Well, I don't think soo... The new technique is charge the hours "the book" says it will take, which usually means charging 4 hours for something that actually took 1. Who wrote "the book" after all? Troubleshooting I'll agree with you on. If it takes 3 hours to troubleshoot a nasty electrical problem(and there are no more nasty problems) charge 3 hours, that, I'd have no problem with, if what you are doing is actually troubleshooting and not just swapping any part that might be remotely related, and then the problem is really just some worn insulation that a piece of electrical tape fixed.
I know alot of good mechanics in the business. Most of the rip offs are on thier way out. The consumer has many outlets and forms of retaliations that were not available in the 70's and 80's It's not impossible to do but it's not common place anymore either. Just out of curiosity MaverickRick what do you do for a living
Yes the book determines repair time charges. However we lose as many as we win, meaning for every car we fix early we have one that takes longer than it should. Broken bolts etc....also to trouble shoot you have to change parts sometimes. That is the factory method to diagnos some problems as there would be no other way otherwise.
Consumer vs supplier. I don't agree with most of the bad ones are taken care of, that's how this got started. It's just gotten worse if you ask me. The modern cars, the consumer has no idea what bs is being thrown at them(hence, I have none). I still occasionally TRY to have something done by a mechanic, about every two years, the interval it takes for the memory of the last experience to fade. 1badmav, I read your posts with great respect for your abilities, YOUR abilities. My experience with taking my cars, and other peoples exeriences taking their cars, to mechanics, is overwhelmingly negative, and the more you know the more negative you get. Tell the people you know in the business that. We aren't all ignorant. I'm a furniture maker now, used to be an electronics engineer. I maintain and fix all my own woodworking equipment too. Same story.
The only problem I have is when they charge me for the parts that didn't need replacing, but were just trying this & that until they found the problem. Say there's a problem with the fuel system; why should I have to pay for a new fuel pump if it was not the problem in the first place. Put my old fuel pump back on, since there was nothing wrong with it to begin with. Too much work? Oh well, should have done a better job trouble-shooting before replacing a perfectly good fuel pump. Why should I have to eat that cost??...
Ok guys I'm not really a mechanic I just play one on TV j/k No hard feelings I just wanna make sure that everybody doesn't think all mechanics are hacks. You should see the stuff that comes in from pretend mechanics I have to fix
I understand. I *AM* pretty much a 'pretend mechanic... ' ... I rebuilt my C4 trans, but I also had my Haynes manual right there to do so... rebuilding my carb involved my dad, (who has done a LOT of those in his 71 years, ) I don't know much,but I am willing to learn! And what I know, I am willing to show folks,
I agree that not all mechanics are out to take you for a ride. I think in my case they saw a girl who they thought they could rip off. They all sort of backed off when they found out I also worked on cars and actually knew what I was talking about. My step son-in-law has been a master mechanic for Volvo for more than 20 years and he is one of the most knowledgeable and honest mechcanics I have ever met. There is absolutley nothing that he can't figure out and repair. The dealership won't send him to classes anymore because the instructors don't want him there. He knows more than THEY do. He is also the only mechanic at the dealership who still knows what a carburator is. The younger guys have never seen one before. If they can't go to the computer to diagnose a problem, they're lost. I have heard of more than one occasion where someone with an older, noncomputerized car has had nothing but problems getting them repaired because the mechanics had no idea what they were looking at. In a way, you can't blame the mechanics for that if all they were taught to do was work on modern cars with a ton of computer crap under the hood. I hate to think that someday the ability to work on and mechanicly repair our older cars could become a lost art.
I agree that some mechanics are bad, most of the time its more about the shop owner than the actual mechanic. I always suggest knowing as much as possible about your problem before bringing it in, but as i said above find a good shop before you need it. there is definately a difference between having the license and being a good, honest mechanic. I definately suggest finding one through the local dragstrip or ford club if possible.
race related I'll agree the good race rep guys are the best. My last good experience was with a race bike guy. Expensive, but so good I didn't mind paying. But's that's all he did, prep race bikes, and had been doing it for 30 years, magazine write ups on his motors, etc. I was, and still am 11,000 hard miles miles later, thrilled with what he did to my motor. The price was sky high but I knew guys with his motors, so knew what I was going to get. And the guy was obsessive about having everything exactly right, when I got it back it was PERFECT, he went through everything meticulously on the tune after the rebuild. I'll never have that bike tuned that well again.
