how to handle car maintenance situation

In My Humble Opinion
1

The family truckster is having issues (99 Merc Villager, 135K miles). It started missing badly, losing power and stalled a few times. Took it to the shop and got a tune-up, plugs, wires, cap/rotor, fuel and air filter. The guy showed me the old cap and it had a burn spot, so I believe it should have been replaced.

But it didn’t fix the problem. Same symptoms, but worse. My wife was stranded and the van wouldn’t start. Towed it back to the shop. Wasn’t a bad part, he re-replaced the cap to no avail. We did replace the distributor, which has a sensor going bad that could only be replaced with the distributor. So, we bit the bullet, the place seems honest enough, my wife talked to the guy and was calmed by his attitude if not his answers. So the distributor was replaced.

And didn’t fix the problem. Still runs rough, idles drops and it wants to stall. So we need to take it back. And, after spending $800 on things that may or may not need to have been replaced, what should I expect to have to pay? Heck, what’s left to replace? (A lot, I’m sure.) I’m not exactly angry at the mechanic, but he obviously has not found the real problem. And after $800 I’m about tapped out this month.

It’s an old(er) car, but we taken care of it, and I really don’t want to buy a car right now. Any suggestions on dealing with the mechanic would be appreciated.

2

This may get complex. There are several aspects to consider.

It may well be that there was more than one problem, with the symptoms overlapping. A key question is, has something actually been fixed? For example, you first mention missing badly, losing power, and stalling. You last mention running rough, erratic idle, and possibly stalling. So is it still missing badly? Is it still losing power? Is the running rough just at idle and/or take-off, or with cruise and higher-speed acceleration? My point here is that things which typically cause serious performance problems are different from things which typically cause idle quality problems. It may be that the former have been fixed, but until they were fixed masked the latter somewhat.

Chances are some of the things replaced during the first visit were justifiable but not needed. For example, maybe the plug wires were working okay, but were obviously old and deteriorating to where they likely would have failed within a few months. A good conscientious shop would want to replace them for your benefit, as it would save you trouble and money in the long run, even though they weren’t actually causing a problem right now. I will say that the air and fuel filters in particular raise the question of just how bad were they, and just how well has the vehicle been taken care of? Were those filters way past due for replacement, or replaced just to get everything “tune-up related” up to date?

Most vexing is the vehicle being returned to you – twice – and still having problems. Were/are any of the symptoms intermittent? It’s hard to fault them if the vehicle ran great when test driven after a repair, but it’s hard to excuse them if it didn’t.

In approaching the shop, I’d express that you don’t doubt their sincerity or integrity, and you realize that it wasn’t necessarily a simple case of only one item being needed. However, you’re distressed that you’ve spent a significant amount of money yet still have problems, and you can’t help but wonder if some things could have been deferred. Ask what they can say with confidence that they’ve accomplished (e.g., are they sure the stranded/no start concern is fixed?). Ask if there’s anything they can “undo” and give you a refund on (e.g., previous air filter can be reinstalled). Ask what they’re willing to do at no further charge to try to at least evaluate your situation.

It’s possible there’s a competence issue here, but it’s also possible that they’ve done as well as anyone could. I’d give them the benefit of the doubt at this point. I’d also politely but clearly express my disappointment. What happens next will be telling. I would at least expect a clear, plausible explanation.

3

I guess I am having trouble consistently describing the performance issues. The problems are the same as before we took it in. There has been no change as far as I can tell. The problems start mildly, and, it seems, culminate in the car stalling and not starting, as evidenced by my wife being stranded. The engine needs to be nice and warmed up. Short test drives won’t cut it. For instance, at a stop light the RPMs will drop t almost zero, then go back to normal. You’ll feel a mild stumble driving down the road, then a bigger stumble, then a “hard” miss, like you hit a pot hole, then more missing and losing power, more roughness until the car won’t run or start. (I’m going to print this out and take it with me!)

I would say we have taken good care of this car, but we haven’t been scrupulous in following the maintenance schedule. I have no idea when the last fuel filter change was done, for instance. I’m mostly concerned about the current expense with no change in the car’s behavior. My wife spoke to the guy Friday and he very calmly explained what had been done and what he thought needed to be done. Unfortunately, he seems to have been wrong. So, I will attempt to be calm and straightforward, express my concerns and, also, ask that they keep the car after the next “repair” to make sure that it is actually repaired.

4

That is quite bothersome. 800 for no discernible improvement is a mighty tough pill to swallow. In my view, a top quality shop would be bending over backwards to get to the root of the problem and if at all possible VERIFY what will fix it, as well doing whatever they can to compensate at least some of what’s already been paid.

Yes, that along with a clear and complete description of the symptoms (as you mentioned) sounds like a good approach.

5

Culminates in car stalling and not starting…

  • bad computer? They did have computers back then - I had the same problems w/92 bonneville
  • check the fuel filter(s) again, you could have a rusty gas tank - if there are steel tanks on your model
  • arrange to leave it with the shop for a few days and require that they drive it long enough to first see the problem, fix it and drive it the same amount to see if the problem is fixed…