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Other than tire mountings, I can't remember the last time any of my vehicles saw the inside of a repair shop.
I'm a pretty good shade tree mechanic and I'll eventually figure out what the problem is. Easier nowadays with the internet!
Have I ever guessed wrong and replaced a good part? Yes. But I figure I'm still WAY ahead of the game by not paying those thieves' labor rates and inflated parts prices.
I used to take my wife's Explorer to the Ford dealer for oil changes. Then I noticed that the thing always seemed to "need some brake work". I would decline the offer to have the dealer work on it, and my local independent mechanic would tell me the brakes should last another 6 months.
Eventually I just got tired of it and stopped getting the oil changed at the dealer. That's what happens when they cry wolf.
I used to take my wife's Explorer to the Ford dealer for oil changes. Then I noticed that the thing always seemed to "need some brake work". I would decline the offer to have the dealer work on it, and my local independent mechanic would tell me the brakes should last another 6 months.
Eventually I just got tired of it and stopped getting the oil changed at the dealer. That's what happens when they cry wolf.
I get that all the time and I do my own brake pads and the service writer tells me don't do it yourself. It requires special equipment!
Let's see I bought some brake bleeding kit for only $45 and good pads are only about $30 for the front and the rear's don't go much used I don't change them much.
I was a service writer for a Honda/Buick dealership for a couple years. The reason you don't get to talk to the guys with the dirty hands is pretty simple: they are supposed to be working (and have a lot on their plate usually). If they stopped and talked with every customer about everything, they'd never get any work done. So it's up to guys like me to write down the symptoms, and be the go between when they find what's wrong.
Occasionally a customer would come in and be knowledgeable about what was wrong, but most of the time, the customers only knew it was making a funny sound sometimes, or smelled funny, or had "some light on the dash." I'd have to describe the symptoms as carefully as possible so that the tech could suss it out accurately. And then trying to discuss with customers why a "simple little noise" was the leading edge of a much larger problem. Or what was sometimes harder, explaining why the perceived problem wasn't: had an older guy buy a new at the time Buick Century and came in to complain that his rear suspension was broken. When he put on the parking brake and put the car in D, the rear would lower a bit, and when he put it in R, it would raise up. He was convinced the car was defective, and no amount of explaining that a softly sprung FWD car will do that naturally would convince him otherwise...
my problem with service writers is the amount of bull crap they tend to spew. i had a couple of issues with my merc, one that i caused, and one that was due to wear and tear. i did something stupid and both the speedometer and the interior lights quit on me. the other was intermittent brake light failure.
i knew the seedo and interior lights was just a fuse that needed replacing, and the brake lights just needed the switch replacing. the service writer told me that they needed the car for at least a day to trouble shoot the problems, in other words he knew i was right but didnt want to admit it because he thought he could hose me for $200 to trouble shoot the problem. needless to say they didnt get my money that day, in the end it cost me about $100 total to fix both problems(due to health issues i dont do much on my vehicles these days).
Have I ever guessed wrong and replaced a good part? Yes. But I figure I'm still WAY ahead of the game by not paying those thieves' labor rates and inflated parts prices.
I've found that even some of the so-called 'pros' don't know jack about troubleshooting to discover what the actual problem is- they just keep changing parts until the problem is corrected (they found the bad one by accident)...and then they tell you that it 'needed' all of those other parts, and charge you for the parts and labor that it really *didn't* need...but were replaced because he was just guessing at the problem.
It's not quite as bad as certain shops that make a practice of intentionally doing unneeded work, but almost...
I was a service writer for a Honda/Buick dealership for a couple years. The reason you don't get to talk to the guys with the dirty hands is pretty simple: they are supposed to be working (and have a lot on their plate usually). If they stopped and talked with every customer about everything, they'd never get any work done. So it's up to guys like me to write down the symptoms, and be the go between when they find what's wrong.
Occasionally a customer would come in and be knowledgeable about what was wrong, but most of the time, the customers only knew it was making a funny sound sometimes, or smelled funny, or had "some light on the dash." I'd have to describe the symptoms as carefully as possible so that the tech could suss it out accurately. And then trying to discuss with customers why a "simple little noise" was the leading edge of a much larger problem. Or what was sometimes harder, explaining why the perceived problem wasn't: had an older guy buy a new at the time Buick Century and came in to complain that his rear suspension was broken. When he put on the parking brake and put the car in D, the rear would lower a bit, and when he put it in R, it would raise up. He was convinced the car was defective, and no amount of explaining that a softly sprung FWD car will do that naturally would convince him otherwise...
You were probably the only service writer ever to be "worth his salt". I don't have anything new enough to go to a dealer anyway, do almost all work myself, and the occasional job I farm out, goes to one of several one or two man shops, where I always talk with "The Man" - who usually is still working while we talk, but we know each other, does not take long to decide what to do.
You are right, somehow in America it's OK to own and drive a car, yet not know anything about cars. So for the ones who could only vaguely describe symptoms, you actually did useful work for them.
Yep they no longer have large profit margins on the sale of cars, due to online pricing guides. Therefore lookout when it comes to servicing and/or repairs.
I get that all the time and I do my own brake pads and the service writer tells me don't do it yourself. It requires special equipment!
Let's see I bought some brake bleeding kit for only $45 and good pads are only about $30 for the front and the rear's don't go much used I don't change them much.
One of my friends had the included new car BMW maintenance... he took it in just before it was up.
Three weeks later and 200 miles he had a blowout and took it to the dealer which was nearby for a new run flat.
Dealer told him it was time for brakes all around... they had it 200 miles prior when the factory would have covered it... he has not been back.
I went to the Buick dealer for an oil change and they told me, that my cabin air filter was very filthy and my air filter was very dirty, plus my air intake was dirty.
YouTube is your friend for this and many other car maintenance things.
Just bring up the video, then you can decide whether to tackle it yourself or leave it to the pros.
You'd be surprised how easy some of this stuff is and you can save a lot of money.
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