Camaro owner records mechanics abusing car, scheming to get damages paid for

[ViviTheMage]

Shit, if they got a flash drive with a recording of the work done upon request, then no reason not to trust them off the bat.

This is true, but what's to stop you from just editing the part out where you beat on the car?

 

[Zivic]

There is a HUGE need for a good chain of auto repair shops.

I swear, I have seriously considered starting a franchise-based nationwide auto repair shop. You would have a web based gopro installed in your car and could watch every single thing that happens via a website. I really do think many would pay the 30-40% extra for this. $140/hr versus $100/hr, charged 'actual' time versus book time. Each one would have 2-3 mechanics who are paid good money and are offered partial ownership status after 4-5 years, with a few lesser paid guys who are still heavily supervised for smaller work.

These stories make me absolutely sick, and they happen EVERYWHERE. If you have a performance car it is absolutely being beat on by these mechanics.

the book time vs actual time will not fly. mechanics in the industry are too well accustomed to book time. even at a 40% premium they would likely be taking a good cut in pay. some mechanics look at it as a bad job if they don't double their actual time by charging book.

I agree that good mechanics are hard to come by and there is a void. I am very fortunate to the have the resources to do 75% of my own work, and when time/skill doesn't allow, I have a fantastic mechanic less than 1/2 mile from my house.

 

[7window]

99.9% of mechanics and repair shops are scammers.

I think your figure is wrong. Its 99%

 

[SpatiallyAware]

the book time vs actual time will not fly. mechanics in the industry are too well accustomed to book time. even at a 40% premium they would likely be taking a good cut in pay. some mechanics look at it as a bad job if they don't double their actual time by charging book.

I agree that good mechanics are hard to come by and there is a void. I am very fortunate to the have the resources to do 75% of my own work, and when time/skill doesn't allow, I have a fantastic mechanic less than 1/2 mile from my house.

Part of the major problem with this industry is paying mechanics by the book hour like that. It creates an environment where rushing and cutting corners makes them significantly more money.

I would rather pay a GOOD mechanic $100k/year flat (at $140/hr I can still make plenty of money) and have him take his time to do it correctly. It's better for the customer and better for the mechanic.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are people who will only pay $65/hour to get stuff done but this business model doesn't cater to that crowd.

 

[JackBurton]

So glad I never have to deal with this.

Hey, if you have some spare time and are interested in installing a supercharger in a 2011 Mustang GT, let me know. I'd rather pay someone I KNOW will do a good job than the dealer. I actually don't know anyone around me I can trust to do the job.

 

[SearchMaster]

There is a HUGE need for a good chain of auto repair shops.

I swear, I have seriously considered starting a franchise-based nationwide auto repair shop. You would have a web based gopro installed in your car and could watch every single thing that happens via a website. I really do think many would pay the 30-40% extra for this. $140/hr versus $100/hr, charged 'actual' time versus book time. Each one would have 2-3 mechanics who are paid good money and are offered partial ownership status after 4-5 years, with a few lesser paid guys who are still heavily supervised for smaller work.

These stories make me absolutely sick, and they happen EVERYWHERE. If you have a performance car it is absolutely being beat on by these mechanics.

You would still probably have inconsistency. I've experienced 3 different Firestones in my life and they have all been crooks. My father swears by the one near his house and won't go anywhere else.

 

[Doppel]

owning. Video/audio will screw the dumb criminals increasingly in the future because it's everywhere.

 

[Pulsar]

I think mechanics are the most un-trusted profession and for good reason. For me the other one is dentist. Basically any job where the consumer is not well informed and where recommending an necessary job or fix can rarely hurt the situation, there's room for abuse.

Yeah. About that.

We've got a quack dentist that we just dropped. 3 failed fillings, two failed root canals. The filling (the one and only) that he gave me, he didn't even smooth down. Just slapped it in and called it good, with a big lump of shit sticking out hitting my tongue. I actually grabbed my jewlers file and fixed it.

On top of that, he told me that I needed to have a 'teeth scraping'. In 40 years of going to the dentist, I'd never heard of this. My parents, in 70 years, had never heard of this. So I talked to a pal who happens to be a dentist. He told me that essentially, it's a totally unneeded process if cleaning is done correctly by the dentist. He also told me that he was getting pressured in his office to recommend it, because it's fairly quick and they can claim they used lots of numbing because people get very uncomfortable. Essentially it's a nice chunk of income beyond the simple dental cleaning that got everyone by for the last 100 years or so.

 

[phucheneh]

Fuck dentists is all I can say. I've never found one who didn't introduce more problems that he fixed. Fuck doctors in general, too. The common saying among mechanics is 'we fix our mistakes, you just bury yours.'

Anyhow, I has more comments.

That blows, that's why when I take my car to the dealership, I print out a bunch of stories like this one, give them to the manager, and preemptively threaten to sue them if anything happens to MY car. That way they know to take me seriously and give me the best service ever.

The service advisor hates you. The mechanic hates you. This is not how to get good service. Might as well go to McDonalds and say 'I WANT A CHEESEBURGER...WITHOUT SPIT! I KNOW YOU FUCKS SPIT IN SHIT. FUCKING WORTHLESS ASSHOLES.'

...mmm, spit.

Dealer mechanics are especially notorious. My dad's company used to run RAM trucks. Every time they went to the dealer garage to fix something, something else would always go wrong. I think their game is to get you to say "f--k it, take me to the show room".

Not at all, really. That's the awesomely stupid thing about how most dealers are run- the parts, service, and sales departments are completely at odds and usually trying to rip each other off.

There is a HUGE need for a good chain of auto repair shops.

I swear, I have seriously considered starting a franchise-based nationwide auto repair shop. You would have a web based gopro installed in your car and could watch every single thing that happens via a website. I really do think many would pay the 30-40% extra for this. $140/hr versus $100/hr, charged 'actual' time versus book time. Each one would have 2-3 mechanics who are paid good money and are offered partial ownership status after 4-5 years, with a few lesser paid guys who are still heavily supervised for smaller work.

These stories make me absolutely sick, and they happen EVERYWHERE. If you have a performance car it is absolutely being beat on by these mechanics.

No decent mechanic is going to want to work for an audience...you'd get workers that are being watched AND suck. And you'd quickly lose all your business, as people saw every little thing that they didn't like. He sat down in my car too hard. Came into the bay too fast. Shut the door too hard. Every little thing would get nitpicked, and you'd go under.

Also, people already don't want to pay $90-100 an hour for labor. Which is why successful businesses usually have 'menu pricing.' Those are the jobs that allow the mechanic to get paid a normal amount without raping the customer. Brakes, alignments, tires, ect. More and more dealers especially, though, have less and less menu pricing. So front brakes are 1.5 x $100 plus parts, or something like that, rather than just saying 'brakes 129.99' or something.

The funniest thing with brakes is charging customers extra labor when they need rotors...the mechanic's actual time spent is practically cut in half since machining is almost always included in the initial price.

Basically, yeah, dealers suck, and are getting worse. There do need to be more good shops, but there aren't enough good people to staff them and you're not going to be any more likely to get them by treating them worse. The inherent problem is you need to pay your workers well AND have good pricing. And to corporate dealer groups, that's insane; they can't fathom how more business and a better reputation with a little less profit margin could actually be a good thing. All about the bottom line, and how much the guy at the top can rake in. Yay America fuck yeah.

 

[mafia]

Video was taken down, anyone have outside links?

Looks like he got his offer accepted by the dealership.

 

[power_hour]

Now thats a smart customer. But if your suspicious enough to leave a recorder in your car, maybe your at the wrong dealer? Just sayin ...

 

[mvbighead]

Now thats a smart customer. But if your suspicious enough to leave a recorder in your car, maybe your at the wrong dealer? Just sayin ...

He was suspicious after the first dealer he brought it to messed with it, or at least he assumed they did. To avoid assumption, he placed the recorder in the door this time for a new dealer. Turns out, in this case, his assumption was correct.

 

[SandEagle]

yep, looks like the dealership agreed to buy the car back from the owner
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motora...-story-buys-back-car-satisfied-221510197.html

i must be in the minority, but i love my service reps. been with the 5 years and they always do a good job at a good price. hell, they once quoted me 2 hours on a custom job which ended up taking 6 hours. the rep said he had to contact the manufacturer and wanted to make sure everything gets done right and works. no extra charge for the additional labor, just charged me what he quoted.

 

[ElFenix]

This is why I'd love it if dealers would just get rid of the franchise concept, and cut the US into regions, and allow only ONE dealer. You can have mom/pop shops sure, but 1 true/genuine/authorized dealer in a specific region... similar to how Caterpillar does it with their equipment.

you'd have to get the law changed in most states. the auto dealers have all sorts of laws written to protect themselves from the (usually) out of state automaker.

 

[mvbighead]

yep, looks like the dealership agreed to buy the car back from the owner http://http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs...-story-buys-back-car-satisfied-221510197.html

i must be in the minority, but i love my service reps. been with the 5 years and they always do a good job at a good price. hell, they once quoted me 2 hours on a custom job which ended up taking 6 hours. the rep said he had to contact the manufacturer and wanted to make sure everything gets done right and works. no extra charge for the additional labor, just charged me what he quoted.

One too many http://'s you got there:
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motora...-story-buys-back-car-satisfied-221510197.html

 

[disappoint]

This is true, but what's to stop you from just editing the part out where you beat on the car?

A live internet feed instead of a flash drive after the fact.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

<snip>

No decent mechanic is going to want to work for an audience...you'd get workers that are being watched AND suck. And you'd quickly lose all your business, as people saw every little thing that they didn't like. He sat down in my car too hard. Came into the bay too fast. Shut the door too hard. Every little thing would get nitpicked, and you'd go under.

Also, people already don't want to pay $90-100 an hour for labor. Which is why successful businesses usually have 'menu pricing.' Those are the jobs that allow the mechanic to get paid a normal amount without raping the customer. Brakes, alignments, tires, ect. More and more dealers especially, though, have less and less menu pricing. So front brakes are 1.5 x $100 plus parts, or something like that, rather than just saying 'brakes 129.99' or something.

<snip>

I disagree. An honest mechanic should be fine with this. It's no different than any other industry which has 'actual' accountability. If a mechanic doesn't want to be held accountable then he can go work for firestone or whatever.

Things like "sitting down too hard" (IE putting creases in seat bolsters) "going too fast into the bay" (IE being reckless) "slamming doors"..... I mean this is exactly why people who care about their cars HATE bringing them in. What you explained is a huge part of the problem. Any mechanic who had issues with being on video is, in my opinion, dishonest.

I agree, the majority of people won't want to pay $140+/hour. But if the time is actual time versus book time that helps a lot. Also, this type of thing caters more towards car nuts than people who view their car as an appliance.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

A live internet feed instead of a flash drive after the fact.

This is what I envision. Literally being able to log into a webpage and see a live feed.

 

[Zivic]

like "sitting down too hard" (IE putting creases in seat bolsters)

this is one I have never heard before

 

[mvbighead]

I disagree. An honest mechanic should be fine with this. It's no different than any other industry which has 'actual' accountability. If a mechanic doesn't want to be held accountable then he can go work for firestone or whatever.

Things like "sitting down too hard" (IE putting creases in seat bolsters) "going too fast into the bay" (IE being reckless) "slamming doors"..... I mean this is exactly why people who care about their cars HATE bringing them in. What you explained is a huge part of the problem. Any mechanic who had issues with being on video is, in my opinion, dishonest.

I agree, the majority of people won't want to pay $140+/hour. But if the time is actual time versus book time that helps a lot. Also, this type of thing caters more towards car nuts than people who view their car as an appliance.

The only problem I see with actual time is paying for an incompetent person to fix something. IE - If it takes one guy 2 hours to do it right, and another 1.5, is it fair that a customer has to pay for the slower guy's extra half hour?

I'd agree with the camera business and all that. But I shouldn't have to pay more because I got a less experienced tech.

 

[JCH13]

I disagree. An honest mechanic should be fine with this. It's no different than any other industry which has 'actual' accountability. If a mechanic doesn't want to be held accountable then he can go work for firestone or whatever.

Things like "sitting down too hard" (IE putting creases in seat bolsters) "going too fast into the bay" (IE being reckless) "slamming doors"..... I mean this is exactly why people who care about their cars HATE bringing them in. What you explained is a huge part of the problem. Any mechanic who had issues with being on video is, in my opinion, dishonest.

I agree, the majority of people won't want to pay $140+/hour. But if the time is actual time versus book time that helps a lot. Also, this type of thing caters more towards car nuts than people who view their car as an appliance.

I don't like it when my clients are watching the whole time I'm working on something. It's not that I'm doing anything wrong or screw up, they just have an opinion on how everything should be done, right or wrong, and I have to tip-toe around their arbitrary notions or spend half of my time explaining what I'm doing and why it's the right thing to do. If they put their foot down on something it generally takes a lot of time to work around it when they finally realize the error of their ways.

If the garage's clients were rational people like you, it'd be fine. If the clients are like most people I've dealt with, it'd be a complete shit storm.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

this is one I have never heard before

I have had it happen to my car, at a BMW dealership. They paid to have the bolster replaced. It's actually a common problem.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I don't like it when my clients are watching the whole time I'm working on something. It's not that I'm doing anything wrong or screw up, they just have an opinion on how everything should be done, right or wrong, and I have to tip-toe around their arbitrary notions or spend half of my time explaining what I'm doing and why it's the right thing to do. If they put their foot down on something it generally takes a lot of time to work around it when they finally realize the error of their ways.

If the garage's clients were rational people like you, it'd be fine. If the clients are like most people I've dealt with, it'd be a complete shit storm.

I hear you, and it's a valid point, but I think what would really help this is allowing the customer to personally meet "their" mechanic. In other words, only one guy touches your car - period. You meet him when you first come to the shop, build a sort of relationship before handing the keys over. When you make an appointment it's with that same mechanic, every single time. Yes, the first visit or two might be tough, but you should get to a point where there's enough trust to where it's not nearly as much of an issue.

I've been to shops like this and it seems to work really well. No matter what, the people who question things are going to question them - cameras/accountability or not. In my opinion most of these people wouldn't have such an issue with being irrational if they weren't being continually screwed over by incompetent and shady mechanics.

 

[MagickMan]

i must be in the minority, but i love my service reps. been with the 5 years and they always do a good job at a good price.

Same here. A good friend of mine is the owner/manager at my service place (import/exotic specialists) and the mechanics there have always been square and honest with me. It is a little more expensive, maybe 10%, but I know what they do and that they stand behind their work. That's worth every penny to me. If they want to take one of my cars out for a spin, they ask. I'd only had my M5 for a week and none of them had seen the F10 in person yet, so I took it by and they respectfully played with it. I got it back in the same condition as I left it, minus ~30 miles on the clock. LOL

 

[phucheneh]

What you are not understanding is that I'm not saying 'recklessness' should be excusable. I'm saying that the type of people who want to watch their car get worked on are the types who will bitch about non-issues.

e.g. shutting a door harder than the owner normally does is not neccesarily abusive. Or the seat thing is even better- I can climb in and out of cars extremely quickly without hurting anything. Faster that someone is accustomed to seeing. That doesn't mean that it's me, rather than years of someone else's fat ass, that is causing seat foam to collapse.

Or how about dirty cars? I can start with clean hands doing interior work, and get them FILTHY working inside someone's car. If I touch a visible part and leave a mark, guess what I do? I clean it off when I'm done. Guess what your overprotective clientele would do? Freak the fuck out.