The "Really ?!?!?!?!" Thread

Oneheadlite said:
Rant: I hate my industry.

I`ve gone on about how I work at an independent BMW/Audi/mini shop. Since our focus is pretty small, people have come to assume we`re expensive. I`m trying to figure out where they get this from.

Example A: Had a customer who`s car broke down (E90 3 Series, Overheated - Electric water pump failed) in front of another do-all-makes shop. So, instead of a tow, they brought it there. That shop charged them 40% more for the job than we would have (and they used cheap chinese parts which failed several months later). They replaced the water pump and thermostat, which is common practive. But, they charged them labor to replace the thermostat, which you HAVE TO REMOVE TO DO THE WATER PUMP.

Example B: Another car (E90 3 Series) came to us after the owner had spent a "bunch of money" diagnosis a running problem at another shop. They provided the records of what they had done. They were completely off the scent of what the actual problem was, and were spending the customer`s money (over $1500) throwing parts at it.
Looking at the history, they had also been scalped on the water pump-thermostat double charge. During an oil change at 70k miles, they replaced the oil filter housing cap (sometimes they come apart). With a cheap chinese one, that they charged twice the price you would pay for one FROM THE DEALER. At 75,000 miles, 3 months later, they again charged the customer $70 for another cheap chinese filter housing cap - probably because the garbage 1st one came apart. What about your warranty? We do 2 year, 24k warranty on our parts and labor. Absolute robbery. :angry: They also replaced spark plugs, then replaced them again 20k later chasing a misfire (factory interval on those - 100k).

Example C: With the airbag recall, we get all sorts of people coming in wanting a second opinion after the dealer. Apparently oil pan gaskets must be the thing to do there - almost every car we see from them "Needs" an oil pan gasket. Most often, they`re a 3 on a 1-10 scale (10 being worst). Those guys should be ashamed of themselves.

I don`t mean to say there aren`t good mechanics at all varieties of places, but man the bad ones are bad.

The worst part is this garbage totally ruins the rest of life for me, because now any time I have to hire someone to do something I don`t have the talent or time to do (house stuff, etc), I`m stressed out worrying I`m going to get "those guys" instead of "our guys".
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That is absolutely the majority of mechanics out there. There is no money in proper diagnosis, and customers refuse to pay for it, so shops throw parts at cars. Happens in other repair trades too. My neighberhood is about 5 or 6 years old. I can`t tell you how many AC units I`ve seen replaced. Not fixed, replaced with new units becuase they tell the customer they are unrepairable. I`m in the same boat as you, I cringe at calling someone in to do anything because there are so many frauds out there.
 
Eh, if New Yorkers wanna be all [whatever you`d call it] that`s their business and any nuttiness is on them. Outlaw big sodas, take down statues, whatever...Certain [individuals] find all sorts of stuff to get worked up about, guess it makes `em feel special.
 
Well, I dunno why people are so easily distracted from the real issues by such [stuff]. Not that there seems to be any consensus on what constitutes Real Issues....
 
Accumulator said:
Well, I dunno why people are so easily distracted from the real issues by such [stuff]. Not that there seems to be any consensus on what constitutes Real Issues....
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Well, since this is NYC.... Anything from the mayor taking naps (2/3 of day) to crumbling of the subway system, etc, etc that the mayor wants to deflect attention from.
 
Heh heh, it occurred to me as soon as I signed off that here we are discussing the need to attend to Real Issues...at Autopia...where we pretend that Car Wax and Swirlmarks matter!
 
Ronkh- Well, there`s a reason I consider myself the Autopian Heretic ;)

I`m as nutty about marring as anybody, but I really do think it`s a pretty silly concern. As somebody here pointed out, at best it`s one of those First-World Problems. Eh, I guess I just know too many people who`d either love to be able to expend resources on something so trivial or, OTOH who`d never allow such stuff to distract them from doing truly important things.
 
Eh, that Daily Caller piece is so obviously biased that I can`t accept it at face value; IMO if it were a valid representation they wouldn`t feel the need to word it that way....any more than the SPLC would need to word *their* points the way they do. Hyperbole sells to a certain demographic, IOW keeps the bucks rolling in, for any side of any argument..so it`s all noise to me.

Similarly, IMO if everybody merely ignored twits like that [individual] at Skidmore rather than rewarding her with an equally biased counterattack, maybe such nonsense would get less traction. As soon as "reportage" turns into OpEd, thatt`s a clue...and merely noise for those of us who can think for ourselves.
 
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