It's been my goal throughout my entire career to operate as an honest, ethical and professional mechanic. Being that cars wear out and break down on their own I don't see the need for me to lie. Not to mention the fact that lying is just wrong. I prefer my customers to be informed. It actually makes the life of an honest mechanic much easier. I hate dishonest mechanics.
The police should be setting up similar stings to catch dishonest mechanics and put them in jail. Then honest mechanics like you would be able to pick up all the extra business.
I owned a transmission shop nearly 30 years...an HONEST ONE..I used to send folks to honest mechanics or if we done the transmission stick brake pads on for free to help them,I was able to sleep nights....
I took my wife's car to Pep boys for tires and they called me and told me the brakes were shot and it was 900 to get them fixed, but they were running a special sale so only 750 for me. I told him they didn't look that bad when I inspected them the other day and that I'd look again again if they needed fixing, I'd do it myself. His sales pitch ended abruptly.
What's your overhead? How much are you paying your tech, insurance, utilities? Oh yeah, and pay the tech to redo the job if there's a warranty concern (most part warranty's pay for parts, not labor...so the shop HAS to build in a profit for warranty). Open your own shop, then complain about $180 for brake pads. Somehow, I bet your opinion changes DRASTICALLY.
"Tech" is short for "technician". And, really, depending on the vehicle, you NEED technology in the form of a scan tool or dedicated tool to put the system into service mode. Yep, that's a real thing. Ford, BMW, Volvo, etc, etc. Only going to become more common. Plus, really...like...WTF...there is a HUGE difference between back-yarding a repair for your own vehicle versus doing it professionally. We have to stand by our work. It's like saying you don't need insurance to cook burgers on your grill, but how many restaurants don't have insurance.
@@mattfanslow hahaha If mechanics had any character and morals and a backbone they'd make parts companys pay the labor....the customer didnt sell you a bad part!!!!
This type of thing is fraud and attempted theft. The police should be setting up similar stings and throwing people who do it in jail where they belong.
As bad a rap as my job gets as a mechanic, if I was being threatened with jail for having a semi-bad day and telling ppl they need wiper blades when they could've gone another 3000 miles on their old, junky, $14 set, then I wouldn't want to be in the business. I love fixing cars, I love turning a piece of shit banger into an awesome, sweet ride. I'd do it even if ppl didn't pay me. The police have enough power as it is. Leave it be. If you stop coming to a shop you find fault with, you hurt them infinitely more than if you jailed them.
Sorry. Theft is a crime. Dishonest mechanics who rip people off belong in jail. It sends a message. And then honest mechanics end up with more business.
Joe Vignolo I'm not saying "Don't report a crime", I'm saying be sure your money was stolen in the service area and you didn't just forget where you left it.
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i'm so happy, I was taught by my father how to fix things, when I was a kid. Also happy, I kept fixing my own car and learned a lot that way. I don't have to use cheap replacement parts and for the money I'd pay the mechanic, I have purchased a nice set of tools, toolboxes over the years.
+rushanz n Not every one has the time to learn about cars or have the interest. Most of these shops Target women because ( Not to be sexist) most women don't know much about cars.
+MetalHeart8787 lol literally all you have to do Is read the manual for your car. its that easy as long as you know about your car your good no need to learn every small detail a bout cars just the simple ones.
MetalHeart8787 so you'd spend 20,000 dollars on a car and choose to not learn about it? If you went to college you spent more than that to learn. Read the manual. Use google. Not too hard. Same for houses. How can you spend 100+ thousand dollars on something and not know anything about it. Just seems foolish. Buy some tools and roll your sleeves up. Everyone's excuse is they don't have time.
I've taken whole engines apart and put them back together without even worrying about the time. I have more equipment than just a basic set of sockets and wrenches you know.
+MrNotorius5500 Same here. I used to take my truck to the local dealership to get oil changes. I got sick and tired of waiting over an hour for them to change the oil, so I learned how to do it myself, then realized they ripped me off a half quart each visit. My truck takes 4.5 quarts, but they were charging me for 5. 4.5 is the max it needs, so I was ripped off each time I went there.
+Athrough Z The reason you were probably ripped off is because the system that some dealerships use for pricing is linked to their inventory system, making it impossible to charge for .5 of a unit.
OK, after watching several of these videos, let me add this. I have seen customers come to a shop with a coupon for a wheel alignment thinking that will solve an issue. They then are told that they need struts, tie rod ends, an idler arm, and lower ball joints, around 350, give or take. Bottom line, the customer feels he is taken. He wanted an alignment to fix his problem, but gets a repair bill. This is a true story, and I saw the car. The wear pattern on the front tires was horrible, along with the squeak. Sometimes your failure to do maintenance creates the issue, not the shop.
Yea, Auto MD is like Web MD (it's cancer..always gonna be cancer, so save yourself the trip). It gripes me to no end how over simplified some of these videos are. It gripes me even more to see ignorance being spread like a disease by the people who make them. People want a good mechanic but don't want to pay for his years of expierence, his tools, his education. Sure, you can buy a pocket OBDll scanner for $40, but you have nothing else to interperet the information. My scanner cost me around $14k and I get about as close as you can get to dealership level data and control. Most folks act like it's just so easy to fix cars, or that a monkey could do it. Come into my shop with that attitude and I'll tell you straight off to find a monkey to do it, and where the door is.
That is one of my gripes too. Customer wants an alignment because the car "pulls", look it over and the suspension is completely worn out and it has four different tires on it. You do the alignment and it still pulls, now they want you to fix it for free since the alignment didn't help, and now it is making noise over bumps.
This is exactly what I mean and then you try to tell him he needs it fixed and suddenly you are a crook and a thief and robbing people blind and obviously he’s gonna tell everyone.
Yup that of they go down to another shop that will do the alignment solve issue short term and then they will trash your name saying you tried to screw them
Yeah ... But Only SOMETIMES It MIGHT Be Legitimately / Honestly " Needed Repairs " . But MOST Of The Time , ITS ALL VERY UNNECESSARY ADDED REPAIRS . ESPECIALLY FOR FEMALE CUSTOMERS. Car Repair Garage / Shops , ALMOST ALWAYS PURPOSELY AND WILLINGLY TAKE WRONGFUL / ILLEGAL ADVANTAGE OF " Car Uneducated " Women . JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN FOOL THEM AND GET AWAY WITH IT ... !
agreed....That $120 covers the time spent creating the work order, the tech removing the wheels to inspect the brakes so he can get paid....time spent creating the estimate.....the electricity required to run the lights, computers, printers and other equipment....the paper the invoices are printed on, then the tech having to put the wheels back on and take the car back to the front....the payroll for the service manager and adviser.....health insurance for the employees....lease on the building.....i could go on......people just do not know what it costs to run a good repair facility.
@@bijnor67it depends what the reporter lady told the shop when she brought the car in. What if she told them that she wanted a complete inspection of the car, codes read, suspension looked at, pressure tests, emission tests.
the guy i go to actually makes a point to show me exactly what he all did and shows me all the old/broken parts. He actual encourages his customers to watch him do the work if the customer has nothing better to do as well as educated them. And ive actually hung out a few times because i had nothing better to do. but the thing to is im mechanically inclined as well. but there are somethings i cant do because i dont have the tools or in winter time a heated garage. I find it rare to find an actual mechanic like the one i go to. we need more of them.
I would teach my community how to repair their own vehicles the best I could and hopefully sombody in return could teach me a useful self sufficient skill. Money gets us all mixed up.
Joe Vignolo id kill a mechanic if he even tried to replace a spark plug wire on my ls3 swapped silverado 😠 i just hate that i can't do my own state mandated inspections when i drive in they are all excited to take it for a test drive 😑
Koalafications4Dayz that sucks Iam from a small town and and we only have two inspections stations, at one they actually take your car for a test drive and at the other station they only drive your vehicle in their parking lot (to test the brakes) so not far at all and you keep an eye on your car.
In many mechanics defense, there are many items that ''should'' be replaced or flushed at certain intervals which they bring to your attention and honestly think should be taken care of but is taken as trying to rip you off or unintentionally forcing you to pay to take care of when they are honestly suggesting to you the best way to maintain your vehicle and get the most miles out of it.
I have been a mechanic my whole life,not many things need "flushed"...this term was used for radiators a long time ago before people used anti freeze in radiators. And surfaced about 20 yrs or so ago. "Flush master cylinder","Transmission", NOT NEEDED!,Dirty transmission fluid better left ALONE!. Master cylinder is just them stabbing you!, It usually doesn't get done,But believe them your MONEY!.
@@packingten Evidently you don't service BMW or Subaru. Part of their recommended services. Ever test for copper content in brake fluid? See, most fluids come with inhibitor packages. They prevent the fluids from becoming acidic. What's the weakest components in a brake system, well, that's in contact with brake fluid? Yep, copper. Brake fluid flushes are WAY cheaper than calipers, master cylinders, wheel cylinders, etc.
@@mattfanslow Are you a mechanic Matt? Packington has said they've been a mechanic their whole life and you just sound like you own a Subaru and read the owners manual.
@@tesseract2365 Good point, I should start out with listing off credentials instead of just citing truths that are easily found; many, oddly enough, in the vehicle's owner's manual.
I'm a gearhead so thankfully I know what I need when I need it and explain it to my local mechanic and usually I provide them with the part I intend to replace. Never had an issue
+brandon612 You have to take into account that most people repairing the brakes will be technicians paid on a flat rate system. For those of you who don't know technicians aren't paid by the hour but by the job's hour rate. So if their flag rate is $8 and the books say changing brakes should take 2 hours, no matter how long it takes in reality, they get paid $16. Now the reason the cost of repairs can't be super cheap is because you're paying for the technicians knowledge, tools and essentially their time. I can see how consumers want to pay less and less but in order to get a good technician, you need to pay a fair rate.
ok well im a mechanic and i work at a shop. mechanics can charge what ever they want. we charge 90.00 an hour plus parts. most shops break even on labor when it comes to monthly expenses. they make their money on the parts they sell
One thing that would save consumers a huge headache. Have a friend or qualified mechanic inspect your car before hand. Go into the shop to get only that service done. Nothing more.
I come from a family where my dad was completely incompetent when it came to choosing a shop, every last time he gets massively ripped off and they usually ended up breaking more than they had fixed. Yet my mum always did her research from yelp and the like and always found a little shop here or there run by most honest people you could hope to meet, and if they couldnt do it they would know a fair and honest place who did.
OK, you can ask for your old parts back but if that part is a "Core" it ain't gonna happen. I'm curious why they didn't SHOW the faces and business names of the honest people! They deserved the free publicity!
I am a diesel technician and work in fleet maintenance. I do anything from in frames, transmission rebuilds, suspension and chassis repair, electrical and a/c repair... pretty much all of the work It requires, I very well rounded as a mechanic on majority or makes and models, but I will never work on a person's car that is asking me to fix it. Just because I have a set rate and what you are paying for is my knowledge and my tools to get your job done. If you want brakes, oil change, filter replacement, tires, ect do it yourself. Those jobs are easy to do and should be done by any car owner. If there is something technical problems that really need some thorough work then maybe I will get into it. People think it's a cheap job ad try to under pay a mechanic because you "feel" it's simple. If it were simple then do yourself, simple as that
Yes, most of what mechanics do is under appreciated, but come on, do you really think that 78 year old granny or that 19 year old college girl who doesn't know which end of a hammer to use let alone anything about cars, is going to be doing brake jobs and climbing under the car to do oil changes?
I understand that, and if you are not knowledgeable on those then seek a trust worthy mechanic but don't expect to under bid his job either. I have a 19 year old sister n law who happens to be a college student studying to be a teacher, that is a extreme girly girl, and she knows how to change oil and brakes, filters, tires, and light bulbs. So yes, I would expect a young person to know how to properly maintain her vehicle when it's cheaper to do the job herself. That comment you made disables a woman's ability to do that type of work. As for the granny, it would be wise to have a family member to do that for them and if not then expect to pay to get it done right.
@@bradleybedwell5186 I'm sure there are some granny's that can change oil, brakes etc. Heck, a third grader could do those things if he or she was shown how or watched a video or read the manual.
12 years later and there are still some auto shops operating this way (recommending services you do not need at all). However with online reviews sites, it has helped tamp down on it a bit.
There is more to a me mechanic then prices. If the shop answers phone quickly gets your car in and out quick. That is priceless. It’s not just about how much it costs it about what you get for the price all around as for getting charged a price to look at problem. I’m all for it. You can’t tell someone what is wrong for free so they can go fix it themself or find a cheaper guy. Business are in it to make money. I’m not a mechanic. I’m a plumber. But same old song and dance. Customer has a leak in the ceiling. I cant go out and diagnose it for free there knowledge I have and you need it costs money. You don’t just pay for what I do you pay for what I know
I watched a mechanic at Pep Boys pour metal shavings from the rotor lathe on top of the hydraulic cylinder in the brake assembly. The shavings will slowly fall off and grind up the inside of the brake pads, rotor or drum and likely damage the seals as well. At Brakes for less, I watched a mechanic intentionally cut the seals so he could charge an outrageous price to replace the seals.
Well u can't just replace brake pads u need to have the rotors machined or replaced if they are out of spec as well otherwise if u just change pads they will leave gouges in rotor overtime and or stopping power will be compromised because the new pad needs a fresh surface to bite into also if u just change pads and your rotors are warped u will have steering wheel shutter or shake while braking
It takes about five minutes to machine each rotor, which the kid that sweeps the floor can easily be trained to do (the modern drum lathes are automatic and will stop at a pre-set thickness) while the mechanic handles the tear-down and replacement. Sure, brake work is open-ended. Sometimes you legitimately find other issues which it's unwise to neglect. The calipers could be leaking. I never replace rear drum brake shoe w/o doing the wheel cylinders, they're not expensive and brake bleeding is simple. Sometimes if the replacement rotors are cheap enough I just replace them w/o messing around with a trip to the machine shop. Non-Drive wheels (rear drums on FWD cars and front wheels on RWD vehicles) may have bearings which need to be cleaned, inspected, repacked, and NEW grease seals installed. But brake pads are dirt-simple. If the rotor surface isn't scratched, gouged, corroded, and not warped (the brake pedal usually shudders if they are) or worn beyond service limits, I might not even bother to turn them. A professional shop would NEVER skip this step, and some states forbid them to anyway, so it's not a 'scam' if they wont do the work w/o turning them. I had a 1998 Chrysler Town and Country which ate front brake pads like a barfly gobbles free pretzels; my routine with that vehicle was to change the pads once a year, which was usually about 20K miles, and the rotors were still factory fresh when I sold off that mini-van in 2008 with 212K miles on it. BTW, on that same vehicle, which had the 3.8L V6, I was faced after three years with a spark plug change. Realizing that getting to the back three was a nightmare, I did at least get a few quotes, and the best I got was about $500...so I did them myself. Doing the front three took less than ten minutes. The rear three took a whole afternoon, listening to the Giants on the radio find another way to lose. It involved removing the intake plenum and the associated airbox AND part of the front cowling and windshield wipers...so I'd say that the shop would definitely have earned every penny of that $500 if I had them do it! The price you're quoted will often depend on what vehicle you drive, even if it's literally the same parts assembly. Works even for buying parts..I learned this life hack when #2 son got a 1995 Mustang with the 5.0L V8...needed an alternator. He was quoted about $345 from NAPA for the 'Stang...just for grins I called the same store, and inquired for the same alternator...for a '95 Crown Victoria, and was quoted $199. Believe me, if you drive into Midas and need front brakes for your 4 y.o. Chrysler Pacifica with all the "bells and whistles", you'll be quoted a far higher price than if you drive up in a 10 y.o. well-worn Dodge Caravan, though the assembly is exactly the same! Not only will the service writer have a good idea of how much you're willing to cough up and how gullible you are, even the parts suppliers will have price the parts accordingly...which, BTW, are marked up to FULL LIST, more pure profit on top of the shop's labor rate, as they get them wholesale and get rebates for volume business.
My wife took her Honda Civic to Autofare Honda in Manchester, NH to have the airbag recall done. They inspected the car and told her it needed $3,500 worth of repairs. I looked at it afterwards and I couldn't find anything wrong. That was two years ago. Since then it's been inspected twice at another shop and passed both times and it's running just fine despite never having any of the repairs done that the Honda dealership claimed it needed.
Lots of dealerships scam people into buying into repairs that don't have to be made once the car is in the shop. The service writers get a commission for the extra work they get customers to buy over the recall work. I know because my son worked at a dealership and knew first hand what went on in the service area.
Sadly, these days you really need to educate yourself on things like this. Know what your car needs (your manual tells you the maintenance schedule). You can even get your own fluids and parts and just pay the shop labor to put them in/on. Find a shop and go to it always. Make sure the workers know you know what you want and aren't one to try to push over. Education and knowledge is key in this life. Too many people trying to get over on everyone.
A Dodge dealer off 290 in Houston wanted to charge me $250 for a full diagnosis even though i told them i don't need them to diagnose the entire system. All i wanted done was a smoke test so that i can see what hose was lose or if i had a crack in the refill neck, yet they said they only do FULL diagnostics to insure they catch "all of the problems." I told them i have a computer at home and know the problem and will also be fixing it myself, yet need to know where the leak is at. The idiot then said that he couldn't let me leave the lot since my check engine light was on and they cant let cars that wont pass inspection leave the lot. I told them i had to get my stuff out of the lock box before i left so they gave me the key and had some dipshit follow me to the truck. Well i had to get my guns out of the lock box, which caught the dumbass off guard when he saw all the guns under the back seat. I told him i was leaving with my truck and he was too scared to say no.
hanksranger if they want to get shot. BTW the check light can come on simply from the fuel cap not being tight enough on later vehicles or the cap not sealing properly because its time for a new cap. In either case the computer senses a vacuum or pressure leak.
B Ann no i actually had a leak. A hose came undone while i was offroading. Had to go and put new fasteners on every hose. A year later i cracked the filler neck. I ended up chopping the neck and reinforcing it to accept the added abuse of offroad use.
Most mechanics are trustworthy. Look at where you are taking your car.. Taking it to uncle bills auto shop downtown you are more likely to get ripped off than in a corporate setting. I work in a corporate shop where it would be very hard for us to take advantage of people. We have a big fish bowl window with seating to watch us. 8 cameras on all the time. I catch things that other mechanics don't catch and that seems like its just piling more on to the laundry list of repairs. While some people actually get ripped off ( mechanic not doing the labor the customer paid for ), some mistake high prices to be a rip-off. The prices are high because you have a technician there, with 50 grand in his personal tools to do a job quick and efficient. Their is massive overhead. 60k alignment rack, shop tools, electrical, diagnosing equipment, Testers, insurance that all come with the price of YOUR bill. There are more to cars than brakes and tires. MOST MECHANICS ARE HONEST.
Mr. Tire in my town tried ripping off my friend, he just replaced everything on the front end of his dodge and they told him they needed to replaced everything again for $900. he just did the entire front end 2 days before with all new Moog parts. its like wow, just do what you're told to do and nothing else.
Coming from a mechanic, half these shops are doing what techs are trained to do. Upsell work. Most mechanics get paid flat rate(paid per job) and if they wanna get paid a good check your damn right were gonna try to upsell work. Some of the things these shops tried to sell were BS ill admit that, but most of the things are Preventative Maintence- for example a 99 dollar coolant flush is alot cheaper than spending $1500+ for a set of head gaskets. Most customers I deal with decline preventative maintence and then wonder why their car needs thousands of dollars in repairs due to neglect
It is good to see there were a few good shops that were straight up and would only estimate the work that actually needed to be done. However, I do tend to question a one price or price range that is supposed to fit each geographic location.
I worked in an auto shop, yes women are huge targets for repairs that were never carried out. If they needed a sensor replaced they also charged additional for injectors and stuff that women will be glad they "fixed" those parts before other things went wrong. Best advice? don't use mechanics, they're dodgy fuckers unless you have good word that a repair shop is honest and there is very little of those left around these days. UA-cam videos are a huge help in carrying out auto repairs yourself, I recommend ericthecarguy on youtube.
Ghost Rodgers etcg is a fool . Granted he has some expertise form having dealership experience and who wouldn't simply from hanging around a dealership shop but other then that imo he's a fool. He couldn't even rebuild his own Honda trans & don't give me the, trans are hard or take special equipment because I did my first trans at 17 with basic tools and I've done quite a few different ones and they all worked properly. BTW if you worked in a shop where women were taken advantage of you should have quit immediately !
B Ann not all trans are the same. I did stay at the job but I didn't rip customers off I stayed there for a year giving HUGE discounts because how my boss operated, his shop has now since been closed because he was evading tax and owed many places money.. so he got it handed to him in the end :)
B Ann I rebuilt several engines including two inline fours in less the a week and I am only 16 plus an old chevy four speed trans in my auto shop class.
peter lally Several is at least 3 engines and a trans making 4 items in one week. It doesn't matter who you are it takes a certain amount of time to do a certain process to anything properly. Although very rarely you run into someone who can do things faster and properly. Very rarely ! Proper disassembly takes time. Proper cleaning can take hours upon hours. Proper reassembly can take many many hours and then you always need to check the machine shops work to be positive that they did their job correctly.
+Ghost Rodgers My biggest pet peeve is the inspection law where shops use that as a springboard to require repair work which is questionable. Its like the shop is using a valid sticker as leverage to sell work for profit.
I agree that they are over charging in most cases, but it's their job to advise preventative maintenance. If you're dumb enough to buy into everything you're told then enjoy being a sucker your whole life. This is no different then getting a PC from Best Buy. They want to sell you every add on software and accessory on the shelf before you leave. Educate yourself and you'll be less likely to get hustled.
But there are some of us that are descent I spent half a day tracking down a wire harness to find that a vehicle needed a body control module ( fog lights not working) and I tracked the whole harness hoping it wasn't a module and charged 2hrs to diagnose it. (I lost big time) so yes there are some of us that are descent but It is a money world and I guess if someone will o it cheaper it will get done even if it's the wrong way
They do that for sure I got charge $800 dollars to replace a alternator one of the other customers got into it behind what I was being charged needless to say the manager got terminated.
Coolant for that car while in use inside a hot engine expires every 3 years or 36000 miles due to viscosity breakdown of the antifreeze while driving which can cause rust internally. If not driven but exceeding the expiration date becomes corrosive and potentially iodized. Fluah is a hard word. Everyone thinks its a useless service. Some 2.0l engines last 170,000 miles, mine has 237000 I drive it everyday
Here's another tip: Buy your own parts. Hire the repair shop to install them. I was lucky to find a shop that allows me to do that. They have very High marks and nothing but great references. I am in Gresham, Oregon 6-8-13
MOST shops will not install customer supplied parts.....In order to run a shop successfully and maybe take home a few bucks at the end of the day so they can eat, a shop NEEDS to make a profit on selling parts along with labor....They can not cover all the over head on labor alone.....Otherwise they would have to charge like $400 an hour.
trust me guys I am in this field if you are very good automotive tech and you know how to diagnose problems you don t need to rip off costumers you make lot of money being honest
Front breaks on most vehicles are used for the emergency break only. The Back breaks on most vehicles is only one you use to stop the entire vehicle and it’s easy to check how much padding you have on your breaks. So if any vehicle auto shop such as Pep boys tell you they have a sale going on they can replace ALL four breaks for only X amount of dollars but don’t actually show you, your own breaks than their ripping you off.
are you high???? The front BRAKES (not "breaks") do about 80 percent of the braking and the rear about 20 percent.....and on MOST vehicles the REAR is the parking brake.....SMH.....maybe you should do a little more research on BRAKES (not "breaks") before making a statement like this one.
“Front breaks on most vehicles are used for the emergency break only. The Back breaks on most vehicles is only one you use to stop the entire vehicle.” You need to take an automotive course really bad. And don’t forget to take English classes as well.
With everyone suing everyone for the most ridiculous claims, I can see why a brake shop will want to do all four wheels. Just imagine if they only replaced the pads/shoes without checking the rotors/drums /calipers/wheel cylinders and someone dies due to brake failure. I don't think signing your right to sue will hold up in court if the repair shop was negligent in doing the work. Doing a half-assed job is risky for a business and the car owner, The REAL issue is does the work really need to be done. Some mechanics don't know that. They'd sell you a new car because you have a flat tire. Additionally, most car owners wouldn't know if the bad part received is the actual part they removed from your car. One video showed that the bad part wasn't even for their car, different materials used to make the part, different shape.
This is stupid.. Clearly its a add fo carmd. I am a mechanic.. And when i get a oil chinge i check the filters, brakes, wiper blades, all the fluid level.. Which is periodic maintenance.. It is also in the owners manual... For example it is recommended to change brake fluid every 25-30k miles. So its not a crime to recomend brake flush. People think they have 30k on their car so the car is brand new... The real crime is when they charge u for a service but not do the work. And at the end of the day customer has the right to deny any service they want... So i find these video really dishonest from the reporters ... U know what next time go to the doctors office and see if u can negotiate how they will treat u... They will tell u to get lost
I know of NO late model vehicle where the owner's manual makes that recommendation, Ashanur. Most vehicles will go 50K miles or so before the brakes need any work, though an inspection should be done once a year or no more than 20K miles, as driving conditions and habits are probably the biggest factor in brake life. There's no reason to flush out a car's brakes if they don't need to be opened (change a brake line, or caliper, or wheel cylinders), but if those components are touched then , as the system has to be bled anyway, a thorough flushing, which can be done usually with half a quart of fresh fluid, shouldn't be skipped. I've put 75K miles on my 2014 Ford Focus and the brakes are STILL serviceable. I will be changing the front pads and rotors (Bendix parts from Rock Auto are cheap enough, why bother turning the old ones?), but unless I discover any issues, that's it. Why mess with the hydraulic system if there's no problems?
They are going to charge to put the car on the rack, it waste their time if you want someone to find the problem and diagnose it , its different prices if you walk in and ask them to DO the repair specifically Usually its $50 everytime the car is placed on the lift alone
Solutions-1.do your own oil change 2 .change your oil filter 3.change your airfilter every time you do an oil change.4 learn how to change your own brakes once knowning this youll have a car that will last you longer and be in healthier conditions i had a problem with an oil place that didnt put enough oil in my car ...you can only be a fool once not twice after that its one's choice to either stay with no knowledge or go out and learn how to do all these things
here's a ripoff story: i went to mechanic A and he told me a blinker fluid flush would be $400!!! he must have thought i was some kind of an idiot, which i'm not. then i drove to another, reputable mechanic B and he only charged me $50 for a blinker fluid flush. mechanic B is now my mechanic. i'd trust him with my life.
Some of the services, like at the dealer, are based on mileage. There is no system that will pull up your service history from different shops so they go on the assumption it wasn't done. When I was a service advisor I would explain the reason it's recommended and tell them to check their records to see of it was done elsewhere.
Had an episode too. My truck broke down and had it towed to local dealership. They told me my fuel pump needed replacing and my battery was bad. A day later they drained the fuel from the tank and than decided not to work on it. Took it to a local garage and they said my battery was fine and my fuel pump was fine , it just needed a new ground wire. The other garage said my fuel was contaminated and couldn't put it back in my tank. Turns out the mechanic put it in his tank.
$219.95 for front brakes? WOW.. That's terrible for front breaks on my car was only $33. Which still didnt need replaced but they had almost 70k on them so I decided to change them anyway.
If you have to take your vehicle in for a transmission service, Engrave your parts. They will pull your good parts and replace them old junk yard parts.
There are sales and there are scams, trust me im a shop manager and i take pride in doing things the right way, taking the customers out and showing them what is needed. There is only 1 way to repeat business and that is taking care of what the customer actually needs. People are not as dumb as you might think and can feel when they are being taking advantage of, you dont just hit someone with a laundry list of things and provide no reason for needing it..You wont pay 400 at Mcdonalds will you?
THIS IS THE MAIN Reason why i learn how to fix my own car. I Dont trust those mechanics! I fix many things on my own car except for timing belt change because time consuming... i even change my own cat! FU Ripoff mechanic shops! DO i look like a rich guy to you? dck!
+rotcataergeht Most mechanics are not ripoffs. Yea do what you can by yourself, except when you really are up shit creek and need a timing belt, you leave it to professionals. That's when were worth something right? are you going to chase a electrical fault and test modules on your car and diagnose problems properly? Can you read a wiring diagram, or use a multimeter? Can you time an engine? Automotive is more than brakes and tires.
I use to work for a dealer as a tech we worked on used cars that the dealership was going to sell the dealership put the cheapest brakes on and tires and sometimes Did not cut the rotors
There is book, I don't recall the name, that indicates how long and how much every work done on car should cost. You need to ask for that book and have the mechanic show it to you. If not, go elsewhere.
The fuel filter is a mileage dependent part and if you suspect it needs to be replaced and the owner doesn't not know when it was changed, they should recommend to replace it. As to complaining about diagnosis time, their time is not free and most techs work on flag time, which means even though they're there, they DON'T get paid unless they are on a work order. Spend a half hour pulling in your car, check the brakes, and work an estimate for free? They have to eat too, people.
$180 for a set of front brake pads is already a rip off before you start. In Europe, most brake pad sets are around $30 give or take for an average car. A hanyman can fit them in a little over an hour, and a garage should take about 20 mins per side. Ignorance costs, bigtime!
I am a mechanic I own my own shop honestly this is stealing what they are doing people look at me sometimes when I say five dollars to replace a headlight 🤔Oil change $15 you bring oil filter Brakes depending on the vehicle is 50 or $60 you buy the parts 😎
It's been my goal throughout my entire career to operate as an honest, ethical and professional mechanic. Being that cars wear out and break down on their own I don't see the need for me to lie. Not to mention the fact that lying is just wrong. I prefer my customers to be informed. It actually makes the life of an honest mechanic much easier. I hate dishonest mechanics.
The police should be setting up similar stings to catch dishonest mechanics and put them in jail. Then honest mechanics like you would be able to pick up all the extra business.
I appreciate honest mechanic. They have alot of potential to make alot of money, so there's no need to lie.
You know who hates dishonest mechanics/shops more than consumers?
Honest technicians/shops.
I owned a transmission shop nearly 30 years...an HONEST ONE..I used to send folks to honest mechanics or if we done the transmission stick brake pads on for free to help them,I was able to sleep nights....
You shouldn’t have to be more educated...you’re paying them to do an honest job and be honest people.
You’re not a customer when you walk in a shop but a victim.
I took my wife's car to Pep boys for tires and they called me and told me the brakes were shot and it was 900 to get them fixed, but they were running a special sale so only 750 for me. I told him they didn't look that bad when I inspected them the other day and that I'd look again again if they needed fixing, I'd do it myself. His sales pitch ended abruptly.
this is why i only go to my small town mechanic. He cant afford to lie and get caught because its a small town and things get around quickly.
LOL...all the mechanics in my small town rip ppl off. People just started fixing their own cars 😁👍
lol
How are things going now 7 years later? Is he still in business?
@@japantarzan3551 nope lol 3 years ago he cleared shop
@@Germ1993 left the Town?
$180 for brake pads! WTF! Pick up a wrench and do it yourself for $30!
What's your overhead? How much are you paying your tech, insurance, utilities? Oh yeah, and pay the tech to redo the job if there's a warranty concern (most part warranty's pay for parts, not labor...so the shop HAS to build in a profit for warranty).
Open your own shop, then complain about $180 for brake pads. Somehow, I bet your opinion changes DRASTICALLY.
@@mattfanslow Have you ever worked on brakes? You don't need a garage insurance and 'tech'... You need a wrench and to not be an idiot.
@@tesseract2365 by virtue of your own comment, you have assured everyone reading this that you will not be servicing brakes anytime soon.
"Tech" is short for "technician".
And, really, depending on the vehicle, you NEED technology in the form of a scan tool or dedicated tool to put the system into service mode. Yep, that's a real thing. Ford, BMW, Volvo, etc, etc. Only going to become more common.
Plus, really...like...WTF...there is a HUGE difference between back-yarding a repair for your own vehicle versus doing it professionally.
We have to stand by our work. It's like saying you don't need insurance to cook burgers on your grill, but how many restaurants don't have insurance.
@@mattfanslow hahaha If mechanics had any character and morals and a backbone they'd make parts companys pay the labor....the customer didnt sell you a bad part!!!!
This type of thing is fraud and attempted theft. The police should be setting up similar stings and throwing people who do it in jail where they belong.
As bad a rap as my job gets as a mechanic, if I was being threatened with jail for having a semi-bad day and telling ppl they need wiper blades when they could've gone another 3000 miles on their old, junky, $14 set, then I wouldn't want to be in the business. I love fixing cars, I love turning a piece of shit banger into an awesome, sweet ride. I'd do it even if ppl didn't pay me. The police have enough power as it is. Leave it be. If you stop coming to a shop you find fault with, you hurt them infinitely more than if you jailed them.
Sorry. Theft is a crime. Dishonest mechanics who rip people off belong in jail. It sends a message. And then honest mechanics end up with more business.
Joe Vignolo I'm not saying "Don't report a crime", I'm saying be sure your money was stolen in the service area and you didn't just forget where you left it.
@@vanamburgben well they would had nothing to hide. if they did their job and fix cars.
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i'm so happy, I was taught by my father how to fix things, when I was a kid. Also happy, I kept fixing my own car and learned a lot that way. I don't have to use cheap replacement parts and for the money I'd pay the mechanic, I have purchased a nice set of tools, toolboxes over the years.
People need to be more educated about their cars
+rushanz n Not every one has the time to learn about cars or have the interest. Most of these shops Target women because ( Not to be sexist) most women don't know much about cars.
+MetalHeart8787 ok
+MetalHeart8787 lol literally all you have to do Is read the manual for your car. its that easy as long as you know about your car your good no need to learn every small detail a bout cars just the simple ones.
+Chandler Stark lol your mom's out of control
MetalHeart8787 so you'd spend 20,000 dollars on a car and choose to not learn about it? If you went to college you spent more than that to learn. Read the manual. Use google. Not too hard. Same for houses. How can you spend 100+ thousand dollars on something and not know anything about it. Just seems foolish. Buy some tools and roll your sleeves up. Everyone's excuse is they don't have time.
This is why I do my own research, get my own parts and tools, and painstakingly do repairs to my own vehicle myself.
MrNotorius5500 but you gotta have the will and common sense. For me it's unbelievable, but I know few guys, who can't even change a tire.
I've taken whole engines apart and put them back together without even worrying about the time. I have more equipment than just a basic set of sockets and wrenches you know.
+MrNotorius5500 Same here. I used to take my truck to the local dealership to get oil changes. I got sick and tired of waiting over an hour for them to change the oil, so I learned how to do it myself, then realized they ripped me off a half quart each visit. My truck takes 4.5 quarts, but they were charging me for 5. 4.5 is the max it needs, so I was ripped off each time I went there.
+Athrough Z The reason you were probably ripped off is because the system that some dealerships use for pricing is linked to their inventory system, making it impossible to charge for .5 of a unit.
Me too I just bought a car repair manual and learn how to get things fix on my car.
OK, after watching several of these videos, let me add this. I have seen customers come to a shop with a coupon for a wheel alignment thinking that will solve an issue. They then are told that they need struts, tie rod ends, an idler arm, and lower ball joints, around 350, give or take. Bottom line, the customer feels he is taken. He wanted an alignment to fix his problem, but gets a repair bill. This is a true story, and I saw the car. The wear pattern on the front tires was horrible, along with the squeak. Sometimes your failure to do maintenance creates the issue, not the shop.
Yea, Auto MD is like Web MD (it's cancer..always gonna be cancer, so save yourself the trip). It gripes me to no end how over simplified some of these videos are. It gripes me even more to see ignorance being spread like a disease by the people who make them. People want a good mechanic but don't want to pay for his years of expierence, his tools, his education. Sure, you can buy a pocket OBDll scanner for $40, but you have nothing else to interperet the information. My scanner cost me around $14k and I get about as close as you can get to dealership level data and control. Most folks act like it's just so easy to fix cars, or that a monkey could do it. Come into my shop with that attitude and I'll tell you straight off to find a monkey to do it, and where the door is.
That is one of my gripes too. Customer wants an alignment because the car "pulls", look it over and the suspension is completely worn out and it has four different tires on it. You do the alignment and it still pulls, now they want you to fix it for free since the alignment didn't help, and now it is making noise over bumps.
This is exactly what I mean and then you try to tell him he needs it fixed and suddenly you are a crook and a thief and robbing people blind and obviously he’s gonna tell everyone.
Yup that of they go down to another shop that will do the alignment solve issue short term and then they will trash your name saying you tried to screw them
Yeah ...
But Only
SOMETIMES
It MIGHT Be
Legitimately / Honestly
" Needed Repairs " .
But
MOST Of The Time ,
ITS ALL
VERY
UNNECESSARY
ADDED REPAIRS .
ESPECIALLY
FOR FEMALE
CUSTOMERS.
Car Repair
Garage / Shops ,
ALMOST
ALWAYS
PURPOSELY AND
WILLINGLY
TAKE
WRONGFUL / ILLEGAL
ADVANTAGE
OF
" Car Uneducated "
Women .
JUST
BECAUSE THEY CAN
FOOL THEM
AND
GET AWAY WITH IT ... !
dude prob never touched a car in his life, dealers charge diag fees for a reason why should us techs work for free?
agreed....That $120 covers the time spent creating the work order, the tech removing the wheels to inspect the brakes so he can get paid....time spent creating the estimate.....the electricity required to run the lights, computers, printers and other equipment....the paper the invoices are printed on, then the tech having to put the wheels back on and take the car back to the front....the payroll for the service manager and adviser.....health insurance for the employees....lease on the building.....i could go on......people just do not know what it costs to run a good repair facility.
Louie. Brake inspection is usually $19.95 though. Stop with your misinformation campaign please.
@@bijnor67it depends what the reporter lady told the shop when she brought the car in. What if she told them that she wanted a complete inspection of the car, codes read, suspension looked at, pressure tests, emission tests.
the guy i go to actually makes a point to show me exactly what he all did and shows me all the old/broken parts. He actual encourages his customers to watch him do the work if the customer has nothing better to do as well as educated them. And ive actually hung out a few times because i had nothing better to do. but the thing to is im mechanically inclined as well. but there are somethings i cant do because i dont have the tools or in winter time a heated garage. I find it rare to find an actual mechanic like the one i go to. we need more of them.
I would teach my community how to repair their own vehicles the best I could and hopefully sombody in return could teach me a useful self sufficient skill. Money gets us all mixed up.
I always enjoy watching these because I do the work myself and it's nice to see how much it saves me
My auto mechanic is me. No one touches my vehicle except me.
Joe Vignolo id kill a mechanic if he even tried to replace a spark plug wire on my ls3 swapped silverado 😠 i just hate that i can't do my own state mandated inspections when i drive in they are all excited to take it for a test drive 😑
What about your dad?
Joe Vignolo damn Fucking Right
that's why I do my own work ! if there is something I can't do than I have a good mechanic I go to !
Koalafications4Dayz that sucks Iam from a small town and and we only have two inspections stations, at one they actually take your car for a test drive and at the other station they only drive your vehicle in their parking lot (to test the brakes) so not far at all and you keep an eye on your car.
In many mechanics defense, there are many items that ''should'' be replaced or flushed at certain intervals which they bring to your attention and honestly think should be taken care of but is taken as trying to rip you off or unintentionally forcing you to pay to take care of when they are honestly suggesting to you the best way to maintain your vehicle and get the most miles out of it.
Thank you, this needed to be said.
I have been a mechanic my whole life,not many things need "flushed"...this term was used for radiators a long time ago before people used anti freeze in radiators. And surfaced about 20 yrs or so ago. "Flush master cylinder","Transmission", NOT NEEDED!,Dirty transmission fluid better left ALONE!. Master cylinder is just them stabbing you!, It usually doesn't get done,But believe them your MONEY!.
@@packingten Evidently you don't service BMW or Subaru. Part of their recommended services. Ever test for copper content in brake fluid?
See, most fluids come with inhibitor packages. They prevent the fluids from becoming acidic. What's the weakest components in a brake system, well, that's in contact with brake fluid? Yep, copper. Brake fluid flushes are WAY cheaper than calipers, master cylinders, wheel cylinders, etc.
@@mattfanslow Are you a mechanic Matt? Packington has said they've been a mechanic their whole life and you just sound like you own a Subaru and read the owners manual.
@@tesseract2365 Good point, I should start out with listing off credentials instead of just citing truths that are easily found; many, oddly enough, in the vehicle's owner's manual.
it wouldve been nice if u guys wouldve exposed these guys even more and show the name of the shop!!! sheesh
The mechanics that didn't partake in scams at the shop would be able to sue for hurting their lively hood.
It's called C.Y.A..........
you owe the honest places free advertising by naming them
I'm a gearhead so thankfully I know what I need when I need it and explain it to my local mechanic and usually I provide them with the part I intend to replace. Never had an issue
am i the only one who thinks even 180 for break pads is already to high lol
+brandon612 Right! Maybe $180 for front pads AND rotors!
+Bryce Lancour autonation charged me 150 for new brake drums
+brandon612 I paid about $40 for new front pads and haven't had a single problem with them. So yes, $180 is WAYYYYYYYYY too much
Depends on the brand luxury will be higher
+brandon612 You have to take into account that most people repairing the brakes will be technicians paid on a flat rate system. For those of you who don't know technicians aren't paid by the hour but by the job's hour rate. So if their flag rate is $8 and the books say changing brakes should take 2 hours, no matter how long it takes in reality, they get paid $16. Now the reason the cost of repairs can't be super cheap is because you're paying for the technicians knowledge, tools and essentially their time. I can see how consumers want to pay less and less but in order to get a good technician, you need to pay a fair rate.
ok well im a mechanic and i work at a shop. mechanics can charge what ever they want. we charge 90.00 an hour plus parts. most shops break even on labor when it comes to monthly expenses. they make their money on the parts they sell
Ahh ok. So that's why no one allows me to bring in my own parts.
One thing that would save consumers a huge headache. Have a friend or qualified mechanic inspect your car before hand. Go into the shop to get only that service done. Nothing more.
I come from a family where my dad was completely incompetent when it came to choosing a shop, every last time he gets massively ripped off and they usually ended up breaking more than they had fixed. Yet my mum always did her research from yelp and the like and always found a little shop here or there run by most honest people you could hope to meet, and if they couldnt do it they would know a fair and honest place who did.
Half of y'all are to damn cheap to pay the price that's why y'all feel ripped off
Because sometimes the price is too much for what we get. Why throw away money?
OK, you can ask for your old parts back but if that part is a "Core" it ain't gonna happen. I'm curious why they didn't SHOW the faces and business names of the honest people! They deserved the free publicity!
Welcome to planet earth....shameful planet earth
I am a diesel technician and work in fleet maintenance. I do anything from in frames, transmission rebuilds, suspension and chassis repair, electrical and a/c repair... pretty much all of the work It requires, I very well rounded as a mechanic on majority or makes and models, but I will never work on a person's car that is asking me to fix it. Just because I have a set rate and what you are paying for is my knowledge and my tools to get your job done. If you want brakes, oil change, filter replacement, tires, ect do it yourself. Those jobs are easy to do and should be done by any car owner. If there is something technical problems that really need some thorough work then maybe I will get into it. People think it's a cheap job ad try to under pay a mechanic because you "feel" it's simple. If it were simple then do yourself, simple as that
Yes, most of what mechanics do is under appreciated, but come on, do you really think that 78 year old granny or that 19 year old college girl who doesn't know which end of a hammer to use let alone anything about cars, is going to be doing brake jobs and climbing under the car to do oil changes?
I understand that, and if you are not knowledgeable on those then seek a trust worthy mechanic but don't expect to under bid his job either. I have a 19 year old sister n law who happens to be a college student studying to be a teacher, that is a extreme girly girl, and she knows how to change oil and brakes, filters, tires, and light bulbs. So yes, I would expect a young person to know how to properly maintain her vehicle when it's cheaper to do the job herself. That comment you made disables a woman's ability to do that type of work. As for the granny, it would be wise to have a family member to do that for them and if not then expect to pay to get it done right.
Bradley bedwell well said buddy
@@bradleybedwell5186 I'm sure there are some granny's that can change oil, brakes etc. Heck, a third grader could do those things if he or she was shown how or watched a video or read the manual.
When I have an issue with my car I always say to the guys "I only have enough money to sort this ONE issue out,No extras please" lol
I can’t stand dishonest people that take advantage of others.
They should be shut down for ripping off their community.
12 years later and there are still some auto shops operating this way (recommending services you do not need at all). However with online reviews sites, it has helped tamp down on it a bit.
There is more to a me mechanic then prices. If the shop answers phone quickly gets your car in and out quick. That is priceless. It’s not just about how much it costs it about what you get for the price all around as for getting charged a price to look at problem. I’m all for it. You can’t tell someone what is wrong for free so they can go fix it themself or find a cheaper guy. Business are in it to make money. I’m not a mechanic. I’m a plumber. But same old song and dance. Customer has a leak in the ceiling. I cant go out and diagnose it for free there knowledge I have and you need it costs money. You don’t just pay for what I do you pay for what I know
luckily i have a friend mechanic since highschool..
most brake jobs for me, as a mechanic $19.00
I watched a mechanic at Pep Boys pour metal shavings from the rotor lathe on top of the hydraulic cylinder in the brake assembly. The shavings will slowly fall off and grind up the inside of the brake pads, rotor or drum and likely damage the seals as well. At Brakes for less, I watched a mechanic intentionally cut the seals so he could charge an outrageous price to replace the seals.
Well u can't just replace brake pads u need to have the rotors machined or replaced if they are out of spec as well otherwise if u just change pads they will leave gouges in rotor overtime and or stopping power will be compromised because the new pad needs a fresh surface to bite into also if u just change pads and your rotors are warped u will have steering wheel shutter or shake while braking
yup, and some brake pads matter. i like using bendix or polsi quiet since they are better quality and never squeak. unlike those cheaper brands.
thank god someone else said this most of these people have no clue what is going on with cars
It takes about five minutes to machine each rotor, which the kid that sweeps the floor can easily be trained to do (the modern drum lathes are automatic and will stop at a pre-set thickness) while the mechanic handles the tear-down and replacement.
Sure, brake work is open-ended. Sometimes you legitimately find other issues which it's unwise to neglect. The calipers could be leaking. I never replace rear drum brake shoe w/o doing the wheel cylinders, they're not expensive and brake bleeding is simple. Sometimes if the replacement rotors are cheap enough I just replace them w/o messing around with a trip to the machine shop. Non-Drive wheels (rear drums on FWD cars and front wheels on RWD vehicles) may have bearings which need to be cleaned, inspected, repacked, and NEW grease seals installed.
But brake pads are dirt-simple. If the rotor surface isn't scratched, gouged, corroded, and not warped (the brake pedal usually shudders if they are) or worn beyond service limits, I might not even bother to turn them. A professional shop would NEVER skip this step, and some states forbid them to anyway, so it's not a 'scam' if they wont do the work w/o turning them. I had a 1998 Chrysler Town and Country which ate front brake pads like a barfly gobbles free pretzels; my routine with that vehicle was to change the pads once a year, which was usually about 20K miles, and the rotors were still factory fresh when I sold off that mini-van in 2008 with 212K miles on it. BTW, on that same vehicle, which had the 3.8L V6, I was faced after three years with a spark plug change. Realizing that getting to the back three was a nightmare, I did at least get a few quotes, and the best I got was about $500...so I did them myself. Doing the front three took less than ten minutes. The rear three took a whole afternoon, listening to the Giants on the radio find another way to lose. It involved removing the intake plenum and the associated airbox AND part of the front cowling and windshield wipers...so I'd say that the shop would definitely have earned every penny of that $500 if I had them do it!
The price you're quoted will often depend on what vehicle you drive, even if it's literally the same parts assembly. Works even for buying parts..I learned this life hack when #2 son got a 1995 Mustang with the 5.0L V8...needed an alternator. He was quoted about $345 from NAPA for the 'Stang...just for grins I called the same store, and inquired for the same alternator...for a '95 Crown Victoria, and was quoted $199. Believe me, if you drive into Midas and need front brakes for your 4 y.o. Chrysler Pacifica with all the "bells and whistles", you'll be quoted a far higher price than if you drive up in a 10 y.o. well-worn Dodge Caravan, though the assembly is exactly the same! Not only will the service writer have a good idea of how much you're willing to cough up and how gullible you are, even the parts suppliers will have price the parts accordingly...which, BTW, are marked up to FULL LIST, more pure profit on top of the shop's labor rate, as they get them wholesale and get rebates for volume business.
180$ for brakes? that's hilarious
It's cheap for pads, most take more than 600 euro here in Germany because the disc "has to be changed also"
That's my 4 good quality brake rotors ...I always do it myself..lol
My wife took her Honda Civic to Autofare Honda in Manchester, NH to have the airbag recall done. They inspected the car and told her it needed $3,500 worth of repairs. I looked at it afterwards and I couldn't find anything wrong. That was two years ago. Since then it's been inspected twice at another shop and passed both times and it's running just fine despite never having any of the repairs done that the Honda dealership claimed it needed.
Lots of dealerships scam people into buying into repairs that don't have to be made once the car is in the shop. The service writers get a commission for the extra work they get customers to buy over the recall work. I know because my son worked at a dealership and knew first hand what went on in the service area.
Sadly, these days you really need to educate yourself on things like this. Know what your car needs (your manual tells you the maintenance schedule). You can even get your own fluids and parts and just pay the shop labor to put them in/on. Find a shop and go to it always. Make sure the workers know you know what you want and aren't one to try to push over. Education and knowledge is key in this life. Too many people trying to get over on everyone.
UA-cam baby. I haven’t met a honest mechanic, in my entire life.
Watching in 2024, and I'd be more than happy to pay those prices now.
A Dodge dealer off 290 in Houston wanted to charge me $250 for a full diagnosis even though i told them i don't need them to diagnose the entire system. All i wanted done was a smoke test so that i can see what hose was lose or if i had a crack in the refill neck, yet they said they only do FULL diagnostics to insure they catch "all of the problems." I told them i have a computer at home and know the problem and will also be fixing it myself, yet need to know where the leak is at. The idiot then said that he couldn't let me leave the lot since my check engine light was on and they cant let cars that wont pass inspection leave the lot.
I told them i had to get my stuff out of the lock box before i left so they gave me the key and had some dipshit follow me to the truck. Well i had to get my guns out of the lock box, which caught the dumbass off guard when he saw all the guns under the back seat. I told him i was leaving with my truck and he was too scared to say no.
Can they legally keep your vehicle there if the check engine light is on?
hanksranger no but they thought I was stupid.
hanksranger if they want to get shot.
BTW the check light can come on simply from the fuel cap not being tight enough on later vehicles or the cap not sealing properly because its time for a new cap.
In either case the computer senses a vacuum or pressure leak.
B Ann no i actually had a leak. A hose came undone while i was offroading. Had to go and put new fasteners on every hose. A year later i cracked the filler neck. I ended up chopping the neck and reinforcing it to accept the added abuse of offroad use.
great story bro.
Most mechanics are trustworthy. Look at where you are taking your car.. Taking it to uncle bills auto shop downtown you are more likely to get ripped off than in a corporate setting. I work in a corporate shop where it would be very hard for us to take advantage of people. We have a big fish bowl window with seating to watch us. 8 cameras on all the time. I catch things that other mechanics don't catch and that seems like its just piling more on to the laundry list of repairs. While some people actually get ripped off ( mechanic not doing the labor the customer paid for ), some mistake high prices to be a rip-off. The prices are high because you have a technician there, with 50 grand in his personal tools to do a job quick and efficient. Their is massive overhead. 60k alignment rack, shop tools, electrical, diagnosing equipment, Testers, insurance that all come with the price of YOUR bill. There are more to cars than brakes and tires. MOST MECHANICS ARE HONEST.
TESTIFY!!!!!!
“Taking it to uncle bills auto shop downtown you are more likely to get ripped off than in a corporate setting.”
The opposite is actually true.
I HAVE A VERY GOOD IDEA , TAKE YOUR CAR TO A VERY HONEST MECHANIC
tony r sch good luck finding it
if you have a problem with mechanics Lean how to work on your own damn car and when you brake it don't come crying to us.
ya
Lol
Mr. Tire in my town tried ripping off my friend, he just replaced everything on the front end of his dodge and they told him they needed to replaced everything again for $900. he just did the entire front end 2 days before with all new Moog parts. its like wow, just do what you're told to do and nothing else.
WOW! Way to be on top of things! Literally EVERY NEWS STATION has done this story. 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎
Thats why my mechanic is my brother inlaw 😅
You pay to find out what’s wrong, diagnosis, not pay to fix.
watch some ericthecarguy and fix it yourself
eric sucks ass , scotty kilmer is yr guy
If you want step by step instructions watch ETCG, if you want general instructions or have ADD watch Scotty Kilmer.
MtnDewAddict there's a new one, South main Auto and he gives deatailed vyd 10-45 mins🙄
Agreed, South Main Auto is the best! Used to watch EricTheCarGuy, not anymore. South Main Auto is thorough and does better work than the "other" guy.
MTTech yeah ericthecarguy got boring with his Fairmont vids, southmainauto always has different vehicles in
I do my own work I'm about to change the fuel injectors on our Ford Expedition I bought them for $620
Coming from a mechanic, half these shops are doing what techs are trained to do. Upsell work. Most mechanics get paid flat rate(paid per job) and if they wanna get paid a good check your damn right were gonna try to upsell work. Some of the things these shops tried to sell were BS ill admit that, but most of the things are Preventative Maintence- for example a 99 dollar coolant flush is alot cheaper than spending $1500+ for a set of head gaskets. Most customers I deal with decline preventative maintence and then wonder why their car needs thousands of dollars in repairs due to neglect
I love those... "But I change my oil religiously!" Too bad there's more than just oil changes needed to keep a vehicle going.
Perhaps... But there are plenty of undercover reports out there of mechanics up selling preventive maintenance items and NOT even doing the job.
wpcsray true. Most owners won't listen to good advice. They drive till it breaks down.
wpcsray never had a coolant flush....been driving for 40 years....truck I'm driving now is 20 years old
Freedom 1 yea but you probably USE coolant , tons of idiots out there use dirty city water ...
excellent please continue this kind of stuff up..it will keep all business honest!...pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee more undercover
front and rear brakes never wear out evenly on any car, and they never need to be replaced at the same time. Same thing with tires.
I don't recall ever being lied to by a mechanic.
It is good to see there were a few good shops that were straight up and would only estimate the work that actually needed to be done. However, I do tend to question a one price or price range that is supposed to fit each geographic location.
I worked in an auto shop, yes women are huge targets for repairs that were never carried out. If they needed a sensor replaced they also charged additional for injectors and stuff that women will be glad they "fixed" those parts before other things went wrong. Best advice? don't use mechanics, they're dodgy fuckers unless you have good word that a repair shop is honest and there is very little of those left around these days. UA-cam videos are a huge help in carrying out auto repairs yourself, I recommend ericthecarguy on youtube.
Ghost Rodgers etcg is a fool .
Granted he has some expertise form having dealership experience and who wouldn't simply from hanging around a dealership shop but other then that imo he's a fool.
He couldn't even rebuild his own Honda trans & don't give me the, trans are hard or take special equipment because I did my first trans at 17 with basic tools and I've done quite a few different ones and they all worked properly.
BTW if you worked in a shop where women were taken advantage of you should have quit immediately !
B Ann not all trans are the same. I did stay at the job but I didn't rip customers off I stayed there for a year giving HUGE discounts because how my boss operated, his shop has now since been closed because he was evading tax and owed many places money.. so he got it handed to him in the end :)
B Ann I rebuilt several engines including two inline fours in less the a week and I am only 16 plus an old chevy four speed trans in my auto shop class.
peter lally Several is at least 3 engines and a trans making 4 items in one week.
It doesn't matter who you are it takes a certain amount of time to do a certain process to anything properly.
Although very rarely you run into someone who can do things faster and properly.
Very rarely !
Proper disassembly takes time.
Proper cleaning can take hours upon hours.
Proper reassembly can take many many hours and then you always need to check the machine shops work to be positive that they did their job correctly.
+Ghost Rodgers My biggest pet peeve is the inspection law where shops use that as a springboard to require repair work which is questionable. Its like the shop is using a valid sticker as leverage to sell work for profit.
I am a mechanic in the UK and for a Focus it would be about £60 to supply and fit the front pads so don't know where the $180 comes from.
I agree that they are over charging in most cases, but it's their job to advise preventative maintenance. If you're dumb enough to buy into everything you're told then enjoy being a sucker your whole life. This is no different then getting a PC from Best Buy. They want to sell you every add on software and accessory on the shelf before you leave. Educate yourself and you'll be less likely to get hustled.
That front driver suspension on the white Focus was super fucked up
❤. Yeah pretty much all that's common sense and pretty much the owner of the automobile can fix it themselves
But there are some of us that are descent I spent half a day tracking down a wire harness to find that a vehicle needed a body control module ( fog lights not working) and I tracked the whole harness hoping it wasn't a module and charged 2hrs to diagnose it. (I lost big time) so yes there are some of us that are descent but It is a money world and I guess if someone will o it cheaper it will get done even if it's the wrong way
They do that for sure I got charge $800 dollars to replace a alternator one of the other customers got into it behind what I was being charged needless to say the manager got terminated.
Coolant for that car while in use inside a hot engine expires every 3 years or 36000 miles due to viscosity breakdown of the antifreeze while driving which can cause rust internally. If not driven but exceeding the expiration date becomes corrosive and potentially iodized. Fluah is a hard word. Everyone thinks its a useless service. Some 2.0l engines last 170,000 miles, mine has 237000 I drive it everyday
Bad spelling and grammar. Please edit your comment.
Watched this for school today hi future marc!
They should really do an undercover on Hospital billing
Wonderful video, Stick to the very good work. Many thanks.
Here's another tip: Buy your own parts. Hire the repair shop to install them. I was lucky to find a shop that allows me to do that. They have very High marks and nothing but great references. I am in Gresham, Oregon 6-8-13
MOST shops will not install customer supplied parts.....In order to run a shop successfully and maybe take home a few bucks at the end of the day so they can eat, a shop NEEDS to make a profit on selling parts along with labor....They can not cover all the over head on labor alone.....Otherwise they would have to charge like $400 an hour.
@Louie smith. Not true.
@@bijnor67 hard to believe I left that comment 9 years ago.
9-4-22
Medicare for all should apply to my vehicle too
trust me guys I am in this field if you are very good automotive tech and you know how to diagnose problems you don t need to rip off costumers you make lot of money being honest
Front breaks on most vehicles are used for the emergency break only. The Back breaks on most vehicles is only one you use to stop the entire vehicle and it’s easy to check how much padding you have on your breaks. So if any vehicle auto shop such as Pep boys tell you they have a sale going on they can replace ALL four breaks for only X amount of dollars but don’t actually show you, your own breaks than their ripping you off.
are you high???? The front BRAKES (not "breaks") do about 80 percent of the braking and the rear about 20 percent.....and on MOST vehicles the REAR is the parking brake.....SMH.....maybe you should do a little more research on BRAKES (not "breaks") before making a statement like this one.
“Front breaks on most vehicles are used for the emergency break only. The Back breaks on most vehicles is only one you use to stop the entire vehicle.”
You need to take an automotive course really bad. And don’t forget to take English classes as well.
With everyone suing everyone for the most ridiculous claims, I can see why a brake shop will want to do all four wheels. Just imagine if they only replaced the pads/shoes without checking the rotors/drums /calipers/wheel cylinders and someone dies due to brake failure. I don't think signing your right to sue will hold up in court if the repair shop was negligent in doing the work. Doing a half-assed job is risky for a business and the car owner, The REAL issue is does the work really need to be done. Some mechanics don't know that. They'd sell you a new car because you have a flat tire. Additionally, most car owners wouldn't know if the bad part received is the actual part they removed from your car. One video showed that the bad part wasn't even for their car, different materials used to make the part, different shape.
The worst rip off? The dealerships!
219 for a brake job is highway robbery, we charge 50 dollars plus parts not a dime more. we do not mark up parts either.
My local mechanic charged us $214.50 for something they labeled "Pipe" on the repair sheet. They make up for it by being awesome mechanics.
seems expensive till you own your shop and see non of that money auto repair isn't cheap!!!!
The fact that just replacing some damn brake pads "should cost 180 dollars" is flat out a scam and a joke Easiest shit to do EVER
It’s the price for the part itself really
This is stupid.. Clearly its a add fo carmd. I am a mechanic.. And when i get a oil chinge i check the filters, brakes, wiper blades, all the fluid level.. Which is periodic maintenance.. It is also in the owners manual... For example it is recommended to change brake fluid every 25-30k miles. So its not a crime to recomend brake flush. People think they have 30k on their car so the car is brand new... The real crime is when they charge u for a service but not do the work. And at the end of the day customer has the right to deny any service they want...
So i find these video really dishonest from the reporters ... U know what next time go to the doctors office and see if u can negotiate how they will treat u... They will tell u to get lost
I know of NO late model vehicle where the owner's manual makes that recommendation, Ashanur. Most vehicles will go 50K miles or so before the brakes need any work, though an inspection should be done once a year or no more than 20K miles, as driving conditions and habits are probably the biggest factor in brake life. There's no reason to flush out a car's brakes if they don't need to be opened (change a brake line, or caliper, or wheel cylinders), but if those components are touched then , as the system has to be bled anyway, a thorough flushing, which can be done usually with half a quart of fresh fluid, shouldn't be skipped.
I've put 75K miles on my 2014 Ford Focus and the brakes are STILL serviceable. I will be changing the front pads and rotors (Bendix parts from Rock Auto are cheap enough, why bother turning the old ones?), but unless I discover any issues, that's it. Why mess with the hydraulic system if there's no problems?
They are going to charge to put the car on the rack, it waste their time if you want someone to find the problem and diagnose it , its different prices if you walk in and ask them to DO the repair specifically
Usually its $50 everytime the car is placed on the lift alone
Solutions-1.do your own oil change 2 .change your oil filter 3.change your airfilter every time you do an oil change.4 learn how to change your own brakes once knowning this youll have a car that will last you longer and be in healthier conditions i had a problem with an oil place that didnt put enough oil in my car ...you can only be a fool once not twice after that its one's choice to either stay with no knowledge or go out and learn how to do all these things
here's a ripoff story:
i went to mechanic A and he told me a blinker fluid flush would be $400!!! he must have thought i was some kind of an idiot, which i'm not. then i drove to another, reputable mechanic B and he only charged me $50 for a blinker fluid flush. mechanic B is now my mechanic. i'd trust him with my life.
Some of the services, like at the dealer, are based on mileage. There is no system that will pull up your service history from different shops so they go on the assumption it wasn't done. When I was a service advisor I would explain the reason it's recommended and tell them to check their records to see of it was done elsewhere.
Had an episode too. My truck broke down and had it towed to local dealership. They told me my fuel pump needed replacing and my battery was bad. A day later they drained the fuel from the tank and than decided not to work on it. Took it to a local garage and they said my battery was fine and my fuel pump was fine , it just needed a new ground wire. The other garage said my fuel was contaminated and couldn't put it back in my tank. Turns out the mechanic put it in his tank.
Fix: become a car mechanic
Negotiate? do you go to Mcdonalds and ask for a better price for the food you ordered? wow
$219.95 for front brakes? WOW.. That's terrible for front breaks on my car was only $33. Which still didnt need replaced but they had almost 70k on them so I decided to change them anyway.
If you have to take your vehicle in for a transmission service, Engrave your parts. They will pull your good parts and replace them old junk yard parts.
The biggest problem is that a large majority of shops are out to screw the customer.
so glad our dealership isn't this bad. wow...
There are sales and there are scams, trust me im a shop manager and i take pride in doing things the right way, taking the customers out and showing them what is needed. There is only 1 way to repeat business and that is taking care of what the customer actually needs. People are not as dumb as you might think and can feel when they are being taking advantage of, you dont just hit someone with a laundry list of things and provide no reason for needing it..You wont pay 400 at Mcdonalds will you?
Old parts back??? LOL...My uncle was doing that 25 yrs ago.How old is this video?? 🤣
THIS IS THE MAIN Reason why i learn how to fix my own car. I Dont trust those mechanics! I fix many things on my own car except for timing belt change because time consuming... i even change my own cat! FU Ripoff mechanic shops! DO i look like a rich guy to you? dck!
rotcataergeht The funny thing is they will not ripoff a rich guy hoping that he will return.
+rotcataergeht Most mechanics are not ripoffs. Yea do what you can by yourself, except when you really are up shit creek and need a timing belt, you leave it to professionals. That's when were worth something right? are you going to chase a electrical fault and test modules on your car and diagnose problems properly? Can you read a wiring diagram, or use a multimeter? Can you time an engine? Automotive is more than brakes and tires.
Illadelphh
Many stupid mechanics out there. You ought to blame them for the distrust people have on mechanics.
What if I don't have the skills or the tools to do it myself? Tire mounting machines are expensive and it's not something I want to keep.
Depends on the vehicle. Heard they're a pain in the GMC Canyon and in the 4.0 Explorer.
I use to work for a dealer as a tech we worked on used cars that the dealership was going to sell the dealership put the cheapest brakes on and tires and sometimes Did not cut the rotors
There is book, I don't recall the name, that indicates how long and how much every work done on car should cost. You need to ask for that book and have the mechanic show it to you. If not, go elsewhere.
The fuel filter is a mileage dependent part and if you suspect it needs to be replaced and the owner doesn't not know when it was changed, they should recommend to replace it. As to complaining about diagnosis time, their time is not free and most techs work on flag time, which means even though they're there, they DON'T get paid unless they are on a work order. Spend a half hour pulling in your car, check the brakes, and work an estimate for free? They have to eat too, people.
$180 for a set of front brake pads is already a rip off before you start. In Europe, most brake pad sets are around $30 give or take for an average car. A hanyman can fit them in a little over an hour, and a garage should take about 20 mins per side. Ignorance costs, bigtime!
Why do you think they are called "stealerships" these days,learning some simple home mechanics keeps these sharks at bay.
lol, I wonder if AutoMD concludes your car has cancer and it needs to be replaced.....
JMGRICH that's how I feel with JD Byrider. They sell cars that way.
JMGRICH it was never Murphy's law, it was them the whole time while I am trying to find a place to live and start over.
Follow up with the "guarantee guy" and roast his ass.
I am a mechanic I own my own shop honestly this is stealing what they are doing people look at me sometimes when I say five dollars to replace a headlight 🤔Oil change $15 you bring oil filter Brakes depending on the vehicle is 50 or $60 you buy the parts 😎