PixelHarmony

About two months ago my girlfriends 1993 Eclipse GS 2.0L DOHC broke down on me when I was on the highway. The car history of the car is that it's a 93, but it has 50k miles on it. Her father is a mechanic and he just held onto the car in his garage for 8 years or so. It hasn't been driven for 8 years!!!

Anyway before she took it to campus he replaced the clutch, cleaned the tank and fuel lines, and changed the inline filter. The car ran fine for about 1k miles then the injectors died out on my one at a time. I replaced all the injectors and the car ran fine again, but they clogged back up. Apparently water got in the tank during a fill up and it ruined the filters causing all that crap to jam up the injectors.

Now about two months ago I drove the car again and this time it died on me all of a sudden. I went to DSM forums to check up on it and they said it might be the fuel pump. I did all the checks and found the fuel pump wasn't working. So I purchase a brand new Walboro 190 off ebay for the right make and model car so I can do the install myself. However Since this was my last semester in college I never found time to do the install.

Next step was to bring it to a local mechanic. So I leave the car with the mechanic and gave him the fuel pump. First off the guy was pretty pissed that I supplied my own fuel pump. He kept bitching on about how he can't make money if I bring my own part.... Anyway he told me it'll be about a 2 hours charge to change the pump and empty the tank.

About 4 days later the guy never calls so I call him and he replies "jeez when were you planning on calling about your car?" I told him to contact me if there was any problem but I guess he waited on me. Later he told me that the pump I gave him didn't bolt on properly so he made some sort of bracket to make it fit. He also said that there was a lot of sediment in the tank and told me he also went ahead and cleaned the fuel lines and put in a new filter... he charged me for 4 hours of labor.

On top of that he said the car still wouldn't start so he took it upon himself to rip out the fuel rail and test the injectors. Another hour for a job I could've done myself...

So apparently 3 of the 4 injectors are fouled (I know what it feels like when cylinders start dying on you and that wasn't the case this time). Apparently the fuel pressure regulator was off by 15% as well.

So now I'm stuck with this guy saying that's 5 hours of labor plus he doesn't want me ordering any more parts for him. He quoted me $300 for new injectors and $90 for a FPR. I decide to just do the rest myself so I bought a set of injectors off a guy for $25 and didn't bother with the FPR since it was just a 15% difference... (i just need to get this car to my girlfriends dad's shop in Chicago a 125 mile drive).

He tells me after he calls me stupid and says he won't warranty anything that he'll use my injectors. And he's saying he might charge me for the FPR and other seals he bought due to the fact that Mitsubishi might not take them back (I never wanted him to buy those parts in the first place and yes mitsubishi does take returns).

So he'll charge me 1 more hour to put the damn fuel rail back in... since the car wasn't running there was no way I could move it to a lot and do it myself.

Sorry for the long rant but now my problem is this. It's obvious this guy is ripping me off. He even admits that since I brought my own fuel pump he's charging me 30% extra for labor. Later he tells me again that I'm stupid for not listening to him... This guy has no professionalism what-so-ever. When I asked him what kind of bracket took him 2 hours to make to fit the fuel pump he laughed at me and said he didn't want to draw it out for me. He keeps on repeating the same BS over and over thinking I don't understand anything. The only reason I couldn't do any of this myself was it was during finals week at the time and figured it'll be about a ~$100 job for a shop to just change the damn pump. Now I'm stuck with this BS.... so what can I do about it guys? Is there anyway I can report this mechanic?

Sarlacc

car talk dude.

Report him to the BBB.

Find a lawyer. You will have to pay him...then take him to court to get your money. Great system huh?

PixelHarmony

^^ Sorry about that one, can mods move this post?

Yeah I figure I'll pay him first... My girlfriends dad said to get his UDL (?? Illinois business license) number and he'll report him to BBB.

Street Spirit

Don't think he's allowed to do work on the car that hasn't been authorized by the customer, either by signing off on it upon dropping-off the car for service or by telephone. In other words, he took it upon himself to order all those extra parts and fix things that you hadn't requested or ok'd, assuming that you'd be fine with it and want to pay for it.


And why didn't you call to check on the status of the car until FOUR days after you left it with a mechanic you didn't trust, when the job was only supposed to take an hour?

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Look around the shop for a sign that says that no work shall be performed without the prior consent of the customer. You should be able to use this against the guy in a court.

When I had my wheels balanced at a local dealer, they tried to perform a four wheel alignment without asking my permission first so they didn't charge me for that part of the visit.

PixelHarmony

I had exams so it slipped my mind. Plus it was over the weekend so I figured they might have other cars to work on first...

I'll definately tell him again that I didn't request him to do any further work. He specifically said that as well but went ahead and ordered the parts thinking I'd go ahead and go with it.

People on the DSM forums said it should've definately taken only 2 hours to do the work. They also mentioned that a 30% bump in labor is done at some places when customers supply their own parts however they believe that's a bit too much.

So is my only option to pay and file a report later?

Sarlacc

You can try and threaten the BBB complaint first.

Talk to a lawyer and see. Ask Chief and see if he knows anything that might help.

Sarlacc

Next time a person is douhe like this to begin with...take your business elsewhere.

Street Spirit

I wouldn't pay for work that I didn't request, but keep in mind he has your GF's car sitting in his shop for him to totally screw around with if you choose not to pay him. He doesn't sound like the type of guy to just 'let it go.' If you don't pay, he's also welcome to take out all the new parts he put in the car (without your permission). Personally, I see him screwing with it more than I can see him taking things back. IMO, he's gotta chalk up the loss of time and money for not having your persmission to do anything other than the original service order.

If all mechanics were able to perform services on cars without consent of the customer, people would go for $30 oil changes and leave with $1,000 worth of work every time. Shops just can't do that, even if they see other things that need fixing. He made assumptions and didn't check with you first -- a very bad decision on his part

If the car isn't driveable, it's up to you --- let this guy "fix" it so you can drive away, or have it towed somewhere you trust.

Just my thoughts though... Doesn't always work so nicely when in the real world.

Street Spirit

And even worse that you didn't pick it up ASAP and let him have even more time fool with it. He doesn't sound like someone who was interested in your business to begin with.

iTimmy

Its a bad situation, no way around that. In NY state a repair shop can not present a bill to a customer that is more then 10% of the original estimate with out getting approval, anything over that original figure that he doesn't have approval for you don't have to pay(in NY state). To hell with the BBB it doesn't sound like this guy cares about running a good honest business any ways, hit him where it hurts, contact DMV tomorrow, and file a complaint and tell them your story, don't waste your time getting a lawyer, DMV will get things done quickly and fairly. An added bonus is DMV court won't cost you anything.

As a garage owner I see he opened himself up to problems to begin with. At my place we will under NO circumstanced install provided parts, its just a reciept for disaster, it has little to do with making money on the part. If someone supplies the wrong part(in this case) who will pay the labor of the bay while you wait for the right part? The customer never wants to and it always equals bad blood. Another problem is if the part goes bad in a few months, the parts store blames the installer and the installer blames the part - again another bad situation that just can't ever be made right to satisfy all parties.

Car's are pain in the ass, things seldom go as they're suppose to, but this clown took things to far. Communication is key, be honest and friendly. Even though most would think my rules about parts make me a greedy prick, I am the busiest, most successful and have the happiest clients. As I am sure you know there are good shops, and bad shops, you found a bad one.

One of the best ways to identify a good one before you even walk through the door is to look at their building, is it maintained, is it clean? If not how are they going to treat your car? When you walk inside is the place dirty, is there a comfortable place for you to wait? The bad shops usually have more then a few warnings, so you can avoid these situations if you watch for the subtle details.

In the mean time call DMV and see what course of action they suggest, when DMV calls/visits a shop that is up to fishy behavior its quicker, cheaper and easier for them just to make you happy.

Tom Blasing

Not like this matters but if the car has the 2.0L engine it should have three fuel filters: one in the fuel tank, one under the hood mounted to the firewall on the passenger's side and the third is in line just outside the fuel tank. Just take off the right rear tire and you'll see it.

F900

Charge it to a credit card if you can.....

LuvMyTSX

See what you can do about the work you didn't authorize that he just went ahead and did anyway, but first I'd get your car towed out of there. Do you have AAA? If so, they tow 100 miles for free, you'll just have to pay for the extra 25 miles to your gf's dad's garage. That would be my first move, as I'd feel uncomfortable leaving the car there with that crooked mechanic.

Whenever I go to my private mechanic, I tell them to call me when they find out what the problem is, or before they start any work or order parts. When I go to the Acura dealership, they have me sign a work order where I can check off to authorize work, have them call me first, etc. Sucks that you were taken advantage of, sorry to hear it and I hope it works out ok.

Cruz_msl

Yup, you didn't authorize any of the work, he's going to try and bully you into paying. Call the police if he doesn't release you rcar to you immediately. File a report. The BBB is a total waste of time. My company has multiple complaints, nobody cares.

iTimmy

AAA will not tow a vehicle from one shop to another with out confirmation from the shop the vehicle is at originally, I don't think he will authorize the vehicle to leave with out the bill being paid.

savage

if you didnt sign anything for the work and he wont release the car, call the cops and have them deal with him...

SakiGT

If a mechanic starts a conversation bitching about making money off of parts.... RUN AWAY!

PixelHarmony

^ Yeah I figure... well I'll find out if the car is running or not in half an hour.

Supposedly the fuel rail gets 70 Psi of pressure and the car only needs 47... he says the injectors are fouled so the new injectors should spray fine. Everything else by his word was fine. But he did say "I'm not going to warranty any of this work... if i put it in and it doesn't work, that's your problem."

I'm going to raise hell if it doesn't work.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

WTF

Now that's some shady ass shit. It's one thing if the supplied fuel pump doesn't work, but he won't warranty the injectors and everything else that HE took upon himself to do? That just isn't right. Hope you get everything sorted out, man.