suposid qualifyed mechaincs

[Ezrider_92356]

i took my truck that im trading for the f250 into a place called s&s transmision to get the problem with the front end not unlocking fixed they tell me its done and i can come pick it up. i go to pick it up look at it and the front axle is still locked i go back in and tell them its not fixed so the mechanic that worked on it comes out. i tell him its not fixed, he starts infaticly saying yes it is he tested it 10 times the morning. so i say well its not fixed now and he goes on trying to tell me its fixed so i tell him i can show him its not fixed. he startes telling me it is becouse it dosent bind when turning in 2 high like 4 high so i go to try to explane to him that its becouse the tranfer case is not engaged and that there is no mechanical link between the front and the back thats why you dont feel the bind. so i tell him to put it back on the lift and ill show him. he keeps on going on and on that its fixed, so i say look im not trying to be a **** here but im not an idiot its not fixed. so we put it on the lift and hes still saying that im wrong and its fixed, about this time his boss walks up to look and says no hes right its not fixed. so now the shop forman has taken over the project they disasembled the front axel and found one thurst washer was compleetly missing the other was bent all to hell and thats what was causing the bind. the parts will be in on tues and ill have it back tuesday afternoon. ill never take anything to that shop every again. i cant belive i had to fight with somone who is supose to be a profesional mechanic to show prove that i was right.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

BTDT and at a dealer to beat it all.
When the 1992 Dodge Dakotas came out, we got one.
V-8 and loaded up. Top of the line Dakota.
In 5000 miles, it had 3 complete brake jobs done and a u-joint.
Then the tranny started acting up.
You could put it in gear and it would just sit there.
You really had to give it some gas for it to move like a stall converter.
Wife took it back to the dealer and told the service man what was wrong and he said, "What, no such thing"
Wife said yes and she would show him.
The truck was parked right behind a new Viper.
She started it up, put it in drive and stepped out.
The service man almost fainted, but the truck did not move.

They put a new tranny in it.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

I understand your displeasure with this shop. Dont be too quick to write the place off just because you had the misfortune of having one bad mechanic try to fix it. Perhaps he has 10 mechanics and 2 are sorry. Its happins alot. At least you now now the BOSS knows what hes doing.

 

[achris]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

So what caused one thrust washer to go AWAL and the other to do a wave washer impersonation? 'Cause sure as little green apples, if they don't fix the cause, it'll happen again!

Chris........

 

[DJ]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

I only go to the dealer. Are they perfect-NOPE.

My chances of getting someone that understands the product are a whole lot better though. I've never been disappointed in 25 years. Even the prices are fair if you really look at what you are getting.

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

i cant belive i had to fight with somone who is supose to be a profesional mechanic to show prove that i was right.

I'm more shocked the boss sided with you and is going to repair it. About 50% of the time in my area, they fix nothing and demand you pay a huge bill or they put a lein against your vehicle.
In fact that's the business mechanics are in now up here. They don't fix... they lein, collect and recover $. They are criminal bankers the tools are just for show. I don't think there's anything in most of those red boxes.

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

I understand your displeasure with this shop. Dont be too quick to write the place off just because you had the misfortune of having one bad mechanic try to fix it. Perhaps he has 10 mechanics and 2 are sorry. Its happins alot. At least you now now the BOSS knows what hes doing.

I can't believe we, as a society, have come to accept a 4 out of 5 chance as a good shop. In this case, if the customer wasn't already more qualified as a mechanic than the mechanic, he would've paid a big bill for some clown to shift his truck out of 4WD. But you are right that it's one of the better shops because they actually talked to the customer and heard the complaint. Most shops have an intentionally non-technical person collecting the $, to avoid any discussions of displeasure from a pesky customer that has some mechanical knowledge. Most dealers maintain a safe buffer zone of "service Advisors" who are salespeople trying to upsell more service than you need.

In the 4/5 scenario, if the boss really knew what he was doing, or cared, he'd fire that goofball and the other goofball and keep the 8 mechanics and take on 20% less workload. Truth is: the boss makes lots of money off incompetent mechanics and he is as guilty as his moron employee.
When you charge by the hour, there's nothing more annoying than a fast, competent mechanic. You don't make a bloody cent off them. They add value in repeat business, but who cares about that. No one gets there vechicles repaired enough to care about that - they're throw away units now.

Unfortunately there's only 1 way to get it fixed right 100% these days and that's to do it yourself. It sux because who has the time, but that's why iboats exists. Too bad there's no icars.

Most vehicles going into the scrap yard these days have 3 or 4 simple problems that the owner couldn't find a competent mechanic to fix. So we just get another car sent over from Japan or wherever and throw the old one away.

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

"When you charge by the hour, there's nothing more annoying than a fast, competent mechanic. You don't make a bloody cent off them."

Back when I was turning wrenches that is how I as a mechanic actaully made money and I don't see how the service manager isn't making money from them. Doing repair work you have what you refer to as booktime. Booktime is listed by Chiltons/Haynes/Motor/ Manufactor. It is the amount of time it should take you to fix the problem. You always charge book time. If the Motor manual tells me it takes 1.7 hours to rebuild your front end I'd charge you $110.50 (1.7 times $65 an hour). To "make" money off of this I need to do it faster than the book tells me to. If I can get it done in 1.2 hours then I've made a half hours pay by busting my butt. Do this on several jobs throught the day and you've made more money just by being good enough, lucky enough, and skilled enough to outwork a set of mechanics that the book makers use to set time. Sometimes this bites you in the arse too. I've had jobs that should take a 2.0 hours and I spent well over 4 hours on. Unless theres some real reason (bolts broken BEFORE I got it) then I have to charge book time and eat the loss.

 

[achris]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

Same here in OZ. Mechanics are paid a bonus for doing a job faster than the book... Makes for lousy shops though... Mechanics are more interested in their bonus than getting the job done right.

Chris

 

[JCF350]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

I can't believe we, as a society, have come to accept a 4 out of 5 chance as a good shop.

That number ain't even close. Some shops may have 1 out 5 competent techs, that is if they are willing to pay for them. Quite a few auto techs are leaving the biz and taking jobs maintaining production lines (and building the machines themselves) for manufacturers. Why? a bit less money but they don't have to buy your own tools, get benefits and a company vehicle if they do on site repairs (which leads to plenty of over time. As a matter of fact these companies are starting to look for auto techs who know their stuff about electronics because with the technology on cars these days they are an automated process control system.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

In order to not be ripped off today you almost have to learn more than you care to about what your are having repaired wheather it be a car or heat pump. You are right about doing it yourself but most people ,even though they have the ability, just dont have time and must trust a stranger.I dont like trusting strangers and never have. I just spent 130 bucks having someone tell me what was wrong with my heat pump and I alreaday knew what the problem was. To keep from more high bills I finally found a place to buy the part and when it arrives monday I plan to fix the frigger myself. I will save over 400 bucks and the repair will take 30 minutes or less. Im lucky I do have the time.

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

"When you charge by the hour, there's nothing more annoying than a fast, competent mechanic. You don't make a bloody cent off them."

Back when I was turning wrenches that is how I as a mechanic actaully made money and I don't see how the service manager isn't making money from them.

Mechanics on flat rate in the back shop, definitely helps the business' bottom line.
pretty sure S&S isn't working flat rate though.

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

....

 

[HyperFox]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

My friend gives me the 30/Tailights warranty.

30 seconds after it leaves the shop, or until he cant see the tailights anymore. lol

But always a lifetime warranty on the labour, on a more serious note.

 

[Ezrider_92356]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

this was one of thoughs senerios where if i had the time i would have fixed it myself. but i dont and the dealer i bought the truck from when i got it i found the problem and he said he would pickup the bill well i never got around to fixing it and quite a bit of time went by i finaly went back and asked if he would still be willing to take care of it for me. he said yes so to the shop it went. this is why the last four vehicals i have bought came from that dealership. i have worked as a mechanic before and am not an idiot. grant it i dont know everything there is to know especaly about some of the new new vehiclas cause i havent worked as a mechanic for several years but with a good manual infront of me and a computer scanner i could probably figure just about anything out. as it is right now thouhg i dont realy have the time and any free time i have goes to working on my boat

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

I never take a vehicle to a dealership for service. This is true both because I used to work in auto sales and know what goes on in the shops and because, before I knew any better, tried them. I also won't let any shop with a "service writer" do my work. Service writers typically get paid on commission so they are incented to order more work than is needed. In many shops, particularly dealerships, even the mechanics can benefit financially from "upselling" repairs.

I agree that it can be hard to find shops that do decent work at fair prices but you can find them. Like alot of things, asking friends who they go to, especially the ones that are well versed in auto mechanics, can be helpful.

Sometimes, though, repairs and/or maintenance prices on modern cars are just "out the box" whether the shop is honest or not. I have a 2000 Chevy Astro and a "tuneup" on it cost me a little under $500. When my mechanic gave me the estimate, I almost had a fit. I said no and shopped around - every mechanic that I went to gave me an almost identical price. It turns out, that's what the book calls for in parts and labor. Like a lot of vans, Astros are a pain to work on in terms of access so "it is what it is." The good news is that they run 100,000 miles between tuneups.

 

[DJ]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

I never take a vehicle to a dealership for service. This is true both because I used to work in auto sales and know what goes on in the shops and because, before I knew any better, tried them. I also won't let any shop with a "service writer" do my work. Service writers typically get paid on commission so they are incented to order more work than is needed. In many shops, particularly dealerships, even the mechanics can benefit financially from "upselling" repairs.

I find that funny. I used to be a service manager and sales created half the problems. You know, undoable/unfunded promises.

The service advisor cannot sell one nickel without the customers approval. Does anyone really think that independants don't do the same thing? I can't count how many "hack jobs" we used to undo and we were the bad guys, in the customers eyes.

I guess the last guy catches all the heat.

The general public has no idea the amount of training a dealer tech. has to go through. They still think anyone can fix a car and anyone going into that field is considered a loser.

There are very few "hacks" in the dealer biz. The mnanufacturerers won't allow it. There are also some excellent independants, just a lot fewer of them.

 

[achris]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

Sorry DJ, I have to totally disagree with you....

My Landcruiser is currently under a recall notice, to replace the front disc rotor retaining bolts. I have told the dealers and Toyota Aust that I will have the work done only if I can be present and watch everything they do. NO EXCEPTIONS!!! I have been told that can't happen, so the work won't be done. And the reason for my distrust? When I talked to the technical manager of the WA division of Toyota Aust I told him I was concerned that the bearings may not be set up right (they are different from a normal car). He told me that the bearings aren't touched in the job.... Well, I want to know how they replace the bolts without taking the bl..dy rotors off!!! The bolts go in from the back of the rotor and there's a big stone guard in the way!!! The rotors must come off. Once the rotors are off, the bearings have to be set up again when the rotors go back on. That same technical manager told me he wrote the procedure!!! Go figure!!!

Chris............

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

There is a chance that the mechanic is not familiar with 4WD systems and did not understand the problem ........

If a truck is locked into 4wd on dry pavement you could tear up washers.......

I trust the dealership where I work to do my work and if it is a not to technical repair where special tools are required I will do it myself. I know the mechanics.... we are friends and I know who I trust to do specific jobs.

 

[oops!]

Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs

what ive found is that the really good mechs at a dealership or large shop, usually end up out on their own.

my deisel mech was the hed mech at a dealership, he got tired od the hassel after 25 years. built a garage on his property and every one hunted him down!

now he works the hours he wants, charges a lot..20 % under delership rates. but when you get yer truck back. it is finnished. done. and done right.

i took me two years of searching to find him...(a good mech) and now he is the only one to touch my truck.

speaking of up selling....there is a large chain of automotive department stores in canada. we call them cr@ppy tire.....

my buddie goes there for an oil change and when done they gave him a list of things to watch for/change immeataly.

one of the items was a rear u joint. they told him it would fail right away and they could fix it right now for an extra 50 bucks....he pointed at the vechicle and said what? u mean that car right there? they said yes and explained that if the part broke on the road he would need a tow. he said no thanks and drove away in his fwd car.
i dont know if they got two verbal reports from the mechs mixed up but if it was someone that didnt know better....

oops