastic bumper off.

When the service adviser, who I knew for 15 years and the mechanic, who I knew for ten years told me that crap, I was livid. I told them I knew what they were doing and that the tie rod connector was just loosened and exposed because I could see the clean threads on the part, but everything else was covered in paint and road grime. I painted the underside of the van flat black, but there were tool marks on the nuts where it was supposedly loose. The channel locks he used were on a cart right beside the elevated truck and I could see the tool scratches.

They took off one of the front wheels and told me that it wouldn't go back together without replacement. Remember, this was to check an axle hub.

I told them to put it back together and I was leaving, they protested and I said my attorney was being called in ten minutes as soon as his office opened.

I went to a local mechanic, that only works on domestics, he looked at it and in ten seconds confirmed what I suspected, he made sure everything was tight and right. Nine years later, I still have that van and the front end hasn't been replaced.

I went to high school with the mechanics wife, when I see them in public he has never come within fifteen feet of me. Which is kind of shamefully funny.

 

[FredC]

maybe not....especially not knowing the vehicle.............but that almost sounds like a dexcool disaster rather than an incompetent shop........

 

[Ron Lippold]

ten years running my dads shop and you clearly are one of thoses guys that dont maintain their shit. dont blame the mechanic. They try to do as little as possible. Believe me. Shit happens.. You should have been keeping a better eye on things dan.

 

[rwcarpet]

Was it a GM, Ford, or what make?? GM famous for intake leaks. And I just replaced my radiator in my 03 Chevy Express. Actually a very simple job....look's more difficult than it is. Once the air intake and shroud is off....smooth sailing. My 95 Chevy with old style small block had an intake leak. Started messin with it in the drive, and had it too far along to get it to a shop. Took about a day to do.

I guess it would be like us CC'ers getting a call to "just clean a few spots" from the pet. A little in this room, a few in that room...before you know it, you're cleaning the entire house. You gotta charge for it.

Man, you start talking leaks, brakes, or trannys for these vans, and you could be in the high 4-figures....real quick! Not to count down time.

 

[Ron Werner]

its challenge to find someone you trust, once you do, stick with em.

I replaced my heater core just a few years ago. My rad went this past summer. Last month I could smell coolant in the cab: heater core leak. Took it in and they said it'll need replacing. Apparently when the rad is changed and new fluid put in, it cleans the system and all the junk ends up in the core. Next coolant repair everything gets flushed.

 

[rwcarpet]

maybe not....especially not knowing the vehicle.............but that almost sounds like a dexcool disaster rather than an incompetent shop........

Fortuneatly, all my GM Dexcool has been replaced with the good old "green stuff".

 

[Magic One]

I changed back to the reliable green stuff too but make sure you get the green for all models.

 

[floorguy]

you do realize the "all models" is simply recycled stuff????

has a little bit of everything.....

Also the orange stuff is just fine if (like anything else) you keep it maintained....

in fact its better in certain cases.

and the green is just as corrosive...

 

[renegade_cowboy]

w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCAJ8ULnaIw]

 

[Bob Foster]

o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf6KY6rrqYUo]

 

[steve frasier]

I have a couple of mechanics I can trust that I also do work for and they trust me

but my daughter has a 2000 jetta that is in the shop at least once a month for something

 

[SRI Cleaning]

Yeah the dex cool stuff is not inherently bad, the problem comes when people top off their system with the green stuff. When they mix they react badly and cause all sorts of problems. So the answer is either stay with it or completely drain and flush the system well before switching to standard green.

 

[Connor]

Flush toilets, not engines.