Not my story, this happened to my wife’s sister and her husband. My wife’s brother-in-law is Italian, born and raised in Brindisi, and he and his new American wife were tooling around southern Italy in their little piece of crap tiny European car (I think it was a Fiat Punto - Don’t get me wrong, it was an OK car, I liked driving it). Anyway, they had to travel up this long, steep grade from the coast and at the top their car overheated about 100 yards from this nice little town with a small garage. The mechanic came out, and without prompting said that it was not a problem, he would let it cool off and then fill the radiator and why don’t they go over to his sister’s trattoria for some prosecco and food while they wait. Well, he seemed really nice, they were young and in love, and it sounded like a good idea, so that is what they did. An hour or so later, the left the restaurant sated and strolled to the little garage. The walk through the open door and see that their car has been completely disassembled and is spread all over the floor. The engine has been pulled out, the gas tank, the transmission, everything that could be removed had been. The mechanic calmly told them that there were no problems, he had solved all the problems with their car and it would only cost them $1500. Shocked, they argued and said it was only overheated and how dare he take apart the car, put it back together immediately. He stated that he would, no problem, once they paid the $1500 for the work he had done. The left and went to the town constable (I don’t actually no what his title was) and he came with them to the mechanic and tried to get to the bottom of it. The conversation started with something like “So brother, will I see you at momma’s for dinner tonight? Ce? Molto bene. Now what is the problem with this couples car?” They ended up taking the bus to the nearest town with a train station and traveling back to their home in Lazio by train.
I am never going to travel in Southern Italy, but I hear it is beautiful. I do plan on going to Sicily next year however…
Sometimes people wonder why I stay married to my husband. Sometimes I wonder myself. He does have his good qualities…he likes to tinker with cars, and even if he doesn’t have the equipment to fix a problem, he has a good idea of what should be done and what it should cost, and he is not shy about letting mechanics know that he knows they’re trying to rip him off.
My experience-when I had my first car, the front end developed a vibration. I took it in to a national chain shop, and requested that they balance the wheels and realign the front end. After looking at my car, they said they could not align it-it needed the bearings replaced, tie rod ends, and several other parts-the bill for the parts was over $400. I played dumb, and asked them “when can you do the work”?
The manager sais they had to order the parts first-take it in next week. I left and went to a shop owned by a friend of my Dad-they realigned the front end and repacked the bearins-total was about $75.00. I asked the guy about the condition-he said everthing was fine-every thing was withing specifications.
Always get a 2nd setimate.
Here’s something I learned a loong time ago-If the advertisement says something like “This service only $99.99! Most cars”, ask to see the list of cars that qualify before you tell them what make and model you have.
I was leaving Key West to drive back to Michigan. I checked the water, oil and fluid levels to make sure I was road ready before I left. I just got over the border in Georgia and needed gas. The mechanic at the gas station came running out and screamed your car is smoking open the hood and let me check it out. My wife said open the hood. I told him and her that the car was not smoking that I would not pop the hood and for him to get away from my car. He would have probably slashed a hose and tried to get us to put in a new engine. I felt insulted.
And this ended up as a bigger cost, but still well below $600. I did have to bring the car back twice before they realized there was a different problem, but they found it and fixed it and the AC worked fine after that.
If anyone cares why it took multiple trips to find the short, it went something like this:
Bring the car in originally, they find the blown fuse and give me the car.
I drive the car down the road, the fuse blows again, so I bring it back in. They say they want to look at it closer so I leave the car with them.
They replace the fuse and run the car for a couple of hours. Fuse stays intact.
I pickup the car, drive if off the lot and it blows.
Mechanic realizes it is a short in the steering column and keeps the car to repair.
I get the car back and it worked just fine from that point on.
Years ago I took my full sized Chevy van to big name department and automotive store to have the shocks replaced. The mechanic soon comes out to tell me that the springs are shot as well and he really needs to replace them too.
I know enough about suspension to know that pretty much the only way springs will be shot is if they are in two pieces.
I told him to take my van off the lift and give me my keys back.
I took it to a shop down the street where they replaced the shocks and advised me the springs were fine.
This is more of a dealership thing, but here goes…
I had a car lease when I was younger, a sporty little two-door with a sun roof. By the time the lease was up, I was pregnant and needing a four-door, so I knew I would not be paying it out. It was in terrific shape, very low mileage and everything. I turned it in and they did the inspection, all was good.
Fast forward a few months, my father (who had co-signed for me on the car) starts getting demand letters looking for hundreds of dollars to repair a phantom dent in the door. I am sure glad I saved all of the documents about the inspection. Seriously was NOT impressed.
Actually that is probably more of a bank thing. The dealer accepts the return, but the bank is the one that demands the money, it is their car.
so there are two possibilities here.
somebody dented the door between when you dropped it off and when the bank did their inspection at the auction. (the truckers often dent cars and try not to tell anyone)
Actually I started taking my Honda to the dealer after I replaced the second oil pan because the chain oil change places kept stripping the aluminum threads. I asked the (independent) shop that did the second change to put in a steel pan if they could find one, but they couldn’t. Anyway, I remember one of the guys at one of the chains earnestly trying to sell me a dose of injector cleaner. My Honda burns natural gas (I guess he hadn’t seen the sticker on the side). It was sitting over the pit with the hood still open so I pointed to the weird looking plenum on top of the engine and said, “If you can figure out where to put it, I’ll buy it.” Never went back.
Back around '85 or so, I had an Audi that I took to a Houston-area dealership for servicing. I asked for the fronts struts to be replaced, as the shocks were a bit tired. A few hours later I get a call. The whole front suspension is shot, both sides, says the service manager. Really, says I (on its way to the dealer, the car tracked fine, no vibration or assymetric tire wear). How much would that be? $2400, say he. Just put the struts I requested on it, says I. Drove the car another 40,000 miles before selling it and none of the suspension bits fell off.
There’s a local quick-lube-type place that I take my car to for oil changes whenever it’s not due for more involved service. They crack me up. They want to sell me windshield wipers every time I go in. No thanks, I can find my way to Wal-Mart. Well, how about an air filter then? No, I can find my way to–no, on second thought go ahead (I only say that because I know they don’t stock the type used on my car). At least twice they’ve announced that I was due to have the automatic transmission fluid changed…on my manual transmission vehicle. Hey, kid’s just out of high school, he’s just reading upsell items from a list, I understand.
As much as I hate to interrupt the stories of savage rip offs, there are times I wonder if some people actually are ripped off or because they don’t really understand anything about vehicles they think because they spend X amount of dollars that it was “way to much” or after the fact their car is fixed and they’re happy until a friend that thinks they know what they’re talking about tell them it was a rip off.
As for people complaining about mechanics rates you have to realize that it is a licensed trade and if you want to retain good mechanics (never mind mediocre ones) shops have to pay a fairly decent wage these days.
There are some shops where there’s minimum time charge usually 1/2 hour or a full hour for any work performed no matter if it takes 10 minutes but that should be advertised at the counter.
As for myself, at our shop we make mistakes sometimes because we are human but we tell the truth about what a vehicle needs because in the end it’s far easier to fix real problems rather than making something up.
If you’re worried about being ripped off always ask for your old parts back, that way you can always take them to someone you trust later or inspect them yourself.
Anyway, that as my little rant I suppose, back to the stories
Should it be up to the general automobile-using public to have to endure these experiences at the hands of rip-off mechanics, then report them and wait to be recompensed, or should there be more effort made by the authorities to expose these rip-off “services” and put them out of business?
Purchased 1991 Mazda Rx7 GTUs Oct 2001. Had clutch safety switch replaced by recommended local shop for $70. Problem solved. Had air mass meter replaced by same shop for $225. Problem solved. Car cranked but failed to start and I could not hear the fuel pump. The same shop “diagnosed” bad fuel pump. They said it would probably take about 5 to 7 days to order pump from the local Mazda dealer. 2 days later they called and said the car was repaired and ready for pick-up as the Mazda dealer had the part in stock. They charged 2.5 hours for R&R fuel tank and 2.0 hours for replacing fuel pump. Total $659.00. 2 days later the car failed to start with the same symptoms. It was a Sunday and the shop was closed. The previous day I had received A Haynes manual and decided to troubleshoot the problem. To my surprise the fuel pump was easily accessible from the top of the fuel tank! The flange holding it to the tank had 10 screws which were rusted and obviously never disturbed. I looked under the car and discovered that the straps and bolts securing the fuel tank had also not been disturbed. The only part with some dirt wiped off was the electrical connector. It was a little loose so I cleaned it and zip tied it to keep it tight. The car started just fine! I took photos and had my neighbor who is an FAA aircraft accident inspector look at it. He concurred and wrote a statement. I went to the Mazda dealer and asked if the shop had ordered/purchased the fuel pump. They had no record of this being done (last order from the shop was an axle shaft for a Ford Probe). I asked what the labor flat rate was for this job. .8 hours. They were kind enough to print this information. Fortunately I had paid by VISA and called them Monday morning. They put a tentative stop payment on the bill until I mailed them the evidence. They ended up canceling payment. I called the shop to inform them of my discoveries and they gave me a “song and dance” that sometimes even new electrical parts are bad and they would replace the pump free of charge! I said No Effing Way! You have committed theft! I would have gladly paid an hour labor for diagnosing and repairing the electrical connector. I filed a complaint with the State Attorney General’s office and although they agreed with the evidence they could do nothing but write a letter. I guess I had the wrong impression that theft was a crime!
My 1994 Saturn was having problems with air conditioner - and in Vegas, this is a huge problem.
Took it to Midas and they snooped around and came back with an estimate of $1,200 to fix it.
I told him that was about half the value of the car!
Pissed off, I went to a local garage near my house.
He checked it out.
Small leak.
He fixed it.
Total cost to have my air conditioner on my Saturn repaired: $65 (parts and labor!)
Has worked perfectly, and car has been nice and cool for the past 5 years.
I hate Midas.
Had a similar situation with Midas re: my brakes about 12 years ago on another car, in a different state. Once again they tried to oversell the problem - had them repaired elsewhere for a fraction of the price Midas wanted. I thought back then this was just the local Midas dealer, but am starting to think it is company policy to gouge customers.
Sometimes, car makers seem to be working with mechanics to rip you off.
Last summer, my car’s AC cratered. Wouldn’t hold refrigerant, for love nor money. Clearly, there’s a leak somewhere. Well, we put in dye, and found a leak and fixed it, and a week later put in MORE dye, and found a leak and fixed it, and kept doing that for about a month.
After that first month, the mechanic tells me that the leak appears to be coming from the “thermal expansion valve”. The thermal expansion valve, apparently, is the most important part of the vehicle, inasmuch as they appear to put one on the ground and build the rest of the car around it. The valve, you see, is a $30-35 part. Replacing it, however, requires a whopping seven hours of labor, which includes removing the entire dashboard and the front seats. I checked around, and yep, that is the recommended practice.
And after all that fun, my AC still wouldn’t hold refrigerant. Replace the condenser, still leaking. He then tells me the leak is coming from the compressor, which is about the only part of the system that hasn’t been replaced by this point. I give up and trade the damn car in on a new one.
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