A few months ago, the brake sensor on my car (a '91 Mazda Protege) started going off. I took it to a local shop (part of a gas station chain whose name sounds suspiciously like HELL) and they said the front brakes were low and replaced them.
When I started driving again, the brakes seemed to work and the sensor was quiet, but things didn’t seem quite right. The brakes made a tapping noise when I depressed them, which I could feel through the brake pedal. Then a few weeks ago, the sensor started going off again.
Suspecting the first shop hadn’t done the job quite right, I took the car to an independent outfit. The IO inspected the brakes and said they found the following problems: the brake rotors were illegally undersized; the riveted brake pads were too hard and had too much metal for that model of car; and the lug nuts were torqued too tight, and the bolt one of them was on had broken.
So I got the brake job redone and all the lug nuts replaced, to the tune of $400. The IO threw the removed parts into a box, which I took to the first shop to complain about the job they did. The manager there protested that they were indeed the right type of brake pads, that the rotors were “borderline” but not illegally undersized, and that the sensor could not have gone off. (He had no explanation for why it did, except that the other shop must have done some secret extra repair.) He also protested that I should have taken the car back to him if I’d had a problem because he had no way to know what was actually wrong.
I’m more inclined to believe the IO, because since they redid the brakes I’ve had no problem with them. But the fact is that I have duelling testimony from two mechanics and I don’t know how to determine which one is right. It seems that the business about the pads and rotors, at least, involves some question of fact. So how do I find out the truth? What sort of evidence can I muster to get at least some of my money back from this mess?
IANAL, but you should probably take the car and the assorted box of parts to a third shop or a dealer. Get them to look at everything and explain to them what happened. If you can get them and the other IO shop to put their statements in writing, you can then either take it to small claims court (be nice and offer not to sue first if they cough up the dough), or the state attorney generals office. You can also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
Generally, I’ve found that when my car needs work done on it that I don’t want to do, don’t know how to do, have the tools for, or just don’t have the time, I find the repair shop with the oldest coots working there. Generally, they know exactly what they’re doing (though some of the modern computerized stuff can throw them, but not often), and are honest (after all, if they were a cheat, do you think they’d be in business for 30+ years?).
I knew I’d found the right repair shop one time when I took a part I was having trouble fitting on my car to one of these guys. I couldn’t drive the car, so all he had to go by was the part. He held it in his hands, squeezed his eyes shut, and began feeling it like a blind man. A minute later he opened his eyes, handed me back the part, told me I’d gotten the wrong one, and proceeded to show me exactly why it was the wrong part. I nearly worshipped the man on the spot. When I got the right part, I looked at it closely, and spotted the tiny difference between it and the one I had before. Find a guy like that, and insist all your friends go to him! Don’t even worry about what he charges, because you’ll never have to worry about the job going bad on you!
I’ve heard of people who’ve gotten screwed by shady mechanics who went to the Better Business Bureau and/or to small claims court, like you see on Judge Judy, and the outcome is usually in the victim’s favor, as long as the evidence adds up.