Issues with Mechanics, What Should I Do?

Saars on 16/06/2022 - 16:36
Last edited 16/06/2022 - 17:50 by 1 other user

I am having the following issues with a mechanic
In Feb I dropped off my car with the engine overheating, and was told that the engine needed to be replaced at a cost of $8,000
The first time I picked the car up (2 weeks later), the car was having issues before I even got to the end of the street and I took it back, only to be told that there was something wrong with the new engine so they needed to replace it again
This process took 3 months as multiple replacement engines continued to have issues, with the mechanic lying the whole time and telling me "next week" every time I called (they had to sent the car off to the people who reconditioned the engine in the first place as they were unable to diagnose the issue)
When I finally picked up the car, I made it less than half-way home before the engine light came back on and the car started misfiring. The car was taken back and the mechanic admitted that they ran the fuel too low, causing the injectors to clog up, so they replaced the injectors at their cost

3 days after picking up the car again, the engine light is back on and the mechanic is telling me that it needs 2 new catalytic converters and sensors at a cost of $3,500 and they are now saying that this is likely the cause of the engine failing originally

I have multiple issues with this
- Why was this not picked up during the initial diagnostics?
- Why was this not picked up by them during any of the subsequent engine replacements or testing?
- Was this issue potentially caused by them?
- I am unable to get other quotes for this service but the 3 exhaust shops I have contacted agree that the price is excessive. Are they just trying to claw money back that they may have lost during the previous engine replacements?
- Had I have known about this additional cost I would not have replaced the engine
- If this issue was originally discovered as I would expect something like this to have been, the cost should have been substantially lower anyway as these parts had to be removed to during the process of replacing the engine

During this whole process, they refused to provide an alternative vehicle so we were really struggling with daily tasks

Automotive Dodge Journey

Comments

  • k-rokfm on 16/06/2022 - 16:40
    +2

    What kind of car and how old is it?

    • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 16:40

      2008 Dodge Journey

      • k-rokfm on 16/06/2022 - 16:41

        Where were the spare engines sourced from? Exactly how much have you spent on fixes and on what items?

        • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 16:45

          Mechanic was Poly4x4, they sourced the engine, always refused to tell us where from though

          We paid $8,000 for a second hand engine, this has issues and the only one they could source was from someone else and it was reconditioned

          We were told we had a 2 year warranty with this one

          • DragoBoyz on 18/06/2022 - 11:01
            +1

            @Saars: The engines would've been coming from wreckers

      • Drakesy on 16/06/2022 - 16:45
        +4

        Well there's your problem.
        See these on gumtree all the time for $5k and now it makes sense

        • pegaxs on 16/06/2022 - 16:58
          +5

          Agree… Soon as I saw "Dodge" my first reaction was… "Well, that explains most of it…"

        • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:17

          Really, A running, function, Good condition Dodge Journey for $5,000

          Please provide me some links

          • Drakesy on 16/06/2022 - 17:20
            +3

            @Saars: Gumtree,
            2008 Dodge Journey with 119,000k's - $8,000
            2009 Dodge Journey with 200,000k's - $5,000
            2012 Dodge Journey requiring new transmission - $3,500

            Could've bought a new car and scrapped the old one.

            • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:23
              -4

              @Drakesy: But you said $5,000

              At the time we had to make this decision, there were no options lower than $12,000 and even those had "minor issues"

              Our logic was that we were better off going with an engine replacement for $8,000 and then be done, rather than take the risk of spending much more and potentially buying someone elses problems

              • Drakesy on 16/06/2022 - 18:34
                +4

                @Saars: And i gave you one?
                You can lead a horse to water…

                You say that allowing $8,000 in repairs was an economic decision because your car was "worth" $17,000

                We've provided evidence that it is only worth $5-8,000 hence questioning why you'd spend the value of the car on fixing it.

                Unfortunately your logic was a little flawed tbh, not that you'd want to be buying a secondhand dodge anyway.

          • brendanm on 16/06/2022 - 17:46
            +1

            @Saars:

            Really, A running, function, Good condition Dodge Journey

            Please don't set impossible tasks. There is no such thing.

            Take the mechanic to Xcat, sounds like they've done a garbage job, and aren't even taking it for a proper test drive.

  • cashless on 16/06/2022 - 16:48

    Apart from poor choice in buying the car the first place, why would you put a new engine in a Dodge?
    Should have taken it to the scrapyard and started from scratch

    • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:04
      -4

      So destroy a car that should have been worth $17,000 to then try and replace it with what at the point in time?
      Used car market was spastic

      • Drakesy on 16/06/2022 - 17:23
        +3

        It's not worth $17,000
        That was covid.
        It's a 2008 car, it's 14 years old, lets be realistic.

        • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:26
          -1

          I also agree that it's not worth that

          But we had to replace it, and the COVID market was all we had to work with

          Point is… we are where we are, I don't need advice on what I SHOULD HAVE done… hindsight is a wonderful thing

  • AndyC1 on 16/06/2022 - 16:48
    +2

    Take the car to a different mechanic to get a report as to what is wrong and needs replacing or fixed. The report you can use to get the current mechanic to fix that is/was covered by their work and NO more.

    The current mechanic sounds like a shark.

    • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:18

      It's really difficult to find someone willing to work on it, we have been ripped off my so many mechanics, not just with this vehicle

      • fishing on 18/06/2022 - 08:32

        Try Boyd’s Garage in Peakhurst. They won’t rip you

        • kerfuffle on 18/06/2022 - 08:41

          Bold of you to assume the OP is from Sydney. It’s OzBargain, not SydneyBargain

  • Xistn on 16/06/2022 - 16:49

    Sounds like you took it to a M3kanic :(

    • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:19

      Took it to the dealership first, had to threaten them with VCAT it was such a bad experience

      These guys just seemed unlucky at first, now my patience is gone but I don't know what sort of outcome I can expect at this point

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 16/06/2022 - 16:56
    +6

    Why on earth would you spend $8000 on replacing an engine in a 2008 Dodge Journey?

    You can buy another entire 2008 Dodge Journey for less than that!

    • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:02

      At the start of the year, the cheapest replacement was closer to $17,000

  • AustriaBargain on 16/06/2022 - 16:59

    Is a 2008 Dodge Journey itself even worth $8,000?

    • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:02

      At the start of the year, the cheapest replacement was closer to $17,000

    • cashless on 16/06/2022 - 21:05
      +4

      Sounds like this Dodge really doesn’t want to Journey.

  • MS Paint on 16/06/2022 - 17:05

    Catalytic converters aren't cheap but not that much. Platinum is not cheap.

  • pegaxs on 16/06/2022 - 17:05
    +2

    Why was this not picked up during the initial diagnostics?

    Because shit fails down hill. You have to fix each broken part as a stepped process.

    Why was this not picked up by them during any of the subsequent engine replacements or testing?

    Because they are probably shit mechanics. This is what we get when no one wants to be a mechanic because the pay is so shit, so the jobs go to Yr. 9 school leaving borderline eshays.

    Was this issue potentially caused by them?

    Maybe. Very hard to prove.

    I am unable to get other quotes for this service but the 3 exhaust shops I have contacted agree that the price is excessive.

    None of those shops want to quote on repair the exhaust system? Find that very hard to believe.

    Are they just trying to claw money back that they may have lost during the previous engine replacements?

    Probably not. $8k for a Dodge engine swap sounds like they well and truly had you over a barrel and giving it to you dry. They just thought you were a sucker to pay $8k for an engine swap (that would have bought you another 2 Dodge shitboxes for the same amount) and thought they would bung it on with an exhaust quote.

    Had I have known about this additional cost I would not have replaced the engine

    Did they not quote you first? Were the Dodge badges on the vehicle not the first indication something was wrong with it? At no time did you stop and think… "hey, $8k worth of repairs on a $4k car is just not worth it"?

    If this issue was originally discovered as I would expect something like this to have been, the cost should have been substantially lower anyway as these parts had to be removed to during the process of replacing the engine

    Possibly, but removing an exhaust and cat isn't a labour intensive exercise. Most of that $3,500 quote would be in the parts costing. Cats aint cheap at the moment. So, no, if they found it "while" doing the engine change, you may, at best, have saved about $200~$300 in labour.

    • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 17:10
      +1

      Parts are worth about $1200, rest is labour

      Engine was $5,500, rest was labour

      Please let me know where I can buy one for $4,000 so I can get some spares

      • brendanm on 16/06/2022 - 17:53
        +1

        Please let me know where I can buy one for $4,000 so I can get some spares

        There are a couple I found for $2k in about 30 seconds of looking.

        • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 18:09

          links?

          • brendanm on 16/06/2022 - 18:13

            @Saars: Use gumtree, use marketplace. Type in "dodge journey". I only looked at ones that were similar age to yours, there's a 2012 with trans issue for $3k or so. I purchased a 2013 of one of these shitboxes, with a check engine light on, for $2k or so from memory.

            • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 18:17
              -3

              @brendanm: So buy one for $3k, which is more than the $2k you just claimed. It needs at least a news transmission.. so what… $4k for parts and labour. Then I have to get a roadworthy on it, pay my stamp duty… so assuming there is absolutely nothing else wrong with it… I've just spent pretty much the same amount of money

              and on top of that I have to get it transported from NSW to VIC

              Solid solution

              • brendanm on 16/06/2022 - 18:19
                +8

                @Saars: I said there are some for $2k, the $3k one is a later model, so I didn't include it.

                I never said to buy it and fix it. You said :

                Please let me know where I can buy one for $4,000 so I can get some spares

                so I told you there are some available for $2k.

                I wouldn't recommend buying one at all, and I wouldn't recommend spending money on one, they are shitboxes.

    • [Deactivated] on 17/06/2022 - 09:51

      Which sane exhaust shop would quote this especially if they haven't seen it in person? They can repair the exhaust system and it could still not be fixed and they'll get blamed. Its not worth it for them.

  • pharkurnell on 16/06/2022 - 18:42
    +3

    In 2019, Chrysler announced it was voluntarily recalling 862,520 vehicles in the U.S., including certain model years of the Dodge Avenger, Dodge Caliber, and Dodge Journey due to deteriorating catalytic converters.

    • Saars on 16/06/2022 - 18:58

      Thanks for the information, really appreciate it, even if it did get me a bit excited for a minute

      Doesn't look like I can use this one though

  • Cave Fire on 16/06/2022 - 20:34

    They are supposed to diagnose the fault correctly. So a good OBDII scanner that supports US cars should have picked the issue up. They are around $200 for a good one. Not sure if places like Supercheap will scan for you for free. Going forward, lots of results for the cat converter parts, these are priced under a grand without sensors. Would need some exhaust work but should be minimal.

  • askme69 on 16/06/2022 - 21:27

    Hindsight is golden.

    I know at the time it would sound crazy. But a quick question on here or Whirlpool or even a dedicated Jeep FB page could have saved you from all this.

    Pressure and time constraints does things to people.

    • FareEvader on 16/06/2022 - 22:54
      +1

      Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time. That, and a big goddamn poster. Like I said, in prison a man will do most anything to keep his mind occupied.

  • randomusername2017 on 16/06/2022 - 22:36

    Get the feeling you'd get along quite well with a highly competent mechanic

  • Dean29 on 17/06/2022 - 09:47
    +3

    Could have put in a LS for that price

  • DragoBoyz on 18/06/2022 - 11:14

    To be honest they are not good cars and I can understand mechanics or exhaust shops not wanting to work on them. This is not your fault really.
    An engine overheating can be one of many problems and it is lazy of the mechanics to jump straight to an engine swap. They quoted you high because they did not want to do it but you took it. I would've taken this chance to get another opinion before diving straight in. How much labour time did you pay for this diagnosis?
    They should have taken the car for a longer test drive the first time definitely it is not you who should find that problem.
    What is the actual problem with the cats and sensors? Are they blocked? Cracked? Damaged? Do the sensors not work? They often quote sensors because they are nearly impossible to remove without breaking once the car has aged. Again do not blindly trust them to replace parts

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