Stupid fucking predatory mechanic assholes* (long)

The BBQ Pit
1

I’m leaving UVH (animal hospital, I buy my cats’ food there) to go to the Tempe Petsmart when I notice my car is doing something odd. At first I thought it was the clutch because when I started out in first, it didn’t seem to want to go, and then again in second, third, etc. I’m almost to the Petsmart and it’s still doing it, only now I think I’m smelling something. My gauges are all ok, except the battery one is almost on the bottom. I decide that I’m just going to go home and take the car to my mechanic on Monday morning.

I get in one of the two left turn lanes and stop at the light. When I stopped, so did they car. Dead. Won’t turn over, nothing. There was also a weird like bubbling noise or something (I think) coming from the engine. I call my uncle get his AAA number for a tow. (side note: remind me Monday or Tuesday to get AAA for myself, no matter the cost). The only problem is I’m way out in Tempe and my mechanic is farther than they will tow. Ok, I ask them to just tow me to the closet repair shop they know of to my current location.

They take me to some AAA approved Goodyear repair center. They hook the car up to the diagnostic machine (quote of $89, unless it’s the battery and then it’s just $21). Come back 20mins later with good news/bad news. Good news is diagnostic is just $21, bad news is that not only do I need a new battery, but an alternator and serpentine belt as well. Est: $680 (parts and labour)

Yeah, that’s what I said. :o

I got him to agree to give me the AAA discount even though I didn’t have the card with me and that brought the total down to $640, then I guess he did some recalculating, or whatever, and the final estimate was $598 + tax. That seemed like quite a bit of money to me, but what do I know about cars? (The answer is nothing).

I called my ex because he knows about cars, and this car in particular. He told me they were trying to rip me off. He said there is no way an alternator should cost $250 for the part, nor should it take 2 hours of labour (at $82/hr) to replace. They quoted me $162 for labour alone if I supplied the alternator. $40 for the belt, and I don’t remember how much they were going to charge me for the battery (probably my first born – which would have been a nice fucking joke on them considering I’m not having children).

When I asked them (at my ex’s request) why their alternator was so costly compared to an auto parts store, this is the story I got: the ones at Autozone, Checker, etc. have been rebuilt time and again, but the one they were going to use is on the 1st factory rebuild so it’ll last longer than the 2mos the one I’d buy at those places would. :rolleyes:

Yeah, that’s what my ex said.

He told me to tell them to fuck off and tow my car to my mechanic. It might cost $80, but the cost of parts and repairs at my place would be a lot less so I’d still end up paying less than “AAA rated” place was quoting me.

I called up a towing company, they came and got me and my car and took me to my mechanics. He’s not open on the weekend so I was going to leave my car there until Monday and call him in the morning when he opened. Or go down there with the key. Only problem is somehow at the repair place, they got my driver’s side window down. I didn’t know until we got to John’s and now it won’t go back up.

Strainger was kind enough to pick me up at John’s to drive me home so I wouldn’t have to walk. (Thank you, again!) He had jumper cables so we tried to give my battery enough juice to roll up the window, but it was a no go. I was concerned about leaving it two nights at the mechanics because it’s not the nicest neighbourhood, but I didn’t know what else to do.

I called my uncle again to see what he suggested (I was really stressing the window thing) and he suggested I call his framer (art framer, not a j’accuse kind of framer). I called him and told him my ordeal (he said “they saw you coming” when I told him the reasoning behind the $250 alternator). He’s helping one friend replace his battery right now, so when he’s done with that, he’ll come back on this side of Phoenix, pick me up, take me to get a battery, and put it in my car. He said with a fully charged battery, bad alternator or not, it will run for a couple days (without lights or a/c, but it’ll run). Which means I can bring it home, roll up the window (unless that other place broke it somehow getting the window down – fuckers), go to work on time and take it to my place on Monday if needed.

He also said he’d look at the alternator and if it was an easy repair, not with funky screw locations or whatever, he’d do it himself for under $100. (I think including the cost of the alternator). He said if it was really easy one he’d only charge me a 6-pack of beer… I told him I’d buy him a 12pk, and whatever damn beer he wanted.

So, while it seems to be ending ok, I’m still super fucking pissed at that “AAA Goodyear Repair Center” (Gruelichs on Elliot Rd in Tempe – avoid it!). How fucking dare they try to rip me off! A trustworthy mechanic is worth triple his weight in gold. I love mine, and I swear by Godiva I will never take my car any place else again!
*Thank you Dire Wolf for the thread title.

2

What kind of car do you have?

3

1988 Chevy Cavelier. I got a battery for about $33, and my friend installed it for me. It started right up, but the alternator is still bad. We priced the alternator and belt while we were picking up the battery: alternator was about ~$70, and the belt ~$13.

4

Mauvaise, sorry to hear of your troubles.

[slight hijack]
I am very thankful that I am able to maintain my own car. The only jobs which I’ll trust my car to a mechanic, are
(1) Front end alignments (special/expensive equipment required)
(yes, to you gearheads, I know I could do my own alignments in my garage - but the Professionals could do this in an hour & it might take me all day. Plus the job is nearly the same no matter what car, and you can find a million places around to do it… Whereas, finding someone who “can” work on your car, when it truly needs it, is sometimes problematic.)
(2) Transmissions, or any work involving removal of any of the engine/drivetrain in a front-wheel drive car: Do you remember those ancient “Midas” TV ads, with the monkeys sitting whacking on a transmission with sticks? Well, they’d probably do less damage in this sort of job than I would.
[/slight hijack]

My point in mentioning the above, is to share with you something that a wise friend of mine (& fellow-gearhead) once observed: Almost any person who is smart/competent enough to work on cars for a living, is in fact smart enough to be doing something else for a living and get paid more for it.

I think this may help explain why so much of the mechanic-population is bad. Sure there’s other factors, but until we have to pay mechanics what other “Professionals” are paid, that’s the level of average competence (or lack thereof) the public is going to be stuck with. Sad, but true.

Good luck with your car!

5

I’m not too sure of that, unless you are only making really short trips

6

Depends on the car. If you just start it, and can leave it running as you do your driving around (IE, there’s somebody in the car while you run in for stuff) and you don’t use excessive power accessories (lights, radio, windows, wipers, etc) then yes, a solid battery can get you a couple of days’ use.

But, as I said, it depends on the car. The Cavalier, being front-wheel and transverse, probably has an electric fan for the radiator, and this would be your largest draw. Cut those “days” down to “a few hours, tops”, again depending.

I once drove a ‘69 Charger from north of Dallas to Galveston with what turned out to be a wholly nonfunctional alternator. The car had no radio or AC, so while we were toolin’ along, the only thing drawing any power was the ignition system.

Unfortunately it started getting dark about an hour away from Galveston, and once I flicked on the lights (not knowing, at the time, the alternator was dead) the thing started running worse and worse from the weakening spark, after only about fifteen minutes. Hit the next exit ramp, killed the lights and limped with the thing barely running, guided by only a three-cell MagLite, about two more miles to a small town.

I can laugh about it now. :smiley:

Oh, and yeah, you were getting rather horrifically shafted even at $590. Especially for a Chevy part.

7

Talking further with the ex I learned what a couple of you fine people mentioned: I don’t have a couple days. I’m not going to touch the car until it’s time to go to work Monday morning. I was going to drive into the office and then over the mechanic when they opened, but it was suggested to me that I skip that step and just take a cab to work and drop the car off before they open or I might end up paying for (yet another) tow.

FTR, work is at best a 10 min surface street drive and the mechanic about a 10 min drive from my office.

8

Oh yeah! Hey… don’t you people have any “they tried to rip me off” mechanic stories to share? :stuck_out_tongue:

9

Tried to rip me off stories?
No.

10

Ok, spooje, I’ll take “they did rip me off” stories too. :wink:

11

I didn’t start describing mechanics as “predatory” until I broke down in Queens one day.

My tranny blew up in my 1981 Pontiac a few years ago. I had just pulled onto the Cross Island Parkway and was only 1,000 feet or so from my apartment (you can see the CIP from my old apartment). Anyway, the car wouldn’t go, so I called for a tow from my mobile phone.

Turns out that the only company that can tow cars on the Cross Island is Jamaica Towing. They showed up and quoted me a ridiculous price for taking the car to one of their approved shops. The towing guy was quick to point out that they had an exclusive contract with the city to tow cars on the CIP and several other roads in the NYC area. No other towing companies could tow cars without their approval, so competition was basically nonexistant.

What I’m wondering is how this is legal. What municipality would sign exclusive contracts, knowing that exclusivity rubs out the competition and results in higher charges for the consumer?

The repair bill for the car was manageable, but the towing was ridiculously expensive. That’s when I started calling these guys “predatory.”

12

Let’s not forget a few things here:

  1. The mechanics have to make money.

  2. The labor times come from a book and are standardized.

  3. You can’t fix it yourself, because if you could you wouldn’t be talking to them.

  4. Fixing a car under the best of circumstances isn’t cheap.

They likely have to order the alternator for you, since keeping a million diferent types of parts is cost prohibitive. They have to pay for the equipment that they use to fix your car. They have to make enough to feed their families as well.

Changing out an alternator and belt tensioner is not as easy as it seems. What did they ask you for? $600? Half of that was labor, I’ll bet. If that’s a competitive rate where you live you have no real reason to complain that you’re being shafted.

13

About a year ago, I took my Aerostar in for its routine maintenance and a good once-over. I want this vehicle to last, so I want to catch problems before they get out of hand. I’m also of the school of thought that the best tool for the job is a checkbook - I’d rather spend money than time on my vehicle.

So, they did the routine stuff I asked and did the inspection. I was told I had an oil leak, a transmission leak, and a high-pressure hose that needed to be replaced - all to the tune of $800. I told them I’d get back to them, and I took my van home. Over the next few months, we kept checking fluid levels, and I was attuned to any changes in performance or noises. Fluid levels never dropped, and the van seemed fine.

A year later, back to the same place for some work before taking the van on a long trip. Once again, I asked for a once-over, hoping to avoid problems on the trek. No mention of any leaks. Van did fine.

Either they were trying to rip me off the first time, or the mechanic goofed up the paperwork and put someone else’s diagnosis on my ticket. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now and I ask lots of questions when I do have to go in for work. Until maintenance on the van exceeds what a car payment would be, I’ll keep it running.

14

First, I’ll second Wolfman’s comment, I wouldn’t try that battery-without-an-alternator trick unless you’re willing to risk another towing charge. I don’t think it’ll last that long, based on personal experience.

The other thing that’s puzzling is the serpentine belt. If that belt was broken, you ain’t goin’ NOWHERE. Not even with the battery and alternator fixed. But you said it worked with a new battery, so that means the belt must not be broken, in which case they were giving you the “well, you might as well replace it while we’re in there” routine, which is bullshit.

Also, check with your insurance agent about adding towing service to your policy. It’s like 4 bucks a year or something. Saved my ass several times.

I once took a car in to have the heads reworked. I normally do all my own work, but that’s a complex job, requires tools I don’t have, and it was in January and I had to work on it outside. When I picked it up, there was no heat or defrost (in JANUARY). The guy tried to tell me that when the heads blew, it burned out the heater coil. I called bullshit rightaway and told him I’d drive it a while (he didn’t know me, hadn’t seen my engineering degree, haha). I got home, disconnected the heater hose coming out of the block (30 second work) and found the PLUG he’d placed there to block flow to the heater coil.

Understand, the heater coil is INSIDE the dash. You can’t usually see it without taking all the interior dash parts off. If I told you I’d put a new one in your car, you’d have to take my word for it. I’m sure he would have bitched about how hard it is to get too, then charged me a hefty sum.

Busted!

15

I read the OP and reaf ‘Goodyear’ and moaned 'Oh God. Goodyear, Firestone, Sears are bad in my experience. In fact, Sears automotive was investigated on a news stations investigative reports here and they forwarded their results to authorities for action since Sears actually busted things to do repairs.

They are still around though.

16

//\etalhea|),

 Could you not report the mechanic to the police as he is guilty of a crime?  If it's more than $100, isn't it a felony?
17

It used to annoy me, but now this story just makes me laugh.

I drove my standard shift Volvo to the mechanic to get a tune-up. Nothing wrong with the car, just some spark plugs that need replacing.

I ask for my tune-up, and they say “No problem. Come back in a few hours.”

The mechanic is located in a shopping center, and before I leave the waiting room to walk over to the grocery store, I see Mr. Mechanic drive my car to the service station.

I come back a little later to check on things, and Mr. Mechanic (the same one that drove my car earlier) tells me that everything is finished. But during the tune-up he says he found a problem, and in complete seriousness (not a slip of the tongue) he tells me I’m badly in need of having my automatic transmission serviced.

“Um, no. Please don’t service my transmission. And could I talk to your manager?”

You DROVE the car, doofus! How can you ask me about an automatic transmission?!

18

My husband is a mechanic. It’s nice having one of those in the family. (Now, if we can add a doctor and a lawyer we’d be set.)

I think women should go with nice, informed men when they get their cars worked on. I remember when I was in college I took my Civic to get an oil change…lo and behold, I needed new brakes immediately or I was going to crash. What did I know?

Of course, there’s the story of the man who takes the car to the mechanic because there’s a problem. The mechanic pops the hood, turns a screw, slams the hood down, and says, “That will be $100.”

“$100! For turning one screw???” the man screams.

“No,” says the mechanic. “For knowing which one to turn.”

19

I hope this isn’t too much of a hijack, but there’s a place on Northern that will charge you only for the cost of the alternator or starter (that’s all they do there).

Not that this helps now, but for future reference.
::runs to go find the name of this place::

20

Thespos,
Remember NY doesn’t allow commercial traffic on the parkways. They then delegate sections of the parkway system to graft-payers - uh, bidders, for towing contracts, so you don’t have fleets of trucks prowling on it. They should have regulated rates, though, as state monopolies.