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On the rare occasion I have my car serviced - I tell the service writer and put in writing on the authorization paperwork that there will be no "test drives." Then I stay there and wait for my vehicle service to be completed.
You can totally do that..
Until the "complaint cannot be duplicated" .
Then it's a standoff.
Personally, I'd rather let the tech verify that the repair was successful before I got the car back..
This is a perfect explanation of how the system works, & thank you for posting it, although techs seldom make out like bandits, but attorneys always do.
I'm sorry, I should have been clearer: The tech does not make out like a bandit, the shop owner does. The only benefit the tech sees from beating the flat rate is a good reputation in the shop. He or she gets the regular hourly rate, period. The tech does not see much of that $118 per hour that the shop charges.
Yes, that's right, $118 per hour! My motorhome is in the shop for generator repair right now, and that is the shop rate!
When a Ferrari Enzo was crashed by two dealership mechanics earlier this week, it could've been caused by a number of things. A mechanical issue. An evasive maneuver. A pelican. Not so, according to the man who pulled them from the wreck. It was just regular old terrible driving.
Sorry, previous poster says it only happens in movies. *Mic drop*
One of my first purchases upon moving to California was I had to get my vehicle "smogged". There was also a bad sensor that was going to have to be fixed in order to pass inspection, I'd known about it for years, but the mechanic I used in Chicago had assured me this was just the sensor letting us know the sensor was bad, no real issue. At any rate, I was going to have to spend the money in order to get California to say my car was ok.
So I dropped it off at the local station and rode my bike to work. They said it wasn't ready yet and I'd have to wait a day. I worked late and I got a call from the police around 8:00pm letting me know my car had been in an accident....nearly 40 miles away.
The next day I went to pick up my damaged car. They wouldn't release the vehicle until I paid for their fee. The police said there was nothing they could do as the other driver had been at fault, and they had a reason to be out driving the car (needed mileage to reset something). In fact, they also charged me for gas for their drive.
So I paid. My insurance handled the damage and went after the responsible party and eventually all was well, but even in California riding ones bike to work in January can be a bit cold.
And by the way, over and over in this thread people have mentioned who cares because your car isn't even that special.
Frankly, it's not the point. I don't care if you drive a Porsche 911 4S or a Dodge Dart. That is your car. You should have every say about what goes on in that car.
Maybe for that guy, that car is expensive as heck and special as heck. And people shouldn't get to **** all over it because y'all don't think people should care because their cars are so stupid or worthless. That's not your call.
Besides their home, people's biggest expense tends to be their car. And they deserve to be able to do the business with people who aren't taking advantage of being alone with these vehicles.
Real professionals and people with integrity would see it as their responsibility to take care of these cars the way the owner would want.
I stopped taking my car to a mechanic once because I found out he was using other customer's cars to give "courtesy rides" to home/work etc. when customers brought their cars in. I realize some of you will have no problem with this but if I'm dropping my car off for an oil change I don't expect it to come back with 20 more miles on the odometer (yes this happened).
Had similar happen to my car in for a paint job. Got it back and it had more than 80 miles on it. I knew they had driven it to El Paso (maybe even Juarez) and was really ticked off.
That’s what I like about my AMG, I can control it with my phone, not only start and stop, also if someone is driving the car. I get a detailed map of the location and relevant info.
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