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It sounds like a lot of people weighing in on this thread do a lot of mechanical work on their vehicles, and feel pretty confident about the shops they take their vehicles to.
As someone who's not a mechanic, I can tell you that it's pretty intimidating to take your car in, and then be given a list of things that need to be fixed.
Earlier this year, I took my 15-year old Blazer to a tire place for new tires. This turned into a two-day marathon, as they had to order two of the tires, even though the tires were an advertised special. They also want you to drop the car off, and they will call you when it's ready. I sat in the waiting room the entire time. Since it was taking so long, I asked them to do an oil change and a tire alignment as well. And that's when they came out with a list of items I HAD to do right away, otherwise it wouldn't be safe to drive.
Fortunately, I work for a transportation company and we have mechanics on staff. I politely thanked the tire dealer and asked that he print out the list of things that would be required to make my vehicle safe, and told him I'd have the mechanics where I worked look it over. The only thing they found that needed replacing was a sway bar, purchased at an auto parts place for $11.00 which took the mechanic ten minutes to replace. The sway bar was on the tire place's list, for $130, along with over $900 other things that MUST be done.
Frankly, this is the regular experience for many women. We take our vehicles in to have the brakes replaced, and end up paying more than a $1000 for the new rotors, the calipers, as well as the brakes. We take it in to have a new belt installed, and the mechanic comes back to tell us about the dozen other items that they've identified as needing replaced.
So, to the OP, yes, I feel that MOST auto repair shops will take advantage of you if they can.
[quote=191185;44516531]Please don't spend $2,000 on brakes again ...
take a few hours ,, and look up how much brake pads, rotor, and calipers cost for your car ..
then ask them how many hours , and how much they charge per hour ...
Then do the same thing for 3 or more shops, until you find one your happy with ..
Easier said then done around here. This shop was recommended to me by our regular mechanic that we've been going to for over 20 years. He said it would be cheaper then taking it back to Toyota.
It's a high performance car and takes someone with experience to fix it. I saw the price list from 2012 and it was pricey, and that was without rotors.
I'm wondering if the parts are faulty? They should not have rusted out with less then 10k on the brakes.
Everytime I get a small repair done, I always feel ripped off...like an oil change, they probably just top off the fluid and do nothing else. Am I the only one who feels ripped off by mechanic shops?
No. I pay pros to do a pro job. That said, I don't go to cheapy places where things like that happen... or as happened to my husband they neglected to tighten the oil nut enough, and the oil slowly drained out. They replaced the oil for free for him, but think of the issues that could have caused.
I don't want to learn how to work on my car, but I know enough to see when things have been changed.
Actually you are incorrect. both about the merit of using insults to try to make a point or make yourself fell better or bigger or something (It will not help you feel better about yourself to insult others, it just makes you look bad); and about the general hypothesis stated above.
Mechanic's shops have been the subject of both studies and of sting operations. Typically they create a minor malfunction in a car that is easily repaired then they take it to various shops and see what repairs are suggested. Often they create similar situations with different cars and have a man and a woman take the cars in to see whether they get different results. Consistently more than 50% of shops engage in some sort of rip off. Sometimes it is more than 80%. It is never below 50%. Consistently women get told bs stories more often than men. I did not say mechanics are more shady than other professions in fact, if you read and comprehend what I wrote I suggested the opposite (many other professions are shady too). What I did say it that auto repair shops as a business are demonstrated to frequently be a shady business. As I said, the same can be said about many other businesses. Read entirely to the end and think about everything rather than reading a few words and jumping to conclusions/assumptions and begin spouting rhetoric and ill conceived accusations and you will be far more credible.
I understand very well how to fix things - cars in particular. In fact I worked in a mechanic shop for a time. Other than possibly rebuilding an automatic transmission there is nothing on a car that I cannot and have not done myself. Still there is often no way for me to know whether the time claimed is reasonable or whether or not the item is actually broken, unless I dig into the car and do the testing and analysis myself (if I had time for that, I would not take it to the shop to begin with). There are times when a mechanic tells me something that is obviously FOS and I just take the car elsewhere. But for the most part, the nature of mechanic's work is you have to trust them. Good example, I can and have changed out a radiator on some cars in less than two hours, even less than one hour in some instances. However on our 1998 Volvo it was a days long job, incredibly complicated and difficult. Thus, if someone were to tell me $1200 in labor for this job, I would think it is suspicious if I had not done one on that particular model before. But without doing that particular job on that particular model, and without having access to the book, there is no way I can know whether they are scamming me or not unless I try several shops for pricing - and no one ever does that.
How do they stay in business? 1. They have friends go on the internet and post super positive reviews to counter the negative ones. 2. there really are very few sources on the internet for any given shop. the two shops we currently use have a total of five reviews between them. Some good, some bad. Bad shops we used and got ripped off also have good reviews. they have friends and family members who can post reviews on the internet just like everyone else does. 3. Bad shops do not rip off everyone. If you go in for an oil change, the worst they can do is say you need an air filter too. No one is going to know or report that kind of thing (although I did have one place tell me my air filter was filthy and needed replacing when i had replaced it two days earlier). 4. Most people do not know they are being ripped off if the mechanic or salesman is friendly or empathetic, they come away with a good opinion of the shop even if they just got taken for a couple hundred dollars extra. 5. If more than 50% and as many as 80% of shops are ripping people off, they are not all going to go out of business.
I do know when you find that little independent shop that is actually honest, they tend to be incredibly busy. You need to leave your car there for a day or more before they can even look at it. And as mentioned, even the honest independent shop is going to bet some bad mechanics from time to time. They all have turnover. They all get bad mechanics at times.
There are great mechanics out there who are very smart and very talented. I know one young man who went to engineering school did not like it and after graduating, went to mechanics school and became a mechanic. He loves his job, works for BMW and makes over $100,000 a year (but he does put in a lot of overtime). However those are exceptions. Being a mechanic is not usually pleasant work. It does not pay well unless and until you have your own shop or if you get one of the rare primo jobs (like BMW), and since learning to be a mechanic teaches you very little about running a business, many accomplished mechanics who get their own shop never make a very good living. My grandfather, two uncles, and three of my closest friends are or were accomplished professional mechanics. All of them wish they had done something else. It is a dangerous job and involves continuous exposure to chemicals and substances known to be toxic or carcinogenic. It takes its toll on your body and eventually you will probably be unable to continue to do a lot of the work. Competition is fierce. Technology is constantly changing and is hard to keep up with. So - it is pretty common that people with other decent options will not go into this business or not stay in it. So, yes, while there are exceptions (people who just love doing it), a majority of people end up being mechanics because other options are closed to them for whatever reason.
Dishonesty can run to little things or big things. For example the mechanic I worked for was very honest (and because of that and poor business acumen, he never made much of a living), but I recall taking calls form irate customers and being told to tell them their car needs a special part that is on backorder. Then after hanging up being told to call and order the part and ask them to please hurry. It can run to big things, like a mechanic who told me I needed an engine rebuild when what I needed was a new distributor cap and rotor. However once they cross the line, it is usually only a matter of time form moving form the little things to big ones.
I didn't read any further after the highlighted. I'm wrong in your opinion so i'm running with my tail tucked lol
take a few hours ,, and look up how much brake pads, rotor, and calipers cost for your car ..
then ask them how many hours , and how much they charge per hour ...
Then do the same thing for 3 or more shops, until you find one your happy with ..
Easier said then done around here. This shop was recommended to me by our regular mechanic that we've been going to for over 20 years. He said it would be cheaper then taking it back to Toyota.
It's a high performance car and takes someone with experience to fix it. I saw the price list from 2012 and it was pricey, and that was without rotors.
I'm wondering if the parts are faulty? They should not have rusted out with less then 10k on the brakes.
I only drive the car around 2k a year.
No way any brake job on a Celica costs $1200 to $2000. Unless we're talking AMG, M Series, RS, or Lamborghini.
In some places, it has been worth it for me to use the expensive dealership, like when the car was new and still getting warranty work. I've been told all sorts of trash by independent mechanics. I generally researched problems and consulted the guys I trust on Youtube -- there are some Bozos on there, too! Like a poster above, I didn't consult a mechanic until I had already done some research. I'm not a car gal! But the Honda forums were/are a godsend.
Now, I've been fortunate to find a retired Honda tech who only works on Hondas and Acuras. His prices are fair and he's not in the business of upselling his customers.
I still do basic maintenance myself, but I know my limits. I'm not going to take on brake work.
I totally agree: find a mechanic you trust and build a relationship. Also, learn all you can about your model of car and which problems tend to plague certain years. That knowledge can save you hundreds of dollars when things go wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by animalcrazy
Yes I feel ripped off. I just spent 2k on another brake job. The first one was in 2012 and the car had around 55k miles. A caliper failed in 2015 and was repaired. Not even a year later and less then 2k miles later on the car I needed a complete brake job with rotors. The calipers failed and it was like driving the car with the brakes partially engaged. Everything was so badly rusted.
What's going on with these faulty parts? I think spending over 3k on brakes over a 4 year period is ridiculous. Somebody owes me some money back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 191185
Please don't spend $2,000 on brakes again ...
take a few hours ,, and look up how much brake pads, rotor, and calipers cost for your car ..
then ask them how many hours , and how much they charge per hour ...
Then do the same thing for 3 or more shops, until you find one your happy with ..
Brakes are pretty easy to do yourself. By pretty easy, I mean that most pads and rotors can be ordered online or from your auto parts store and you can have it done within an hour or so. I did the front pads on my car for about $35 a few months back. Rotors were in fine condition and didn't need replacing.
Brakes are pretty easy to do yourself. By pretty easy, I mean that most pads and rotors can be ordered online or from your auto parts store and you can have it done within an hour or so. I did the front pads on my car for about $35 a few months back. Rotors were in fine condition and didn't need replacing.
brakes aren't that hard to work hard on but its one job you don't want to screw up!
Everytime I get a small repair done, I always feel ripped off...like an oil change, they probably just top off the fluid and do nothing else. Am I the only one who feels ripped off by mechanic shops?
That's why I learned to do all that stuff myself years ago. (also relaxes my mind to do something mechanical once in a while) I let them change the oil in my wife's car and what do they do? They overfill it by a quart and then are too lazy to use a funnel and dump oil all over the coils... I had to use my extractor to remove the appropriate amount of oil so I saved no time anyway.
If you go to a mechanic because something isn't working and it turns out to be a fuse do you think he's gonna let you out of there without a hefty bill? heeccckkk no!
With OBD scan apps like Torque its really easy to diagnose your own vehicle and at least be an informed customer!
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