As we all know, there are many dodgy (and good) mechanics. Sometimes people don't even know if there car has actually been serviced or not.
What are your experiences with mechanics that you've been to?
Ever Been Ripped off by a Mechanic? What Did You Do
immrnonamehello on 25/11/2021 - 09:35
Comments
so your one of those mechanics who rip off unaware customers!
Coolant hose sprung a leak when i was a student and had to pull into a mechanic that i just happened to be passing to get it fixed. (Further driving would've overheated the car).
Admittedly i didn't really have a choice but the mechanic just saw $ signs.Nekminit $450 later and 1 over priced coolant hose and coolant top up later…
Other one was more recent where i booked in my car for a basic service at my local usual mechanic and asked them to provide a price to reseal a bank of injectors in my Audi.
Low and behold got hit with the Audi tax and the basic service came to $800 (previous kia was ~$250-$300 a service) - their reasoning was the more expensive oil. Anyway they quoted $1200 do redo the injector seals.Now me being an engineer (and ex bike mechanic) was like how hard can it be?
Turns out Youtube has a video for everything, bought the tools for $100 and just need to set aside a few hours next weekend to complete it.
Cars aren't as scary as they make themselves out to be.
Make sure you replace the injector bolts, and check the seat in the head for tracking, may need seat cutting.
Yep, ordered the copper washer, seals and alloy bolt (heard its a stretch bolt - 1 use) from Europe.
The cutting tool/reamer was the first on the list behind a torque wrench and spline kit.
Got the b version of the washer and bolt? Assuming you have crca engine, or do you have the earlier version? Pretty easy job.
@brendanm: Just the CRC engine, bought the relevant Audi/VW washer and bolt kit for the v6 3.0 TDI.
TBH bit amazed at the quotes that came back, for what should take a mechanic maybe 4 hours tops to change out 2 banks?
@Drakesy: Yeah not sure why they would be super high, the parts are way more expensive if you buy them from the dealer here. Think I did mine in about 15min a cylinder.
Check for bulging around the injector tips as well, I replaced one on mine. Also be very careful undoing the high pressure line nut on the injector, will be easy to break off the connector. Also go easy on the return line clips.
@brendanm: Yeah, the price of injectors is cost prohibitive. Hoping i dont get the mushrooming/bulging on the tips, but have been warned about them.
Any clue why that would happen and what the impact on ignition would be?Thanks for the tip, will take care in taking them off.
@Drakesy: You can get genuine ones for $450 or so from memory. Not exactly sure what causes it really, it messes up the spray pattern and can cause knocking, poor economy etc.
@brendanm: Out of interest did you end up using a line wrench or a specialist injector flare nut remover to get the diesel feeders off
@brendanm: Ah fair enough
Yeah mine is one tight enough that the spanner rounds it.Looking at getting a specialist attachment
@Drakesy: If ones available, thatd be the go. If not, get a deep socket, cut it with an angle grinder until it looks like the commercial tool.
Haven't been ripped off by an independent mechanic yet i.e. happy to pay their asking price. Maybe I am being ripped off but don't know it.
Dealerships are highway robbery tho
I went to Bridgestone to get a service of my oil + automatic transmission fluid. I was walking around the shopping centre and got a call in less than an hour that's its ready, wow, they never are this fast!!
On my next service I took it to a friend and he said that it still had the same original oil filter and he doubted they changed anything.
Another time, a mechanic told me a car I was trying to sell would fetch maybe 2k as it had too many issues. I listed it and it sold for 9.5k with multiple offers of 8k+….
A friend who worked at a mechanic also told me how they forgot to put in oil after working on a car… so the customer drives off, the car stops a little down the road and the cost to now get it repaired due to no oil was in the thousands, but the good ol'' mechanic 'looked after' the customer by giving them 2k off…
However, went to Subaru multiple times and even though it costs more, I don't feel like the prices are set to whatever flavour of the day is. Yet my friend had his logbook lost by his dealer during servicing at VW.
It's just a mixed bag tbh.
On my next service I took it to a friend and he said that it still had the same original oil filter and he doubted they changed anything.
Or they replaced it with the same filter that was already there.
Unless your friend remembered the 2cm scratch at the bottom left from when the filter was installed.
A couple times:
Toyota Dealership - Just purchased my 1st car (Corolla) with 95000km on the clock. I decided to take it to Toyota for its 1st service and paid for the 100k service. When I got home I went through the log book and the 90k service had been stamped, the previous owner didnt complete this service. I went back and questioned the reception, who called over the mechanic. The receptionist guided his response, and he said he stamped the wrong one and offered to stamp the 100k. I didnt buy it for a second so spoke with another dealer who pointed out what should have been done from my invoice parts list. Went back to the original dealer and they fixed it.
Private mechanic on Lambs Rd Artarmon. I'd been taking my cars there for years and never had an issue. One day I picked it up and there was a crack in the windscreen. Starting from the righthand side and running left and directly in my line of sight, so I knew it wasnt there before. I asked him about it and he initially said it was already there, and then that there must have been a chassis issue, despite him having put it on a lift at least several times before… Never went back.
Most mechanics are dodgy. It seems like every time I've taken my car to one, something else goes wrong with the car a few days later….
There's not much you can do other than leave them a bad review where reviews can be left. There's always Fair Trading but it's hard to prove anything..
$65 windscreen wipers. Each. I didn't buy them, but I felt dirty after that conversation.
I got our Kia serviced at a local mechanic, he called up advising it's ready to be picked up and said "we don't have OEM wipers but we've got some other branded wipers, I can put them on by the time you get here"
I was a bit confused since I didn't ask for new wipers as I just replaced them a couple months prior, and just told him it's all good I'll replace the myself. Was a little awkward as he then said his pricing is similar to the stores, and I had to persist it's OK I'll do it myself.
Guessing quite a few people fall for the upselling.
P.S I've still got the same wipers and they're fine lol
That's cheap.
BMW dealership replaced mine for $120.
EACH.
WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST.
Seriously?
Well like the cost $10 each. The time it takes to replace them and invoice etc is 30min. So paying $140 for 30min. Seems fair?
Or you can just buy from supercheapnand they show you for free I thinkoh that wasn't including labour..
but at least they were GeNuInE BoScH, manufacturer approved parts..
I would describe dodgy as:
using second hand parts and charging for new Oem parts.
Charging for work not done.
Implying heavily something is broken when it is in fact fine.I find most mechanics are not that bad, although they do exist.
Unethical is probably the more accurate description for a lot of so called dodgy mechanics.
The difference (imo) been:
Using cheap OEM parts but charging huge premiums and claiming its cheap eg: a plastic steering coupler $100 when it actually cost less then a few bucks
(But thats just business)Charging extra labour time for quick fixes
Heavily implying x needs replacing asap when in fact it would easily last 6-12 months (brakes for example, some mechanics may say they need doing asap but they are actually at around 50% )
Some may call that business, some call it dodgy.
There are a lot of overheads in running a business so i can understand the overcharging and “preventative maintenance procedures “ for most shops.But it does upset people when they get wise to actual costs.
If you want a good mechanic that wont “rip you off” you’re probably better off hunting for a sole trader working for himself with low overheads and a good reputation.
"If you want a good mechanic that wont “rip you off” you’re probably better off hunting for a sole trader working for himself with low overheads and a good reputation."
This is true. Having staff who are shit at what the do, unreliable, unethical, lazy is extra burden and cost to a sole trader.
Lol wot?
Routine maintenance is not rocket science. Absolutely, I can do an oil and oil filter change in 1 hour for under $500.
And I don't overfill it like the Jaguar dealerships love to do.
Apparently overfilling engine oil gives it more pressure which is a good thing (especially on race cars or performance cars where they mechanics may suspect you thrashing your car so they over compensate just in case) so long as it's not leaking from too much oil…..
I remember the worse case of blatant rip off well. My G/f and I split 1990 but remained in touch for a few years,I lived within 20 klm. One day she rings me and says she had the ford meteor serviced and the mechanic charged for plugs and points, but she was sure I once told her the car didn't have points. (hall effect rotor instead) so I arranged to come over and get car next day give her mine an sort it while she was at work.
Took it up to the guy, asked to verify what he serviced and checked the invoice that said plugs etc he confirmed point were changed so I said pull of the dizzy cap and show me the new points. Which of course there were none.
he offered to refund the points cost but I eventually got the full price of the service back and he got sacked by the servo
Nice one but how did your ex repay you?
It was an opportunity to repay her, actually, when my mum had a stroke and died within 3 days she was there to hold me together - I wouldn't be here if she wasn't so patient and caring - shame we broke up
Get back together! Get back together!
what are points and hall effect rotors?
Things that gets hammered into the hooves
You must be trolling :) Everyone knows what points in cars were best to Google it
I don't know what points are but I am sure I could google it and find out.
@Eeples: some do call them contact points or contact breaker
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_breaker
Probably. There are line items on the invoice that are difficult to confirm.
Just buy a new car with long warranty when your old one starts to rack up expensive repairs.
I had this issue where there was oil, filters, rags, and consumables. When I questioned what the consumables were, they said "oils and stuff", and when I said you already charged me for oil on another line, they said filters, then rags, then they got the sh!ts with me so I gave em a verbal and told them I won't be back. The better half had been going there for a year or two and drove a lot, so they lost out on a good customer.
I've never been ripped off by my mechanic, however, a family member almost got burnt big time when she dropped her car off for a basic service at what was then KMart Tyre & Auto.
She went to pick up the car and was told that it was almost $1000.
She phoned me in a panic from the centre and I asked to speak to the Manager there. They refused to speak to me so she read out the items on the bill and apart from the cost of oil, a new oil filter, and labour, the majority of the bill was pure BS. Non existent oil leaks, replacement of brake linings, (done a month previously) new wiper blades (also done a month previously) etc.
When I told her to mention that she was going to complain to Consumer Affairs the bill suddenly was 'discounted' to just over $200. A reasonable amount to pay.
Also had a bad experience will Kmart.
I was a teenager. First car. Ask for brake replacement. Gave me a $5000 quote for all the things wrong with my car. I went elsewhere.
(My Hyundai Excel was worth $2000 then)
$5k?! Holy shit!
For the most part - General maintenance / yearly service are straight forward. Find the official service schedule for your specific vehicle, invest in appropriate tools to make the job easier and watch youtube videos.. (lots of them - as you will learn from others mistakes) And bobs your mama.
Hyundai Ferntree Gully - never again. Bought my first new car from them - had so many problems with it, many of which weren't covered by warranty - every service they "found something" that wasn't covered by new car warranty - plus it had to go back for 2 new clutches and a whole new transmission in the first 6 months so I didn't have a car for around 8 weeks in total because the parts were never in the country and had to be ordered from Korea.
The total cost of servicing that car over the five years I had it amounted to more than twice what I've paid for servicing on the 2 Skoda Octavia's I've had since. The difference between Skoda and Hyundai service is incredible - and yet somehow Hyundai has a better rep?
I will never get another Hyundai. And hope I never have to see that dealership again (and have moved so I'm unlikely to.
They all the same, I had the same issues at 2 Hyundai dealership
I just went to use their phone and they got me for the whole Road King package …
Some time ago i took my car to a well known chain of mechanics. When I went to pick it up, it was a few minutes away from being ready. The mechanic walked in to tell the reception girl it was ready and muttered a few things. I heard her say “Would you like to tell the lade herself. She is just there” and he said no. Watching the situation from a few metres away, it worried me. When she called me over , she said that the car needed X, Y and Z done at a significant cost. When would I like to book it in? Mmm no thanks.
I drove the car down the road, well I bunny hopped down the road. The car drove worse than when I went in. I asked around and found a new small owner operator mechanic. He looked at the invoice and said jobs that were ticked off were not done. They were jobs that a layman, especially a female one, would not be able to check that were done. The suggested work either did not doing or only partly needed doing. Can’t remember exactly but it was like only replacing part of a muffler and not the whole thing.
I never followed it up but will never go to a fast food chain style of mechanic again.The mechanic failed my car for a roadworthy because he could "literally see a huge crack in the rear tail light and it is a huge fire hazard that could set the car on fire when it rains". It was the minutest superficial scratch on the outer plastic with no light leaking out of the crack. I took my car to the government vehicle inspection center who passed the car and noted down the mechanics details to advise of further training.
I'm fortunate enough to have a very good and honest local mechanic, I know this isn't always the case. He shows me everything he's doing and why, explains everything, gives the parts cost (even the cost to him) and options of cheaper or more expensive/better versions and charges reasonable labour costs. He'll show you the parts he's removed after doing the work also. Our suburb is fairly small and a lot of people know each other, so any trades or mechanics locally that were doing the wrong thing would soon be found out I think and would struggle to survive, or at least to get any work locally.
Re servicing, one thing he did say to me was do not use NRMA as half the time the service isn't even done properly or at all. He mentioned that they outsource a lot of this work and it isn't really supervised properly and corners are cut. Ironically I imagine NRMA is probably one of the more expensive service options because the brand is so well known. The used car I recently bought was from an NRMA employee so she had it serviced there. When my mechanic serviced it he said the filters etc were still the original ones (showed them to me) and had not been changed (2011 car). Fortunately the car is still very good for its age.
When my mechanic serviced it he said the filters etc were still the original ones (showed them to me) and had not been changed (2011 car). Fortunately the car is still very good for its age.
Genuine filters don't change from year to year so they can still look like the original ones and be replacements.
I needed a roadworthy on my old car that I sold and my regular mechanic couldn't fit me in for over a week so I decided to take it to another shop close by. Roadworthy came back with about $2k of fixes and it was only an estimate so I knew they would sting me for even more. I paid $160 for the worthless half completed certificate and left. I took it back to my regular shop and started the process from scratch and it came back with just $40 of fixes for a globe. I couldn't believe how dodgy the first guy was.
Could you pm me the second mechanic?
Not a mechanic but a panel beater once tried to repair my rear bumper bar by bending it back into shape instead of buying a new bar. I thought to myself "wouldn't that just make it weaker the next time it gets hit by a vehicle?" but I didn't know much about cars and what was considered a acceptable repair so I got a second opinion from another panel beater who told me it was actually illegal to do that. It was partially my fault because I knew the risks but being young and lazy just went with the panel beater offered by the person who hit my car since her mother was organising everything. I got in a bit of an argument with her mother over it since I initially agreed to the repair but I didn't know at the time what he was planning to do was illegal and when I pointed that out we came to a mutual understanding. It was kind of awkward but I also made the panel beater sign a agreement saying he would install a new bar (after paying of course). Always got my own quote after that.
Been ripped at dealerships so found a good trusted local mechanic.
Takes bookings 6 weeks out because he is super busy, that's my only real complaint.
Super genuine guy really nice and won't oversell you on things you don't need works on lots of eurosShoutout to DMC servicing in Port Kennedy
Took car to service to a local (google review 4.8 stars) mechanic - $400. 3 weeks later, I got a "service now" warning in the car. Took it to the same mechanic, they said ignition plugs need to be changed and charged another $400. 3 days later (Yesterday) the car stopped in the middle of the road showing "High temperature, service now". Towed the car to the mechanic this morning ($88) and the mechanic said, coolant has leaked into the radiator and it will cost more than $700. With no other option I agreed and left the car there.
Gave a call to another mechanic, he said it will cost $400 max $500. I'll have this work done with this old mechanic as I don't have time or energy, but, I am done with them. I have paid them more than the original cost of the car over the last few years. Saving pennies in ozbargain and giving thousands of dollars to these people. Jokes on me. :D
And also I am done with this car. Ford focus 2014 model. 45000Kms. Nightmare from the beginning.
Did it ever cross your mind to get a 2nd opinion or do you like handing over your hard earned money willy nilly.
It is not like that. These guys are the top rated in google ratings around here. So, I assumed $100 price difference is not going to make a big dent if this once per year.
But, what I realised is, the invoice number has increased by 50 in 4 days ( based on the diff between my two invoices) . So, these guys are doing 10+ jobs per day as the result of google ranking. So, they now have hired a lot apprentices. So, jobs are going to be sloppy. Google rating will eventually go down.
I picked them because I wanted peace of mind, not to visit them every other week.
Wouldn't be surprised if they are posting fake reviews on Google. Pretty easy to do. Have seen other dodgy companies do it.
They firstly see my badge then immediately either jack up the price, or say they can not fix it. Even simple 5min jobs.
So it is in this initial assessment, that I sum them up…. and simply drive away.Buy a electric car. Best way to avoid dealing with mechanics.
EV's still require regular servicing to maintain warranty
No they don't
If I choose not to service my Tesla car, will this void my warranty or Resale Value Guarantee?
Your New Vehicle Limited Warranty or Used Vehicle Limited Warranty will not be affected if recommended service is not performed. Servicing your Tesla is required for the duration of your Resale Value Guarantee contract.
https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/support/car-maintenanceI believe that any new car warranty now cannot refuse to cover if you choose to maintain etc your car with a different qualified mechanic
Tesla isn't the only EV out there. They still require service
https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/cost-comparison-how-ch…
Wut ?
They still require regular maintenance like any car.
Fewer parts means less servicing. Most mechanics are not qualified to work on EVs.
Most mechanics are not qualified to work on EVs
Even an apprentice can carry out Tesla's recommended service items
https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/support/car-maintenance
Wut?
Your Tesla does not require traditional annual maintenance or regular fluid changes
https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/support/car-maintenance
Went to a new mechanic near my work to get new brake disc because it was convenient, got charged $550 for the front pair. Took my car for service a few months later at my regular mechanic and they told me front disc hadn't been changed. So I got charged $550 for them to machine my disc.
When new rotors are cheap enough these days, and machining of discs just makes them more prone to warping, it's not worth it. Just replace them in future if they're unevenly worn etc. Lesson for next time. I can believe $550 for new pads, rotors and caliper pins being cleaned up and lubed, but I can't believe a machining of your front rotors cost $550… Highway robbery. You'd be looking at like $80 per rotor to machine at most.
That's right, I have had them machined before for about $80. I was quoted $550 to replace the rotors, but instead the just machined them.
That's messed up, places like that should be shut down
I had one of the worst experiences when I had my Toyota Yaris left for general service at a private mechanic. Apparently, there was a misfire detected (no issues while driving) and so the mechanic changed a couple of coils. I was okay with that but as soon as I got back to the car, the check engine light kept coming on and every time I had to go back and leave the car back to him. Car was with them for almost a couple of weeks post which the mechanic gave up and told me he has no idea what the issue was and advised me to take it to the dealership. On top of everything, he demanded that I pay for all the labour time that he had spent and the parts that he had replaced as part of triage which did not fix the issue. Every time he used to read codes on his OBD scanner, he charged me $80.
I had to argue every single item on the bill and threatened to go to ACCC after which the bill was reduced by a couple of 100$. I was told to never come back for a car service and I said, I surely won't but will also ensure none of my colleagues did. I left them a real bad review on Google after which the owner called me and offered me to take a look at the car but by that time, the issue had already been fixed.
Apparently, the coils that were put in the car were not the right ones which cause all the issues. I was also told that there was no way the coils needed replacement as I was still on low Kms.
At least you can leave a bad review. If you try the same with a lawyer mob, they usually threaten you and/or force you to take it down by sheer legal funkery. There are many people who ask around for lawyer recommendations by word of mouth, FB groups, private forums etc, because you can never find an honest review anywhere. Madness
Yes. Got a towbar installed recently, tried to charge me $300 more than quoted. Lucky i had the written quote with me.
Doesn't that happen alot with any tradie work? and then you hear there racist winge about immigrants taking there jobs
"they turk err jerbs" lmfao
This is exactly what mechanics are a rip of SCAMMERS
No point using them,
Will be best to do ourselvesA number of times had a mechanic quote me a price over phone but later increases the price stating no he didn't tell me lower price
Name and shame them (because i dont give a dam about them)
- cryodon motors SA, and Rick's auto mechanic in Salisbury.Croydon motor is also that mechanic that over filled my coolant after thermostat change and blew my radiator because of that (told me like 30 -60 bucks for it charged me like 80-100 for it).
And worst of all blew my radiator
That mechanic is also one of the rudest Person on earth talking to him is a live hell.
He gave no refund no compensation.
Left him bad review on google and never ever went to him again.Been trying to learn how to do everything myself
Other people including mechanics dont give a dam about your car they'll over fill /underfill anything like oil/coolant etc. Or don't tighten nuts properly.
Our cars are just toys for them - they treat them like toys, for just a means of Money making. They dont have any personal care at all about them. If something bad happens to your car they wont feel bad at all, instead rather be happy that they will skim more money of you. - just to show example.But that being said there are may be 1 in 10,000 mechanics that do their job properly and take everything seriously. But nevertheless most of them are a rip offs and SCAMMERS
Mechanics job to my understanding is TO RIP PEOPLE OFF.
A number of times had a mechanic quote me a price over phone
I find no decent mechanic will quote you a 100% price over the phone - theres just too many variables…
For a normal service on cars you do regularly like a dealership - you can give a 'between x and y' price… .
We had people come into the bike shop with "just a small noise" that ended up being a full engine rebuild due to main bearings shot and the 30,000klms was really over 80,000 with no service history…
We ended up giving a labour price per hour + any parts and anything we find we called the person for approval before even digging into the main problem. a simple misfire maybe a dud plug, or much much more. That way we didnt get whiny little bitches sooking.
I bet you never use the same mechanic twice, they'd happily tell you to (profanity) off and not come back
YMMV
I find no decent mechanic will quote you a 100% price over the phone - theres just too many variables…
They can if they have proper training and a good work ethics, afterall why cant they for something as simple as e.g. Oil change, or coolant flush, or thermostat replacement.
Let me ask you this, how difficult is it for you to find out the price of a certain item from Repco/SCA/Autobarn/ etc via their website ? - Answer not hard at all. So why would it be hard for mechanic to look up price of a particular item (easy too lookup simply by rego, even stuff like how much oil/coolant etc it takes, yet still they cant fill it to proper mark of in between min and max ) on their mechanic's discount list, And add the standard labour they charge (it may change by like $0-10 but shouldn't at all if mechanic ask proper details). I can confirm both of the one's i mentioned aren't a capable mechanic to give a quote.Sadly used the same Croydon motor mechanic for a few times because i left servicing on my dad (when I was newbie into cars), and he is sht at all this car things honestly. I think overpayed his $80 oil changes as he mentioned $60-70 at nearly all times over phone then racks up price. Dad kept saying me its okay he works good does a lot of taxis so he must be good etc. bulsht. Even talking to that old mechanic is a night mare. I never went to him ever again (DONT EVEN WANNA SEE HIS FACE NEAR ME, since HE BLEW MY CAR's RADIATOR).
Why didnt you look up the prices yourself if its that simple ? Didnt think so
Croydon motor is also that mechanic that over filled my coolant after thermostat change and blew my radiator
You probably know nothing about cars but your radiator is supposed to be 100% full of coolant.
It isn't possible to overfill with coolant because cars have an expansion resivor (bottle) that coolant expands and contracts into.
If that bottle gets full it drains onto the ground.Your radiator blew because it had a flaw, it was always going to fail and had nothing to do with the thermostat being changed.
Radiator failed because he overfilled my pressurized overflow tank (the only place from where my car takes in coolant). Radiator didn't fail because it had a flaw, it failed due to overpressurisation. If you dont think that's such a thing then how about you go and fill your car's coolant reservour bottle 200 mL over the maximum line (My car only takes like 3.6L of coolant, so keep a proportion of 200mL/3600mL)- Do that and if you don't get any problems then talk against my statement.
If that bottle gets full it drains onto the ground.
Yes it drains onto ground by creating a leak in the Weakest point of the cooling system, (in my case was the radiator)You're not a mechanic, you don't know what the cause of the issue was but it certainly wasn't from over pressurizing the radiator. There is an overflow for a reason, but you solely blaming the mechanic shows how little you actually know about cars in general.
There was more than likely a weakness in your radiator, pure and simple.You're not a mechanic,
No i am not, But i know more about my car than mechanic knows about it. Mechanic is not the owner of my car. Nor is each car same, every car is different, so different experience with each one. That's what makes a good mechanic lots of live hand on experience and knowledge.
Are you a mechanic to be boasting this stuff ? Probably you ain't
Were you there when this happened,- No
You think you know my car better than me, the owner- No
You ever had experience like this of overfilling pressurized overflow tank in a car with no radiator cap (So only place to fill up coolant is pressurized overflow tank). - Probably You haven't.
And if you haven't why don't you go and overfill it right now and if something doesn't go wrong then say stuff. You wont do this kinda stuff to your car, exactly or would you? Any qualified knowledgeable mechanic would not do this.You saying this much stuff only shows clearly you don't even know a difference btw pressurized overflow tank and unpressurised overflow tank. I am so done with stupid idiots like u on internet trying to say mechanic was right blah blah customer wrong mechanic didnt cause damage etc. when you were not even there, nor you got any proof to say this. just boasting random BS.
There was more than likely a weakness in your radiator, pure and simple.
If there was one then mechanic would have had noticed it before (profanity) overfilling my car's pressurized overflow tank. And if didn't find it just shows he isn't capable of being one. If there was no issue he found earlier on radiator, it means it was because of him overfilling the coolant level, over-pressurizing cooling system, and causing leak in the system.
Anyway I don't have time to educate people for free
@USER DC: I never boasted about anything but I would never say I knew more about a car than a mechanic would, that's just ludicrous.
W/e, but you cannot over pressurize anything because the car was not hot when he put in the coolant.
How do you know there was no issue with the radiator? Did you pressure test it?
A mechanics job is NOT to know if a radiator is faulty or not, unless they specialize in that type of workmanship.As far as you educating people for free, I doubt anyone would ever take you up on that let alone paid.
Sorry I am late to the party, but;
I am a mechanic and your story is bullshit. Over filling the expansion tank does not cause the rest of the cooling system to "over pressurise." It would cause it to overflow.
If a system has gone into an over pressurise situation, it's because either the radiator cap is not doing its job/wrong pressure rated cap, or the car is heating up faster than the cap can relieve the pressure (blown head gasket).
Radiators tend to fail because they are either faulty or have been damaged as they are designed to be a lot stronger than the pressure your cooling system creates. Hoses and connections are usually the weak points in the system, not the radiator. Easier and cheaper to replace a $30 hose than a $1,600 radiator.
But i know more about my car than mechanic knows about it.
I highly doubt that based on your limited knowledge of how cooling systems work.
More you don't know about car more chance mechanics can rip you off. It is very hard to find good trustworthy mechanics as most of them are after your $ these days.
My wife just took her car to auto masters, magically started leaking oil and stole the wheel nut lock.. amazing
NRMA.
Not necessarily ripped off but the shop seems to be run by all first year apprentices and some didn't seem to have a clue what to do.
Yea, was quoted $80-$100 for an oil and filter change, probably $80. They say I owe $140, so I just pay, thinking they did something else as well, and ask for receipt. Check receipt and get angry, have to ring them up 3 times and talk to multiple people.
They say a quote is not the final price, you have to ask for final price. They say it used a lot of oil, I say it’s only a small car, how much more did it use than you expected. She says they used valvoline oil and new filter. She says if you want a cheap job, just go to Bankstown but who knows what oil they put in.
She finally says you’re giving me a headache, come back over and I’ll give you the money. She only gives me $40.
used a lot of oil, I say it’s only a small car
Suggests they overfilled oil, Hence not really qualified to be working as a mechanic in my opinion. But yes this is very true at almost all the mechanics especially the one's i shamed
I love these threads, reminds me how lucky I am not to work on cars and deal with these people anymore.