Why I have no use for shops...
 

I'm sure some of them or some of the mechanics within them are good, unfortunately, its not tattooed on their forehead.

EXACTLY why I never take my cars (or motorcycles) to a shop, be it a dealer or an independent.

The other week, I had the front wheels off my girlfriend’s car to check out a noise coming from the front end when driving over speed bumps. Likely the sway bar links as has always been my past experience and the mileage was right.

What got me was that the left front wheel was dragging while trying to spin the wheel. I always check that aspect for sticking pins and caliper piston.

The brake pads were recently replaced since they were almost new. There might have been 10% or 15% wear, if that. Some clown at the dealer simply installed a set of brake pads without doing a full service; that means removing the pins, cleaning them, cleaning the cavities the pins slide into in the caliper mount, and greasing them. It took quite a while to remove one of the seized pins.

Sheesh, when I do a brake service on my daily driver that sees use every day, my brake jobs are good for 4 to 5 years of trouble free service; that is about the time I replace my pads and discs. My last daily driver car is now in the hands of a Porsche friend and it’ll be 20 years old this fall. The same trouble-free calipers are still on it and the pistons slide freely.

Ya gots to know what you are doing!

I too have dealt with this, after purchasing my used TSX from a very well known Acura dealer in Kansas City. Started having a clunk noise happening when coming to a stop or leaving a stop. After reviewing the service history, the pads were replaced about 2k miles before my purchase. I ended up pulling the wheels, calipers, pads and pins. They didn't lube up anything, and like you 1 pin on each caliper was nearly seized on the caliper bracket. I just ordered new pins and dust boots. Greased liberally with brake grease, and have not had an issue since.

Well this is what an independent Porsche shop did to a friends car. He brought it in to have Bilstein coilovers and roll bars installed as well as a factory Porsche short-shift kit. As a doctor and one that is extremely busy, he does not do any work on his own car.

His car was in for a PPI - Pre Purchase Inspection for the new owner and that is when I spotted the butchery.

This pic is my car and what the bottom should look like.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...6da46b74d0.jpg


This was his car on the lift as his PPI was being performed...
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...a697a22094.jpg

Note the rubber boot isn't even installed on the flange and the whole shifter mechanism was hanging so low, they could not get the metal tunnel cover screwed on.

Obviously this shop didn't have a clue what the puck they were doing. The reason why the shifter mechanism was hanging low was because the lame brain installing the kit didn't know that he had to spin the bushings around by 180 degrees to raise the shifter tube.

So they took a Sawsall and cut the metal tunnel cover. I would not let this mechanic play with my Mechano set. lol

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...683cb58e0e.jpg

The new owner who I am still in touch with after all these years managed to get a used tunnel cover. The shop did zilch for him. Amazingly so many on the forum praised this shop's expertise. After posting this, not a single peep from any of them. lol BTW, just over $2000 for the labor alone.

Good thing it wasn't my car or the mechanic would be picking himself up off the shop floor.

It's definitely not news that trustworthy shops are hard to find. Personal integrity has gone out the window and some of these shops just try their best to get people in and out to pay the bills, giving zero fucks about their customers' cars while they're at it.

https://jalopnik.com/lazy-idiots-at-...pan-1748394648


Reminds me of this article that went around a few years ago.. :tomato:

WOW!! That's crazy!! Acura and Chevrolet will be the only ones who touch my current rides! My car has a warranty, so does my wifes. Nice to have piece of mind that the work has be recorded.

OMG. Simply incredible!

Sorry, but I trust no one. Besides, I love working on my cars and motorcycles. I have all the right tools and specialized equipment. Just think of the tools you can buy with a shop's hourly wage. The $$$ has very little to do with it; the quality of the work has everything to do with it.

I am glad I am not living in the 1850s because there would be a lot of dead bodies in my wake.

Maybe the laws change from state to state or province to province, but any work performed can be done by anyone as long as it is done as set out in the maintenance schedule. I keep all bills, etc.

As for recording work performed, I came from the aviation world and there is a log book for everything.

Yep - On my last trip to the shop the brain-dead, lazy-ass technician forgot to install the MAF sensor when he put my CAI back on. Rather than take the 3 minutes needed to take it back off and do it properly, he proceeded to forcefully screw in both screws at an angle, striping the threads on the bung and making it nearly impossible to get the screws back out. He also forgot to put the air filter on the CAI tube. (?!) Later in the week I realized he skipped a bolt on the flange where the forward pre-cat meets the jpipe. The bolt was slightly difficult to reach, so he decided to skip it. Lazy moron. The senior tech I usually use at the shop was going late on another job so they let this idiot tire swapper butcher my car. Looking for a new shop.

Not doing brakes properly should be criminal. They charge 40% more in labor and have access to internal training and data, a dealership is a business designed to make money, not hire quality technicians. One of my cars came with free oil changes for "life" which lasted until the dealer was sold. The next oil change I did and noticed they cross threaded the oil pan bolt. Seriously, the easiest service job to do for a dealership.

If you have a good service technician, do him/her (and us) a favor and share (and review yelp/google) your experiences so they get more traffic.

Here is another good one and if you've watched some of the undercover investigative shows on YouTube about oil change places and any "chain" service centers, do your own oil change if you have one of those cars without an engine oil dipstick.

On my latest car, it does not have a dipstick, so how do you know the engine oil was changed? Its not like you can pull the dipstick and see clean oil on it. Another reason for doing it myself, even though I have full confidence in my dealer.

You'd think an oil change at the dealer would be a no brainer. But getting the level right must be as tough as doing a control systems math problem for some. Duhhh!

Not the first time since this has happened before on my girlfriend's car. I'm not worried about an 1/8 inch over, but 5/8 inch over, that is a bit much.

Yup, glad I do my own maintenance! Normally I'd do it, but she paid for X oil changes when she bought the car.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...536ab1564d.jpg

There are good independent shops out there, certainly not easy to find. Once you find them hang onto them! I'm so glad I have one. They've saved me a lot of time and money. They're always busy too but will find time for me at a moment's notice. I love that they will let me into the shop anytime to look at the car and talk to the mechanics.

But do you check their work? Kind of silly really because you are paying someone to do it "right".

The reason I ask is because I have read many reports like yours above on various forums, but do the owners who write that actually know anything about automotive maintenance? And if they do not (and I am not referring to you), how do they know the work is done right? Just look at my friend that had that factory short shift kit installed (post #3) and look at the butchery.

And while I was under my girlfriend's car to check on the drops of oil in my driveway (I thought the shop didn't tighten the oil drain plug or the oil filter or maybe they reused the engine drain plug sealing washer), it was the automatic transmission drain bolt that was dripping. Now how is that in an over 7 year old car that never leaked there before but after they informed her that a transmission fluid flush was needed when she was in for an oil change (talk about up-selling)...she refused. It was a tad loose, I tightened it...no more leaks. Hmmm!

I wouldn't say I anally check to make sure it's all correct. I check what is convenient. Never had a an issue with the work. I and they both know if there was an issue I would take it back and they would fix it for free. They even installed my hfpc, jpipe, edfc and coilovers. Cash jobs great price no tax. All working great still. Actually today my car started chugging a little and idoling weird then all the lights on the dash came on. Drove straight over there when it started and called them when I was 5 minutes away. They brought it in right away hooked it up to the scanner, started switching spark plugs and coils checking compression. Everything was good. Turns out the EGR valve was stuck open. They were looking at it for over an hour and sent me on my way free of charge. That's why I like them!

I called the dealer Monday and was told to bring the car in.

Instead of pulling the drain bolt and draining some oil they decided to do an oil change free of charge. Don't know if they replaced the filter, but it was new anyways.

Still cannot figure out why they list 6 units of oil on the work order when the car takes 3.3 (they are free oil changes, otherwise I'd complain about being overcharged). They do that for all their cars the service advisor tells me. Well OK.

Dealer near me ran out of Acura synthetic. They had a whole pallet of Pepboys synthetic for all their oil changes.


Does the dealer change the bolt washer? Torque the drain bolt? Torque the oil filter? Verify that the old filter seal isn't stuck to the block? Blow out the new filter with air? Wipe down the filter seal on the block? Oil the door hinges/hatch/gas door? Add the oil to the top most line on the stick? Check the air pressure AFTER the tire rotation? Check the spare tire pressure? Check for leaks? Over tighten the filler cap?

Did the dealer use an impact wrench to tighten the key lock?????

Last but not least. Did the dealer check the oil level?

Moe Green wants an answer!!!