Tire Kingdom (other names also) Rant!

[H Richard]

I've had a "Service engine soon" light come on my 03 Chevy Trailblazer on and off for nearly two years. My mechanic looked into it a couple times and just advised me to ignore it. The category the warning fell into amounted to I was possibly polluting a little more than spec. This happens on and off every couple months fo rover two years and after a couple days will go off. A couple weeks ago it came on again and stayed on steady. Since I was ready for an oil change anyway, I had him look into it and he did find where the engine temp wasn't coming up to normal. I had actually noticed that on the temp gauge, that it had been running cool, below 180, for awhile. Turns out the thermostat needs replacing. Had that done and it does make a difference, even seems to run smoother. Time will tell if the little light stays off. I guess after 81,000 miles it is due for a few minor updates. He checked it over closely as I am going to go to CO and AZ in a couple months and he gave a good bill of health on everything else. A good trustworthy mechanic is as valuable as a good trustworthy doctor.

 

[NCTexan]

My wife drives a Mercedes. We bought it used, out of warranty. She's taken it to the dealer for diagnostics on the check engine light once, and for replacement of the catalytic converter (out of warranty but replaced under a service bulletin). Both times, they gave her a long list of things that were wrong with her car that needed immediate attention. The first time, she called me nearly in tears. I told her to take it by our mechanic (Mercedes factory certified, but independent). He read the list, laughed, and told her everything was fine.

Basically had the same story play out. We gave up on the local MB dealer immediately after warranty. It got to be such a joke for two reasons:

First, I got fed up with their "consultative service schtick". Every time you'd go in for a specific service activity, they'd make you sit down with their "service consultant" to determine your needs and objectives for the future well being of your car. It would be some yo-yo who couldn't make it in the audio department of the Best-Buy.

Second, their repair prices were 3-5 times the certified independent less than a mile away.

The last time we went in to the dealer for a 'free' factory recall action, my wife was presented with a $3,500 estimate for "other work" that was imperative for her car. We took the list to the independent and he determined that a $75 sensor just needed replacement and the car has run great ever since.... that was three years ago.

 

[novalty]

In college I was driving a well worn Chevy Corsica, with 150k miles, that I bought off from my step-mother for $500. She had ummm let say modified the body. One of the modification being ripping off the front, while backing up in our driveway she caught part of the bumper on a side tail-light on my father's flat-bed trailer and nearly ripped the front bumper off. She also rolled it onto the roof one winter. Anywho, stopped into a VIP to get a new brake master cylinder put on. They call me up to let me know it is done. When I showed up the cashier in service department pulls up a 2 page print out of recommended repairs. Believe the total came to around $1500, remember one of the things being door seals. The cashier also looked at me funny, when I asked "You want me to put $1,500 in repairs on a $500 car? How much will it be worth afterwards?"

 

[Cooter Brown]

There's an indy tire place not far from me. I'd bought a set of tires from them before and went in to get another set on my truck.

The counter guy came into the waiting room with a concerned look on his face and said the mechanic needed to see me. I went out into the garage and the mechanic hadn't even taken the wheels off the truck. It was up on the lift. He pointed in the general direction of the front end and said "Your brake lines are completely blocked! They all need to be replaced and you need a complete brake job!"

I said "Blocked? Really? Well just take that thing down off the rack. I better get her home and fix that!"

Before he could say anything else, I told him that I was crawling around under a Rambler handing my daddy wrenches when I was barely out of diapers, and that he needed to pull that stuff on somebody else. I found the owner of the place and told him that the stunt had cost him selling a set of tires and any in the future, and did it in front of the rest of the people in the waiting area.

He was not happy, but then again neither was I.

I would NEVER let a woman in my life go alone to a repair shop.

 

[WR Moore]

Some of these games are as old as cars. In some cases, they've just moved indoors since there are few full service gas stations anymore. Back when I was learning to drive (60's), the best advice I ever heard was to check your car over carefully before a trip and don't let anyone else lift the hood during the trip.

The pump jockeys used to race to your car, whip the hood open and check your oil while there was still a quart up in the engine to sell you a quart of oil you didn't need. Some of the other tricks were hidden blades to nick hoses & belts and squirt devices to create the appearace of leaks where there weren't any.

More recently, I can recall complaining about bad CV joints on a car that the dealership assured me were fine. Right up until the warranty ran out where they became a serious issue.

 

[Lost Lake]

Some excellent stories here, I'll throw one of mine in:
My elderly dad was a Chevy mechanic for years and now owns a Dodge truck. He replaced the battery on the driver's side one day and the truck seemed like it had no power any more.

He called me and asked if maybe he could have screwed up the performance chip on his truck. I said I wasn't sure, I don't know how he could have, but maybe he shorted something out or whatever. I said I would call the chip manufacturer and start diagnosing the failure.

Well, dad is impatient and he took the truck to a local Dodge dealer. They charged him $115 to diagnose the trouble. He needed a rebuilt turbo charger at a cost of nearly $2,000.

He was devastated and called me again asking where I thought he could find a good turbo. I told him if the turbo is shot, we'll stick a new performance turbo on it and really get that Cummins to sing, but what did they mean shot? Was it leaking oil bad? Was it grinding? Was a blade missing? They didn't say, just that it was tested and defective and he needed a new one.

I knew that was BS, so I went to look. The problem was so obvious it made my dad embarrassed. When he replaced the battery he had taken the intake hose off to get at the battery tray and forgot to put it back on. So he was running with no intake, and with a turbo, he had no pressure, which means doggy performance. We put the hose back on and everything was back to normal.

I called the dealership and talked to the service writer and the service manager and then the owner. This was clearly fraud. They couldn't tell me HOW the turbo was tested or HOW the turbo supposedly failed, but they said the mechanic was a good one so it must be a bad turbo.

Dad ended up taking the truck to a respected diesel truck shop and they gave the truck a completely clean bill of health at no charge.

I tell everybody I can about the Dodge dealer in Watertown Wi and the attempted rip off they tried to pull on my dad.

 

[CelticSire]

I invested in an OBDII code reader, less than $60. Any time one of our vehicles shows a light, I run the code to find out what the car is saying is wrong. It also allows me to turn the warning light off. Stops a lot of the "well, the light came on because your webley gear is loose" BS. About 30 years ago, I had a 1963 Chevy truck that I bought from my dad, who had brought it brand new. The body was shot, but the straight 6 motor ran like a singer sewing machine. Took it in to get a new front tire put on and the mechanic told me that I needed complete ball joints, upper and lower, and that he could do it for "only" $500. That was 1980s dollars. I told him politely to take my truck off the rack, that I was going someplace else to get tires. He tried to stall, saying that the truck wasn't safe to drive, etc. I told him that it was perfectly safe to drive because it didn't HAVE ball joints, it had king pins. He lowered the rack and I went down the road to a reputable station.

 

[Tom M]

I guess that I've been very lucky with the folks who fix my cars.

Back in the 80's though, I went with a buddy to get his car fixed at a Pontiac dealer. While we were in there, we heard a lot of screaming and cursing behind us. Turned around, and some customer had attacked the service writer, and they were flailing about on the floor. Turns out the guy had taken the car in for the same problem about 5 times, and they kept telling him "They all do that." Everybody just stood there and watched until the cops showed up. Very entertaining.

 

[snowman]

Nah, Leon was one of the good guys, and didn't tolerate his employees ripping off his customers. I saw him at the airport the next day and told him about it, and that service writer was terminated immediately. He picked up the phone in the FBO, called his service department manager, read him the riot act, told him that service writer better be gone before he got back, and that the service manager would also be gone if that ever happened again. Almost made me consider buying a Volvo, well, not really. I've always been a Corvette, Cobra and Shelby guy, a Volvo just never got my interest.

310Pilot,

GOOD FOR YOU!(for informing the owner of the crime) And my apologies for messing up your forum name in my post.

Andy

 

[truckemup97]

what did they mean shot? Was it leaking oil bad? Was it grinding? Was a blade missing? They didn't say, just that it was tested and defective and he needed a new one.

Herein lies one of the problems. We have few mechanics anymore. We have technicians. They plug the vehicle into the computer and it tells them what part to replace. This is particularly prevalent in heavy truck shops. No one knows diagnostics anymore, they just know how to replace parts. I've gone in with a specific complaint, asking to have a specific part replaced, and been told, "We'll tell you what needs to be replaced after we hook it up to the computer." When I hear this, I turn around and walk out. I doubt that there are a thousand mechanics left in the U.S. who can properly repair a mechanical diesel engine (no computers on those!).

If anyone knows how to properly diagnose EGR problems in the 2003 and newer engines, you can make a fortune. Most dealerships, and even the engine manufacturer shops, just replace the turbo when they get an EGR fault. Throw a $2500 part on there without checking the $100 actuator or the EGR valve itself. Yeah, that's good business.

 

[snowman]

Now the only cars I work on are my own. The only time I will take my car in is for an alignment. I figure I have saved thousands of dollars on repair work of the years. I also know that it has been done right.

Paul

My approach also. Unfortunately, many folks either don't have the time or the aptitude, or both. They are vulnerable to the criminals.

Andy

 

[snowman]

Took it in to get a new front tire put on and the mechanic told me that I needed complete ball joints, upper and lower, and that he could do it for "only" $500. That was 1980s dollars. I told him politely to take my truck off the rack, that I was going someplace else to get tires. He tried to stall, saying that the truck wasn't safe to drive, etc. I told him that it was perfectly safe to drive because it didn't HAVE ball joints, it had king pins. He lowered the rack and I went down the road to a reputable station.

Wish there was a smiley clapping its hands. Kudos!

Andy

 

[snowman]

He pointed in the general direction of the front end and said "Your brake lines are completely blocked! They all need to be replaced and you need a complete brake job!"

I said "Blocked? Really? Well just take that thing down off the rack. I better get her home and fix that!"

Before he could say anything else, I told him that I was crawling around under a Rambler handing my daddy wrenches when I was barely out of diapers, and that he needed to pull that stuff on somebody else. I found the owner of the place and told him that the stunt had cost him selling a set of tires and any in the future, and did it in front of the rest of the people in the waiting area.

Bravo, Cooter!

Andy