The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Car Repair Scams
Peter Principle
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I was looking into car repair scams and found this advertisement:
http://www.trustmymechanic.com/auto_repair_advice.html
The guy's ebook is supposedly about common car repair scams and how to avoid them. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any titles that cover similar subject matter but would be available at a library.
http://www.trustmymechanic.com/auto_repair_advice.html
The guy's ebook is supposedly about common car repair scams and how to avoid them. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any titles that cover similar subject matter but would be available at a library.
"A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business." - Eric Hoffer, _The True Believer_
Peter Principle on
0
Posts
I don't know why you're concerned or what it is you think specifically needs to be done, so maybe you could elaborate a bit.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Surely you're aware that people sometimes get ripped off when it comes to getting their cars repaired. I'd like to learn more about the common techniqes and hopefully avoid them.
Most of the time they tell you that many things are wrong with your car outside of what you asked to be repaired, and try to get you to fix all the other things as well.
Having a general knowledge of cars and what is going on with YOUR car, is always the best thing to know when you go to get something fixed.
Otherwise, you'll end up getting the headlight fluid changed, the air in the tires rotated, and your pocketbook bled dry.
Also, I plan on taking a couple of automotive courses at the community college when I buy my first motorcycle (Harley Sportster 1200n) so if anyone has any "idiots guide" to motorcycle stuff in addition to what the OP is asking for, please let me know.
See how many books I've read so far in 2010
Yes I'm aware of that but building up some encyclopedic knowledge on the subject as a response is silly. If you have a car that starts having trouble, do some research and learn what might possibly be wrong with it and what the range of possible repair costs would be, get multiple quotes, and before you allow anyone to do any work to it, get a quote for the work in writing. Specifically one that details how much they intend to charge you for parts and for labour.
Then if they try to charge you for anything extra you can show them what you agreed to and tell them that you're calling the police if they don't give you back the fucking keys.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Also know what you're willing/can do by yourself or with help. Changing the oil is not a major ordeal, but unless you have a jack, a driveway to work in, a pan, etc., it may be worth it to pay the $25. Paying $60 to change your air filter is not.
edit: Go to http://www.cartalk.com
One book is "encyclopedic knowledge"?
And that takes care of being overcharged for parts and overcharged for labor (assuming you've got that sort of time luxury). Now, is that the only way that you can be scammed when getting your car fixed? Somehow I doubt that.
Thanks.
The only way to avoid getting scammed on car work, is knowing about your car. You have to have an active interest in what goes on with your car and what could be wrong with it if you're taking it somewhere.
If not, then you have no way to tell if you're getting scammed.
Also, WATCH when mechanics repair your car. If you know what they're supposed to be doing, then they can't very well head off and do something else while you are standing there watching. If they have an objection to you standing outside the garage while they work, take your business elsewhere. :P
You can do Google/YouTube searches of news crews trying to be scammed. My favorite was (I think local) a woman reporter who got overcharged on all sorts of work, and when she questioned it, they started freaking out and speaking Chinese, which she just happen to know. Protip: if being questioned by a reporter who has "yellow" skin and narrow eyes, you might want to chose a different language.
If you really want to buy a book, get the Chilton's book for your make/model/year. I promise it'll be better spent money.
I'm not looking for exact, nor do you need "exact" to recognize a scam. Different rackets may have different semantics, but the form will be the same.
From now on, let's just drop this particular line of discussion. Unless you're an expert on scams, an expert on books about the automobile repair industry, or have worked for a crooked shop, - or, heavens forfend you've actually got a book title for me - you're highly unlikely to tell me anything I haven't already read in a google search.
Getting some experience working on your own car ought to help you get an idea of what's involved in a given project (say, replacing your brake pads), so you ought to be able to negotiate labor hours. You can try buying your own parts and have the shop just do the labor, but you may get some real dirty looks (yes they make money on parts, i let them provision the parts). Also you may realize that working on your car is quite a chore especially when you need to get specialty tools, so maybe the shop is worth it. If you think someone's lying to you, you can always go to another shop and get another opinion. Go to a part of town that has a bunch of mechanic shops, competition = good.
It helps to have a "regular" mechanic, and you can usually watch their work (maybe stay away from those who won't let you). You might try angieslist.com if you're trying to find a good mechanic. Sometimes there's a sliding scale, so if you look grungy and have kind of a beater of a car, you may get charged a bit less than if you come in a porsche with your button-down and a tie. Women may benefit by having a male friend take in their car for them (yeah sexist, but it's a common thread in those tv exposes).
Actually, it's much more entertaining to watch the mechanic stutter when the woman tells the mechanic what needs to be done and won't put up with any bullshit. ;-)
After all, a common "scam" is having your ball bearings replaced. But! Sometimes you really do need new ball bearings. Stuff like the Car Talk website is great, because it goes over symptoms and what could cause it. That's more important because when the car guys come back and say "Hey, this part here is the problem," you can say "ah, I heard about that, OK, fix it." If they come back with something entirely unrelated, it's a scam.
Note that most "scams" are really just upselling, though. Yes, $60 for an airfilter that costs $20 and takes 2 minutes to install is a ripoff, but it's no different than upselling "extended warranties" or other things. A new air filter will still be good for your car, after all.
The other problem is that scams don't generally happen as a one-off thing. There are scammy places, and there are good places. Good places may even replace parts or fix things for free. Bad places will rip you off no matter what the problem is, because they'll do a bad job and overcharge you. It's actually probably better to read local reviews of different car places, or talk to people to see where they go or who they know, than read up on scams.
So, the common scams really boil down to the standard stuff: upselling on "trivial" parts, upselling on different products within the same line you're looking for (better tires, better oil, better wiper blades), and fixing more than they're asked to (they often will fix things that actually do need to be fixed, but aren't causing a problem yet. The less common scams are: fixing things that aren't broken, breaking things that aren't broken and giving the car back to you, making you bring it in next week, and general overcharging/underperforming.
Unfortunately, if a place is sleazy, they know a lot of obscure parts about different cars. The great thing about the internet and Google searching, as you've probably run across, is that you can search for things like "the car thumps when I turn on the wiper" and get results