Mechanic Wants to Charge for Taking a Look at Coolant Leak

Lpolyteknika on 24/11/2022 - 14:01
Last edited 25/11/2022 - 13:58 by 1 other user

Just wondering if this is the norm:

I had a coolant leak on Friday and managed to drive it into a mechanics shop. He said he'll take a look at it (not sure if it was hoisted) but he couldn't find the leak (he says he thinks it's the plastic reservoir or manifold inlet hidden behind the engine). I asked for some photos but not provided.

Since I need my car for work, which is now Thursday - I asked for it back and he wants to charge $100.

Is this acceptable? Happy to pay if all is fair and reasonable.

Automotive Mercedes-Benz CLA

Comments

    • polyteknika on 25/11/2022 - 12:25

      I paid the $100, and moved on.

      • MS Paint on 25/11/2022 - 14:07
        +3

        I paid the $100 , and moved on.

        FTFY

  • Windows98 on 25/11/2022 - 14:46

    I think it's fair for OP to ask why they're being charged. It has become expected for companies to offer free checks if they want the business. And in some cases, mechanics will go over it for free let you take the car back if you don't go ahead, and definitely won't charge if you get the work done through them. But not all.

    I think a lot of people have gotten accustomed to the "free measure and quote" offers. Back in the day, professional tradies would charge for a quote because that does take time and doing hundreds of them in the hope of getting one job from it was time and resources consuming.
    Now it's become expected for tradies to drive to your house, measure, discuss colours or options for an hour for free. And they do this multiple times a day with no commitment for the work.

    I'm not surprised tradies don't reply or show up most of the time. Because there's a good chance it's a waste of time.

  • curtturtle on 25/11/2022 - 15:11
    +2

    Looking for the leak is like a 15 second job. A good mechanic is not going to charge for it, they are just going to check and let you know if you need further work. But since he has charged, you just pay it and take it as a sign to not go back. Find a mechanic that is good and isn't trying to screw you for every last cent.
    Maybe leave them a 1 star review while you are at it.

  • Fysh on 25/11/2022 - 16:06

    A diagnostic fee is not a scam. Not telling you before hand is a scam. He should have quoted you and invoice for a pressure test.

    • 91rs on 25/11/2022 - 16:32

      You should never expect anything is ever free, ever.
      You should always ask how much even if "ballpark" to know their base rate etc.
      The expectation is that there is a fee for any work, even if its diagnostic time, that's not a scam.
      Yes OP should have been told a inspection fee or hourly rate for minimum time, but we have no idea if they were or were not told, i'd never 100% believe a post here as its always one sided for someone wanting to get out of paying someone for something (fees, fines, tickets, surcharges) in this place.

  • 91rs on 25/11/2022 - 16:28
    -1

    Like many of these kind of posts, OP is unreasonable. This is becoming far to common place with people wanting something for nothing, then turn up with an attitude about it.
    Not all issues are easy to find, sometimes hours of diagnostic time is used and it's not what you'd think it was, I've spent probably $1.5k+ chasing a problem which wasn't at all what we expected but was over a few days.
    I'd not have refused payment for their time if they didn't find the issue immediately.
    I
    f it's so simple OP then why don't you find it and fix it.
    Peoples time isn't free, I'm sure you wouldn't do your job for free for people an hour at a time for various things? Why should they have to?

    • polyteknika on 26/11/2022 - 13:45
      -1

      No attitude, I was just asking if it was fair and reasonable for the charge, given that he could not find the leak itself.
      If he found the location of the leak, at least that is useful information and I would pay him for his time.
      I made no inference either way.

  • gwenty on 25/11/2022 - 17:01
    +1

    As a service advisor I find these threads very amusing xD

    • Fysh on 25/11/2022 - 18:10

      It should show you how transparent you need to be with costs. But I always find it funny when service advisors are on sales targets and bonuses. " oh u need a cabin filter for $147 fitted" . " nah ill just buy one from repco for 30 bucks and fit in 2 mins". " Can i clean you injectors for 200 " " oh you are gona take the injectors out" " nah we just put an addictive "

      • gwenty on 25/11/2022 - 18:18

        I work at a country dealership. Only items that are needed are offered. We don't drive the upsell model like AAG group etc.

  • dmbminaret on 25/11/2022 - 19:16
    -1

    This is no different to getting a quote. There should be no charge. The work he did do, if any, and the experience he has gained from his work is his platform to be able to quote you a job albeit with potential for the final payment amount to be adjusted accordingly.

    Taking a look is a simple terminology for I trust you have the necessary experience to quote the job for payment if we both contract to progress.

    If someone comes to quote your house for repainting, do they charge? No. It's a cost of business to gain further work no different to advertising in yellow pages or maintaining a website.

    • Poor Ass on 27/11/2022 - 08:58

      Actually many businesses charge for getting a quote now days but they usually tell you if there is a call out fee or fees of some sort.

      Yes there are also business that don't charge as well

      Although it's not unreasonable to charge, they should of told OP first. These situation can come to a compromise

  • Shane034 on 25/11/2022 - 19:53

    Tell him he's dreamin'

  • CoreJava on 25/11/2022 - 20:04
    +1

    What a dumb question. You asked a professional to investigate and dont want to pay. If you want freebies, ask your mate.

  • jrvb42 on 25/11/2022 - 20:22
    -1

    I generally have a problem with so-called professionals charging when they don't actually fix the problem. I wouldn't do it, and I'd apologise to the customer for my lack of ability, not charge!
    Problem not fixed? No charge.
    Of course, good service is rare these days.

    • p3nf0ld on 25/11/2022 - 21:15
      +2

      Good service isn't that rare you just have unrealistic expectations.
      Doctor: You have cancer.
      Lawyer: Yes I can represent you but that will cost you 4X what you could win
      Mechanic: Yeh your dropped your car to me because it couldnt be driven further. You want me to spend my money & time to diagnose a problem for free so you can go somewhere else instead of doing my other paying jobs.
      Pharmacist: You want me to tell you what vitamin I should take so I can go to Woolworths and buy it

      Etc, Etc.
      People's time and resources is worth something. In a lot of the cases the time spent investigating/quoting would be better spent with a paying client. Otherwise you go broke.

  • superuser on 25/11/2022 - 21:26
    +1

    Could be the result of a slightly cracked hose, a tiny hole in your radiator, or a water pump issue.
    It’s also possible for a coolant leak to develop inside your vehicle or to simply vaporize into mist via your defroster.
    photo
    https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/pouring-coolant-gm58672365…
    Where is my $50?

  • RolandWaites on 26/11/2022 - 06:28

    Charging is fine. He performed a job. Just because he didn't discover the specific issue doesn't mean he did nothing. He gave you valuable insight into where the leak isn't and where it may be.

    $100 is pretty steep though unless he spent a couple of hours on it which, if he just checked the radiator and front end assembly, he almost certainly didn't.

    But that's his prerogative. The lesson is you can do a lot of basic car mechanics, including inspections, yourself for free with only basic knowledge.

  • DarkOz on 26/11/2022 - 08:54
    +1

    Funny how so many people think that just because the fault wasn't found that means the mechanic haven't done anything.

    Our work server has a programming glitch that calculates the price for a certain situation wrongly. I asked 2 different software engineers to look at it but they couldn't find the fault. I shouldn't have paid them. These lazy sleazy bastards.

  • ItchyBallsack on 26/11/2022 - 09:20

    What model is your car? Also is it petrol or diesel? Also did the mechanic tell u before he touched the car that he charges a diagnosis fee?

    • polyteknika on 26/11/2022 - 13:41

      Petrol.
      No, he didn't say anything.

      • ItchyBallsack on 26/11/2022 - 22:59

        He should of told u any charges upfront before he took the job.

  • Darth Bogan on 26/11/2022 - 10:10

    Could be a water pump, could be a hose leak , disconnect fan belt so fans not blowing coolant everywhere then get a torch and see if it's leaking from the water pump ( at bottom of engine usually but with Merc , get a service manual so you can look these things up) or it may be coming from a simple hose leak then fit , retighten and reinstall .
    Watch temp , if hose blows again , head gasket? Heater leak? As mentioned before.
    Mechanic pressure test then ect

  • justgooddeals on 26/11/2022 - 10:17

    Look if he told you upfront their was going to be a hundred dollar charge to inspect and ascertain any necessary repairs fair enough. Pay it.

    If, however, he never told you that their was going to be an up front charge or that he had a standard $100 inspection fee for quoting. Tell him to go and get f#<ked. Or more respectfully please go and get f….

    Most honest trades will disclose all fees upfront before doing any work. Not after.

    • polyteknika on 26/11/2022 - 13:55
      +1

      He didn't say there was an upfront charge. He wouldn't be in business if he did.

  • WilliamDGH on 26/11/2022 - 10:48

    In general yes, you pay for inspections even if the mechanic can’t find the issue. It’s the nature of cars, sometimes issues are so hard to identify without taking things apart.

    But this mechanic do sounds dodgy, you should find someone else to check it. When my DSG transmission had fault my mechanic explained it to me that it will cost $6000 to just take it apart and to check it, so I decided to just swap for a used one. A good mechanic should explain to customers what’s involved and what’s the expected outcomes.

  • leftspeaker2000 on 26/11/2022 - 13:41

    I once had a rattle in my car and took it to a mechanic in Canberra. They had it for a 30-40 minutes and found the issue which was inside of the catalytic converter had broken free. He ended up removing the co2 sensor, cutting a bit of hear sheild away to check the exhaust and charged me a case of beer.

  • Cave Fire on 26/11/2022 - 13:56

    well, could just replace the reservoir and if it's fixed you've done well…

  • OWKnowitall1 on 26/11/2022 - 15:23

    Honestly I go to MyCar for quotes they do free check ups. I don't think it's reasonable price but each to their own. Next time definitely ask how much it is to inspect an issue, some places do it free.

  • Gaz1 on 26/11/2022 - 16:12

    Best to ask for a cost estimate beforehand.
    I tend to find some mechanics won't charge to look at a problem if you go ahead with the work but if you don't go ahead they need to charge for their time.
    Perhaps he should have made it clear about the quote fee (or you could have asked).
    Of course in this case it would be hard to give a precise quote fee as he doesn't know how long it is going to take him to find the issue.

  • Gaz1 on 26/11/2022 - 16:15
    +2

    Reminds me of an old story:
    A guy goes to a mechanic with a problem, he pulls out a hammer, bashes some part under the bonnet & the problem is solved.
    He says "that will be $100".
    The guy says that's outrageous - can you give me an itemised bill?
    $1 Hitting the faulty part
    $99 knowing what & where to hit

  • vinni9284 on 27/11/2022 - 06:27

    The mechanic should of notified you of the charge before looking or at least said that it needs further investigation therefore incurring a fee. I'm sure many mechanics don't charge an initial fee as they will find the issue and get the repair job.

  • Delilahgetsaround on 27/11/2022 - 07:58

    Hourly rate for a mechanic is anywhere from $120-180.
    He may have looked at your car for an hour (driving it in, putting on hoist, removing guards and covers, having the liability of your vehicle in his workshop, advertising his workshop so you could find him, having a phone so you can call him) these are all costs it isn't just a cost for a successful end result.

    Call an electrician out to your house to tell you that your power bill isn't paid, won't get the power on but will cost for his time.

  • spriggan43 on 27/11/2022 - 08:12

    Could be worse, BMW dealership at Darra said they wanted $297 to look at my BMW Z3, this was in relation to wanting an idea of the cost to perform some work on the cars softtop.

  • Poor Ass on 27/11/2022 - 09:06
    +1

    It's not unreasonable to charge but the mechanic also should of told OP if there was an inspection or approx fee to check

    I know a lot of people are giving OP shit about , but would pretty sure people's perspective will change if it was bumped up to $1000.

  • I3IGN0sE on 27/11/2022 - 09:32
    +1

    I feel like theres a particular angle nobody has brought up here.

    It's busy af, and you wouldn't leave youre ad hoc job with your hunk of junk long enough for this mechanic to diagnose it.

    Maybe next time you wait until they diagnose it and then maybe they repair it when they finds it buried under fifty million plastic tubes in your complicated as (profanity) engine instead of being too impatient.
    Maybe you borrow a loan car.
    I think they had a good look at it but it needed more time and you didn't give them more time.

    Impatient ad hoc customers are the worst.

  • blehgg on 27/11/2022 - 19:14

    Watched a guy walk into a hair salon and asked for "only" his neckline to be cleaned up.

    He proceeded to get angry when they ask him to pay….

  • quog on 27/11/2022 - 22:14
    +2

    Interesting that so many posters expect free quotes which take time to prepare

    Do they do all their work for free or expect to be paid?

    • Heaps for Cheaps on 29/11/2022 - 17:03

      Mate, I am a mechanic. Too right I don't work for free except for my parents or my wife.

      The reaction to the $100 ask is how I'd test the depth of the pockets.

      Sometimes they get pi$$ed and walk out, but the sweet few k from 3 hours of apprentice labor make my pockets bulge.

      On the flipside, well, get a job that doesn't pay like flipping burgers. Get real skills that pay the bills or start using public transport.

  • binti33 on 29/11/2022 - 22:05

    If I were to take my car to a mechanic with a fault that made my car almost undrivable, I’d expect them to fix or at the very least, find the fault before charging me.

    Having someone look over it briefly, and then tell me they need to do further work but don’t want to isn’t good enough. The car needs to be fixed. I’m there to get it fixed - and obviously willing to pay for the additional labour.

    Don’t do the bare minimum and then ask for $100.

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