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Mechanics are not mind readers, someone comes in and says my car is doing X, the mechanic test drives the car and thinks he hears or feels what the customer said, he fixes that, but turns out it was not what the customer said, now customer is pissed, mechanic has wasted his time,
To help figure out what is going on, pay attention, does it vibrate at a certain speed ? only in a turn ? at idle ? in drive ? at certain engine RPM ? You know your car, you have driven it many thousand of miles, you can tell every little sound and vibration, and a mechanic is supposed to be able to pick up something in a mile or less.
Mechanics are not mind readers, someone comes in and says my car is doing X, the mechanic test drives the car and thinks he hears or feels what the customer said, he fixes that, but turns out it was not what the customer said, now customer is pissed, mechanic has wasted his time,
To help figure out what is going on, pay attention, does it vibrate at a certain speed ? only in a turn ? at idle ? in drive ? at certain engine RPM ? You know your car, you have driven it many thousand of miles, you can tell every little sound and vibration, and a mechanic is supposed to be able to pick up something in a mile or less.
^^^^. True.
i ve said it many times. chasing noise was the hardest part of the job...
my favorite is " it wobble". Wtf is a wobble. ten different customers. Describe it ten different ways.
True story. This woman described it to me her wobble. As she described, she shook her ass like one of the dance moves..
mechanic wants to solve your problem too. It's also a sense of pride in their work.
No one knows your car better than you do.
Jus like a mom knows their kid better than any doctor.
Unfortunately, diagnosing and fixing something as abstract as an occasional noise is tough for any mechanic, regardless of experience and/or background.
From the title of this thread it appears you feel "violated" because you are a Girl and that is unfortunate and probably unfounded, however, as others have already addressed, the noise could have been from two or more sources.
Another good reason to become established with a reputable repair shop.
To make a long story short, I took my car to a local Goodyear network mechanic about 2 weeks ago due to a noise/vibration in my front end (Honda Accord 2003).
The mechanic was very busy that day (at least 7 to 8 cars ahead of me), but he called me within 1.5 hours to tell me he had a diagnosis - my motor mount needed to be replaced, and that was causing the noise/vibration.
I thought that it was a quick diagnosis considering a) how many cars were ahead of mine and b) I'd assumed that they'd need to test drive my car to recreate the noise (it's not a noise that can be recreated at will, it probably only happens about 20% of the time).
Anyway - I chalked it up to efficiency (and guessed my motor mount must have been really damaged as there was no shred of doubt in his voice when he called me with the problem).
Fast forward 2 weeks, and my car is now making the exact same noise again. Since what I was told was the issue is not even in my car anymore, and was replaced, obviously, the mechanic was wrong.
What do I even do in this situation? I'll be returning the car to him on Monday, but if he was this "off", I'd be leery to let him do anything else short of him saying "Sorry, I missed this, any additional repairs are on us" (fat chance, I know).
Do I automatically now get a second opinion no matter what he tells me? Demand that he not charge (or at least significantly discount) for any new services?
This really sucks because I just paid him $700 two weeks ago (also had front brakes/rotors replaced). I'm not an ATM!
Go back in and tell the guy he was wrong and needs to fork the money over! Put on your big girl pants and get it done.
OP - You're right to be suspicious, a long standing stereotype exists of mechanics as hucksters.
Firstly, an anecdote. A friend of mine was being told he had 2500$ worth of repairs so his car would pass smog. (catalytic converter and throttle body). He had a check engine light on and he was concerned b/c money was tight but his registration was coming up. I asked him to have a crack at it first. After I diagnosed his problem, it turns out his issues were twofold: there was a small rubber elbow that was torn creating a vacuum leak (3$) and he had one bad coil (72$). The coil should have been very straightforward to the mechanic since he had a misfire in cylinder 6. If he had merely cleared the code and switched the coil to another cylinder, he could have seen the misfire follow the coil. So for 75$ and 45 minutes I fixed his 2500$ problem. The engine ran beautifully and the CEL did not return. He passed smog.
On to your problem. You paid a diagnosis fee for him to diagnose the problem. He didn't fix it and charged you 700$. Any of a number of things can cause a vibration in your front end many of which are diagnosable by a seasoned mechanic.. I wouldn't take it back to him and there may some recourse if you notify your state's consumer protection division. Get a second opinion. Good luck!
P.S.- I think 700$ for changing one motor mount is steep!
OP - You're right to be suspicious, a long standing stereotype exists of mechanics as hucksters.
Firstly, an anecdote. A friend of mine was being told he had 2500$ worth of repairs so his car would pass smog. (catalytic converter and throttle body). He had a check engine light on and he was concerned b/c money was tight but his registration was coming up. I asked him to have a crack at it first. After I diagnosed his problem, it turns out his issues were twofold: there was a small rubber elbow that was torn creating a vacuum leak (3$) and he had one bad coil (72$). The coil should have been very straightforward to the mechanic since he had a misfire in cylinder 6. If he had merely cleared the code and switched the coil to another cylinder, he could have seen the misfire follow the coil. So for 75$ and 45 minutes I fixed his 2500$ problem. The engine ran beautifully and the CEL did not return. He passed smog.
On to your problem. You paid a diagnosis fee for him to diagnose the problem. He didn't fix it and charged you 700$. Any of a number of things can cause a vibration in your front end many of which are diagnosable by a seasoned mechanic.. I wouldn't take it back to him and there may some recourse if you notify your state's consumer protection division. Get a second opinion. Good luck!
P.S.- I think 700$ for changing one motor mount is steep!
$2500 for a cat and a TB
1. Were his cats made from solid gold?
2. How does a TB go bad?
OP - You're right to be suspicious, a long standing stereotype exists of mechanics as hucksters.
Firstly, an anecdote. A friend of mine was being told he had 2500$ worth of repairs so his car would pass smog. (catalytic converter and throttle body). He had a check engine light on and he was concerned b/c money was tight but his registration was coming up. I asked him to have a crack at it first. After I diagnosed his problem, it turns out his issues were twofold: there was a small rubber elbow that was torn creating a vacuum leak (3$) and he had one bad coil (72$). The coil should have been very straightforward to the mechanic since he had a misfire in cylinder 6. If he had merely cleared the code and switched the coil to another cylinder, he could have seen the misfire follow the coil. So for 75$ and 45 minutes I fixed his 2500$ problem. The engine ran beautifully and the CEL did not return. He passed smog.
On to your problem. You paid a diagnosis fee for him to diagnose the problem. He didn't fix it and charged you 700$. Any of a number of things can cause a vibration in your front end many of which are diagnosable by a seasoned mechanic.. I wouldn't take it back to him and there may some recourse if you notify your state's consumer protection division. Get a second opinion. Good luck!
P.S.- I think 700$ for changing one motor mount is steep!
$700 was for a motor mount AND brakes.
OP,
It's tough to chase down a noise. I worked in a diesel repair shop for years as a service writer and there really are times that the noise either cannot be reproduced or you find the issue, fix it, drive it and it's gone only to return later on. Sometimes it happens. I'd make him show me what he replaced the last time, but I wouldn't claim he is crooked just yet.... I'd give the guy another shot to figure out what happened. Could be that there's issues with another mount that didn't show up until they moved the engine around to replace the other one. I've seen that happen.
$2500 for a cat and a TB
1. Were his cats made from solid gold?
It's a Mazdo 6, so I doubt it.
2. How does a TB go bad?
The newer TB are electronic, not the cable operated ones. They can break and the whole unit has to be replaced and it isn't cheap. Periodic cleaning can help prevent this. Thankfully, I have not dealt with this issue!
-rr
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