Do you abhor auto mechanics? This is why I do...

[Mocha]

So yesterday I took my car in to get a fill on the a/c refrigerant. I had the condenser puncture and lose the liquid responsible for cooling, after a truck dropped a bunch of large rocks on the freeway few weeks ago.

 

The good news is, my car is a bit of a personal hobby so most anything that goes wrong on it, I can do it myself. And it's always done right if not better than the chains or dealerships. So it didn't cost a whole lot to fix.

 

Only thing is, I can only do so much myself and sometimes I have to pay a mechanic to do it. But I'd say most all of them who work for chains and shops are ripoffs, bait and switch...and perfectly legal and certified to do it. I have to smile in their face when I really want to curse them out.

 

So I found a Groupon to do the full service a/c recharge. A/C work is already an easy ripoff industry in Florida and if it wasn't so hot, I'd of waited until I got to a less expensive state. So they start the refill, but say it's a leak. Now, I did the work myself and know it couldn't of been anything major. Of course, it turns a couple 25 cent rubber pieces weren't sealing properly and needed to be replaced. Takes less than 20 minutes to get the part off, and put it back on.

 

So why was I charged an extra $75/hr to have it done? Because that's their "hourly rate". I talked him down a few bucks, and got it done because it was already in there. But from an escort's perspective, I don't like how they put customers in a position to HAVE to pay to get work done. They bait you in with a low or simple maintenance service, then switch by bringing out a major repair bill. Should have only costed $20 as a courtesy TIP to do it. But they try to go by the book, and I find chains and mom and pop shops pull such tactics more than the little shop in the ghetto or out in the country.

 

I know it's different industries and sometimes a seemingly simply job does turn out to be a major repair. But I generally state the rates for my sessions, without expecting to get double. Auto mechanics get people to agree to one price upfront, and then stick em again when they have it a part. Hate the bastards.

 

Unfortunently there's not much to do to get around it...but I always have AAA tow handy if I don't like their price and tell them I can't pay anymore than X, and never get any maintenance or routine (even if it's a cheap sale) work done if you have other more important things to pay for...like I did.

[MartyB]

So yesterday I took my car in to get a fill on the a/c refrigerant. I had the condenser puncture and lose the liquid responsible for cooling, after a truck dropped a bunch of large rocks on the freeway few weeks ago.

 

The good news is, my car is a bit of a personal hobby so most anything that goes wrong on it, I can do it myself. And it's always done right if not better than the chains or dealerships. So it didn't cost a whole lot to fix.

 

Only thing is, I can only do so much myself and sometimes I have to pay a mechanic to do it. But I'd say most all of them who work for chains and shops are ripoffs, bait and switch...and perfectly legal and certified to do it. I have to smile in their face when I really want to curse them out.

 

So I found a Groupon to do the full service a/c recharge. A/C work is already an easy ripoff industry in Florida and if it wasn't so hot, I'd of waited until I got to a less expensive state. So they start the refill, but say it's a leak. Now, I did the work myself and know it couldn't of been anything major. Of course, it turns a couple 25 cent rubber pieces weren't sealing properly and needed to be replaced. Takes less than 20 minutes to get the part off, and put it back on.

 

So why was I charged an extra $75/hr to have it done? Because that's their "hourly rate". I talked him down a few bucks, and got it done because it was already in there. But from an escort's perspective, I don't like how they put customers in a position to HAVE to pay to get work done. They bait you in with a low or simple maintenance service, then switch by bringing out a major repair bill. Should have only costed $20 as a courtesy TIP to do it. But they try to go by the book, and I find chains and mom and pop shops pull such tactics more than the little shop in the ghetto or out in the country.

 

I know it's different industries and sometimes a seemingly simply job does turn out to be a major repair. But I generally state the rates for my sessions, without expecting to get double. Auto mechanics get people to agree to one price upfront, and then stick em again when they have it a part. Hate the bastards.

 

Unfortunently there's not much to do to get around it...but I always have AAA tow handy if I don't like their price and tell them I can't pay anymore than X, and never get any maintenance or routine (even if it's a cheap sale) work done if you have other more important things to pay for...like I did.

Just brought my car in for annual inspection. No matter what I always have to pay for more than the inspection. The mechanic does show me why but I'm at a loss to know if I'm getting ripped off.

[bigvalboy]

Find a new mechanic.

 

Finding a good mechanic is a like finding a good doctor. Once you find a good one, NEVER let him go. I have two. One has his own specialty shop. Deals with only one car brand. Period. And one that comes to my house. Jose, kinda cute by-the-way. Married with children, but still a bit flirtatious. Latino, late twenties, tight little body, nice hairy chest. He saw a flyer on the front seat of my car from a male strip club once, (but I digress) ;)He is a Godsend. His last bill was $300, I tipped him $100...dealer wanted $4,000. End of story...

[Kevin Slater]

So fucking thrilled to have given up my car when I moved to NYC. My annual transportation budget is now $160 for CitiBike. And no asshole mechanics.

 

Kevin Slater

[Larstrup]

So a savvy auto hobbyist goes into a mechanic's shop with a Groupon for an A/C recharge service and they find a leak. Finding an A/C leak, as any auto hobbyist should know, can be a time consuming process, taking up $ rack-space and which often fails, even if found, over a period of time. This mechanic obviously was honest and spared you a much higher cost down the road.

 

$75.00 labor is a common and fair labor rate for mechanics at a shop. If your Groupon wasn't for identifying and repairing a leak - I fail to see the problem here. A/C systems are closed systems - so before you went in, you should have known you had a leak.

[Larstrup]

So fucking thrilled to have given up my car when I moved to NYC. My annual transportation budget is now $160 for CitiBike. And no asshole mechanics.

 

Kevin Slater

 

OR

[+ azdr0710]

as @Larstrup says, your Groupon was for a standard recharge, not to repair a leak.....the leak location only became evident while they were recharging.....if they didn't fix that leak, the recharge would've leaked out within a few hours (and I'd HATE to see THAT thread tomorrow from Mocha)

[LaffingBear]

Nope

http://www.iwantcocks.com/t2/0450/1610_2.jpg

Seriously, I have relatively good experience. Mechanical aggravation avoidance is why I pay to lease. I know it's bad finance... but Im generally not dealing with major stuff.

 

And the last time I needed repairs, the cute guy in the tire shop fixed a nail-flat for free, then hugged me when I tipped him $20.

[Larstrup]

as @Larstrup says, your Groupon coupon was for a standard recharge, not to repair a leak.....the leak location only became evident while they were recharging.....if they didn't fix that leak, the recharge would've leaked out within a few hours (and I'd HATE to see THAT thread tomorrow from Mocha)

 

Personally, I would never take a Groupon to an auto repair shop to work on my vehicle which propels me at 85+ miles per hour on a roadway. But that's just me. To be honest, I didn't even realize that people were still using Groupon's for much of anything these days.

 

And it's fascinating to me how Groupons for auto maintenance and escorting even intersect in the real world.

[bigvalboy]

A/C systems are closed systems - so before you went in, you should have known you had a leak.

 

as @Larstrup ....if they didn't fix that leak, the recharge would've leaked out within a few hours)

 

Personally, I would never take a Groupon to an auto repair shop to work on my vehicle which propels me at 85+ miles per hour on a roadway.

And it's fascinating to me how Groupons for auto maintenance and escorting even intersect in the real world.

 

http://media3.giphy.com/media/2xIOiAPXonois/giphy.gif

[+ azdr0710]

have never used a groupon.....I have a couple "friends" who occasionally invite me out to dinner and......(I'll stop now...you know where I'm going with this!!)

[Larstrup]

Auto mechanics get people to agree to one price upfront, and then stick em again when they have it a part. Hate the bastards.

 

This is a misinformed accusation and legal falsehood. Yes, mechanics will provide you an up-front cost for the service which they are performing. Where your story becomes your endless-drama is when you claim: then stick em again when they have it a part.

By law, if the up-front quoted cost of your auto-repair is going to exceed your original quote, or estimate, they are required to either:

 

1) present you with the new cost for the extra work to be performed before performing it, or

2) return your vehicle back to you without the extra work performed.

 

If you don't know your rights and the law - that's on you, not the shop.

 

It seems to me that you have the same problems with getting your car serviced as you have servicing your own clients.

 

[Larstrup]

as @Larstrup says, your Groupon coupon was for a standard recharge, not to repair a leak.....the leak location only became evident while they were recharging.....if they didn't fix that leak, the recharge would've leaked out within a few hours (and I'd HATE to see THAT thread tomorrow from Mocha)

 

But what makes Mocha's feckless whining even worse, he admits to having prior knowledge that he had a rupture in the condenser.

 

Good Lord! I can't imagine someone creating so much drama for the attention of others.

[+ bashful]

The garage just a few blocks down the street has been there for years. The owner is a great guy. People first. He'll find you the best deal if he can't do it. Saved me $'s for new tires over an online website's price when he connected me to a local tire dealer. Like @bigvalboy said, not going to let him go.

[Mocha]

Easy answer is to "play dirty" and learn to fix your auto dealings yourself, or get employment at an auto repair place. Unfortunately, I'm like those large-chested bimbos who don't know the difference between a tire and a windshield when put on the spot, but I'm going to pay about $800 more for extensive work because I can't get the nice face (or cleavage) discount.

 

Lol, I accidentally wore one of those deep V Andrew Christian shirts, to a big chain tire store one day for routine maintenance. They gladly honored a competitors price when I bought it up. Ive had service advisors make comments/compliments about my arms and such also lol.

 

Just brought my car in for annual inspection. No matter what I always have to pay for more than the inspection. The mechanic does show me why but I'm at a loss to know if I'm getting ripped off.

 

New York must be like Texas...those states that allow mechanics to also be inspection stations. Some states either don't have inspection/emissions or they only operate at county run centers, and don't do any repairs.

 

The thing is, one can be ripped off without actually being ripped off. Yeah something may need to be fixed, but the price they charge or the parts they use may not be the best price. Or they are fixing something that could last for much longer and not really leave you stranded anytime soon. Thing is, they don't like customers to bring in cheaper parts from Amazon or elsewhere because they won't warranty the work. So best bet is to either shop around or hope they fix it right and never have to worry about it again.

[Mocha]

So a savvy auto hobbyist goes into a mechanic's shop with a Groupon for an A/C recharge service and they find a leak. Finding an A/C leak, as any auto hobbyist should know, can be a time consuming process, taking up $ rack-space and which often fails, even if found, over a period of time. This mechanic obviously was honest and spared you a much higher cost down the road.

 

$75.00 labor is a common and fair labor rate for mechanics at a shop. If your Groupon wasn't for identifying and repairing a leak - I fail to see the problem here. A/C systems are closed systems - so before you went in, you should have known you had a leak.

 

True, the $75 isn't that much on a grandscale. But from what he said, the leak was clearly visible, it wasn't something they had to fish out. So I wasn't having them "find" the leak, I had already done that part (replacing the part that was damaged by the stones, plus an auxiliary part). The Groupon was for an a/c service. Like I say, it was the extra $75 for replacing a couple $0.25 pieces (and really the receipt showed the entire service was all labor, those rubber pieces were already on hand)

 

Yeah it wasn't their fault, but regardless I paid nearly $150 an hour instead of the advertised $59.99. And yeah Groupon seems to be the backpage/Craigslist of the retail world...This was my 2nd time using Groupon for anything. As are most coupon type of auto services, it's usually to get you in for more services.

 

So fucking thrilled to have given up my car when I moved to NYC. My annual transportation budget is now $160 for CitiBike. And no asshole mechanics.

 

Kevin Slater

 

Lol, In New York you pretty much don't need one. It's the opposite of the rest of America where people see having a car as being succesful. I know a lot of people in the bigger cities have resorted to Uber, Lyft and biking. And leased cars lol. However, I carry a ton of crap on a daily basis and a 2 week trip requires several bags of luggage. I've also always been into cars and highways for the most part.

[Mocha]

This is a misinformed accusation and legal falsehood. Yes, mechanics will provide you an up-front cost for the service which they are performing. Where your story becomes your endless-drama is when you claim: then stick em again when they have it a part.

By law, if the up-front quoted cost of your auto-repair is going to exceed your original quote, or estimate, they are required to either:

 

1) present you with the new cost for the extra work to be performed before performing it, or

2) return your vehicle back to you without the extra work performed.

 

If you don't know your rights and the law - that's on you, not the shop.

 

It seems to me that you have the same problems with getting your car serviced as you have servicing your own clients.

 

 

Not it's not, no it's not. Don't start talking shit, that's childish. Let me explain...before you get it all twisted like a pretzel:

 

Your 1) is the case in point I already said. You trying to get all cute and technical but legal laws have lots of loopholes. Yes, they can and will present you with the new cost for the extra work...AFTER they have your keys and its already in their possession. Yes you have a choice, but most people and even the mechanics themselves, will be convinced the work is dire.

 

I'm mainly referring to going in for routine stuff like oil changes, alignments and tire rotations. I've gone in and seen other people all the time go in for these services, and then they sit you down to say $1.200 of work needs to be performed. Yeah, maybe it does...but not at that price, at that time, and not under their pressure to sell it to me. Many times, the car has lasted thousands more miles without those services done...and other things had needed to be repaired instead.

 

And your 2) yes, yes. I know. DUH! You're not telling me anything new. That's why I said you can take it somewhere else, even if your car is broken down...you can even have it towed elsewhere even if it's not their tow truck. But it's not always beneficially or easy to take it somewhere else...you're stuck with whenever you've taken it.

 

And before this thread digresses into garbage...okay maybe I don't "hate" the "bastards". Most "technicians" seem to want to keep their customers (coming back for more work). I have had some good mechanics, regardless of that clown statement @Larstrup made. I've had the mobile mechanic, the mechanic who worked out of his home across the street from me, atleast a couple reliable shops I depended on, etc.

 

But...all the same, some have misdiagnosed issues or had me thinking I had one problem (even if it was cheaper) than what it truly was. It's the nature of the beast of dealing with machines as they can't talk. Mechanics want to fix cars, but some also want to charge $100/hr just to remove a battery and a couple screws. The law doesn't protect them from charging whatever hourly rate they wish to post and for however little of that hour they take to work on it. Thats why I have my reservations. Yes, mechanic work is hard....but there's lots of easy simple shit I have done myself that they shouldn't even be charging so much for. It's really the overhead that you pay for.

[rvwnsd]

I hear you, @Mocha. My car has an extended warranty, so on the rare occasion when something goes I return to the dealer to do the work so it would be covered under the extended warranty. The dealer from whom I bought the car in San Diego NEVER recommended work that wasn't needed and their prices were the same or lower than chains such as Firestone or Pep Boys. I know because I always took it somewhere else for a second opinion. When I moved to Phoenix, the transmission had an issue, which turned out to be a solenoid that was covered under the extended warranty. Wouldn't you know it, they recommended a slew of services, none of which was necessary according to the two Firestones from which I received second opinions. Had the work been necessary, Firestone would have been about 40% less costly than the dealer. They did miss the battery starting to lose charge, which is not unusual for a 5-year-old car that has 100K miles on it.

 

Guess where I will take the car for maintenance?

[bigvalboy]

My take...

You either have 'streets smarts' or you don't. Those that don't, often times get screwed. Those that do, understand how the world works and they act accordingly. That's just how it is.

 

Yesterday: My 82 year old neighbor who is a widow of some 20 years took her 12K mile, 5 year old Caddy into the dealership to repair a nasty miss in the motor. Several hours later, they tried to get her for $1100 in repairs. Of course it might be more they said, once they got the car apart. She said, "Go get my car off the rack and bring me the keys. You people are crazy, I'm going somewhere that knows what the hell they are talking about. The service manager looked at me and I said, "Don't look at me, it's her car"...Today: final cost of repair, under $100.

[gallahadesquire]

I find it helps that I know more than a little about engines.

 

I'm pretty dorky looking (you can ask M... G..... or well). My mother discovered the Summer School was much cheaper than Summer Camp, so off I went.

I was a pre-freshman taking a course called, innocently enough, GASOLINE ENGINES. I was among the intellectually challenged Juniors and Seniors.

 

On the book-stuff I was in the top of the class. For the hands-on, I was pretty good, except for this incident:

 

I was rebuilding a Chrysler V6. It had a POSITIVE ground 6volt battery. I know: Weird. Anyway, I was connecting the battery with bare copper braid terminals and no safety goggles. They had all be lent out.

 

The copper terminal swung and hit the other post. If you've never seen copper burn, it's impressive.

 

The Teach was okay with the burning copper. He was PISSED AS HELL that I didn't have safety glasses on.

 

Oh, I got an A in the course.

[gallahadesquire]

So: Know a little, ask a little. The Amp has gone in my Lexus (after ten years? Should be under warranty) but I've already checked the fuses. It's either the connection (like, a loose wire) or the actual amp. I'll ask for the part when they replace it.

[Mocha]

My take...

You either have 'streets smarts' or you don't. Those that don't, often times get screwed. Those that do, understand how the world works and they act accordingly. That's just how it is.

 

Yesterday: My 82 year old neighbor who is a widow of some 20 years took her 12K mile, 5 year old Caddy into the dealership to repair a nasty miss in the motor. Several hours later, they tried to get her for $1100 in repairs. Of course it might be more they said, once they got the car apart. She said, "Go get my car off the rack and bring me the keys. You people are crazy, I'm going somewhere that knows what the hell they are talking about. The service manager looked at me and I said, "Don't look at me, it's her car"...Today: final cost of repair, under $100.

 

That's EXACTLY what I'm talking about. That kind of stuff. I don't know much about Cadillacs, but I have heard they can become money pits. Or PITAs. Sweet when they are new, sour when they start aging. But clearly, it's no right to just bill someone out the ass for something simple. Sounds like the dealer wanted her to do extra maintenance items in addition to her fix. A ripoff, but not an illegal ripoff.

 

And the dealers are the worst! Yeah they'll keep the car brand new, but they have the highest hourly fees and highest parts prices...THOUGH, many of the chain shops be trying to charge as much as the dealers. I alwaya go to the dealer to buy my oil filters from, but that's it. That's the only thing that tends to be cheaper than the store's. People think Senior Citzens are easier to sell to. NOT! lol.

[Mocha]

So: Know a little, ask a little. The Amp has gone in my Lexus (after ten years? Should be under warranty) but I've already checked the fuses. It's either the connection (like, a loose wire) or the actual amp. I'll ask for the part when they replace it.

 

Now by Amp you're referring to the speaker Amps? That's probably not under warranty. But won't hurt to ask. Most warranties are only drivetrain related. Engine/Tranny stuff.

 

Best buy or another audio place will reinstall another one, and usually they just have a flat rate with no surprises once you pick out the part, and have them put it in. I don't have an Amp but I redid all my speakers and the dash unit couple years ago.

 

And yes, I've learned to disconnect the negative battery terminal when doing any technical work especially with sound systems. Most every electrical part on a car is grounded and sparks will fly at random if another metal makes contacts.

[instudiocity]

So fucking thrilled to have given up my car when I moved to NYC. My annual transportation budget is now $160 for CitiBike. And no asshole mechanics.

 

Kevin Slater

I gave up my car in LA 2 years ago. When I get to 62, bus and subway will be 75¢ per direction. I rent when I need wheels. 2016 was about $3k with no maintenance or down time.

[bigvalboy]

Well with all due respect to the forum members who feel liberated by not having a car, let me say this...I love cars. I love everything about them. Think Jeremy Clarkson minus the racist remarks... By years end, the plan is to add 2 more to the "Ponderosa". Addiction comes in many forms.