Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Web Hosting Lounge : Have you been ripped off in a garage

[iainw]

I have had problems with my car starting for a week now, so i took it to a small renault garage, he tried to tell me i had big probs with my car such as battery dead, fuel pump blocked, and electrodes worn, the price to fix would be £300.
I didn't trust him because my last service was £500 and i thought that was a bit too much.
I went to a large renaut garage and asked them to test the three things that the garage mentioned they said there was nothing wrong with any of them it was just a blown fuse.

I will go back to the original garage with the report to show him.

Have any of you been ripped off or had garages trying to?

Iain

[recipher]

I'm sure many of us had, some might not even know it. I really like the mechanic I take my car to now. He actually brought me back into the garage to show me exactly what went wrong and what he did to fix it. Not cheap, but, no where near as expensive as the dealership.

It's great that you caught this guy. Please post pictures of his face when confronted with the ownage.

[Mike V]

I had one try to sell me $2,500 worth of repairs on a $2,000 car to make it compliant with the US emissions laws. He said I absolutely HAD to do that. But the law states you have to spend only $150 (or s) towards getting the repairs. So I paid for his "analysis" of the problem and had him make a couple changes totalling $165. Low and behold, I took the receipt back to the testing facility and was granted a waiver.

[pusherhosting]

How about 1,000 bucks to change out a fuel pump on a 98 Astro Van.

[Barti1987]

Lucky never...

Two of my friends own repair shops...

They always tell the truth.... There is alot of trust between us...

Sometimes they fix my car and I give them the money a day or two later..

But im pretty sure if I didn't know them, somehow I would be tricked...

One time I went to one of the franchise (forgot the name, its yellow) and told me it would cost me around $950 to fix my car... went back to my friend and got the exact same things fixed for like $300... never trusted franchises again!

Peace,

[WireNine]

It is hard to find honest mechanics

[Lev]

If you go to a franchise, they will find a million things broken in your car, which are actually working fine, although usually a little old or something like that (they don't make it up out of thin air). Because of all these things the price skyrockets.

That is why I have a mechanic I trust, that I always go to, and as far as I know, he doesn't overcharge me.

[2Grumpy]

This happened back in ... 1995? 94? I took my 87 Dakota in for new brake pads at Sears. They came back with an esimate for _$1250_ yes twelve HUNDRED and fifty dollars. They said my calipers were shot, rotors were shot, and a slew of other stuff.

I told them "put my tires back on I'm getting out of here", dude was like "your truck is unsafe to drive" I told him to call the f...ing cops then but if I didn't get my truck back in 10 minutes I was gonna report it stolen.

My dad and I went and got 2 rotors from a junkyard, $180, new calipers $35 each, and new pads with a lifetime warranty $44, we then paid a buddy of his $50 to put it all on for me, done deal. The rotors were probably "turnable" but it would have left them a little too thin so we got new rotors anyway (I said junkyard but they ordered the rotors for us, brand new).

A couple years before that I was in college (same truck) and I took it in for a tuneup ($50) dude said "your timing belt is worn etc etc) $378 later I drive it home, that NIGHT at work my timing belt BROKE. When we looked at it the NEW distributor cap? It was my old one, you could see the finger prints in the dust where they adjusted my timing by TURNING THE DITRIBUTOR CAP to set it. No new belt nada. Total screw job.

[viGeek]

Better question would be "Who hasn't been ripped off in a garage". Everyone I know has overpaid for one thing or another or brought their car in for one thing and were told something completely different.

[Steven]

I personally have never gone to a mechanic for my own vehicles. I even do work for friends cars, because i recently bought a univeral code scanner.

[Take-IT-EZZI]

My fingers would break before I could finish typing the rant I want to type about this...

Lev hit the nail right on the head though, stay away from franchise places, Pep Boys is one really good example, those guys have screwed like everyone I know.

[Hostex Australia]

I think most garages are rip offs

[-T{H}R-]

I got quoted to replace a switch between $800-$900 once when I knew damn well the switch wasn't faulty. I finally got a place that recognised it as the wiring and it cost $50.

[Jeff - Exceed]

You have to get a second opinion from a garage with a decent reputaton after taking advice from somewhere you may not trust. My local garage is exceptional, and when I purchase spare parts they fit them free of charge, I am lucky to have found them

[Disgruntled]

Probably the biggest rip-off of me by a garage was done in the opposite way. The garage on Texas Street in San Diego in 1983 was one that had previously done good work on my previous car. When that got damaged in an accident to where repairs would have been more than book value, I went to buy a car from a used car dealer. I first went with the salesman to the garage on Texas St. to get it inspected, and they told me it was a good car. As I brought it in to the garage on Texas St. for one malfunction after another, I realized that they were making more money for having recommended a lemon car than the salesman probably made by selling it to me.