{EAV:7c2f2558908d5dce} MECA Car Services South-West: Car repair scams exposed!

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Car repair scams exposed!

First let me start off by saying that not all mechanics or car repair garages are crooks who are out to get you. Mechanics and garage owners for the most part are just trying to make a living just like you. Granted, I will be the first to agree that some mechanics-come-garage-owners are poor business people, and some of the mistakes they have made are due to this fact.

Most mechanics just like to work on cars, running an honest and profitable garage is usually not on their priority list. I have a lot of respect for competent, honest, highly skilled mechanics and I am extremely fortunate to have a whole team of them. Working on modern vehicles demands unprecedented talent and training, and I’m of the opinion that an advanced computer science degree wouldn’t hurt either! I mean, have you looked under the bonnet of a car lately? A career at NASA could be a stepping stone to diagnosing some issues that we often come across!

Alas, there are a few cowboys still out there who perpetuate stereotypes. They know all the old mechanic scams and routinely sell premature or unnecessary parts and services. It is bad enough they bleed you for extra money wherever they can, but these peeps are also messing with your car. Whether that is by design or incompetence, you could face more repairs, a breakdown or even, heaven forbid, an accident.

Running a garage business is like most other businesses - it is hard work! We have heaps of regulation and laws to conform to, lots of expenses in keeping our equipment and our staff updated, and high insurance and related overhead costs.

As you read the examples I am about to give, please keep this in mind.

Emergency oil leak
You're loading your groceries into your car when a Good Samaritan walks up and says, "Hey, take a look at this!" as he points to an oily spot under your engine. Being a guy who knows a little about cars he tells you he spots an oil leak and you're lucky to have found it before you suffered engine damage. He then recommends a very trustworthy garage that he's been using for years, close by. You thank the good man, take it to his recommended garage, and the oil leak is repaired before real engine trouble arises. Sounds great, except the Good Samaritan squirted oil onto your engine, and the nice garage owner is his cohort in deception. In other words, you got scammed!

Special offers
Don't be fooled by some "Service & MOT" special offers! Now I am not saying there are not good deals to be had out there, indeed we occasionally have seasonal special offers ourselves. However, please be cautious, as you do not always get what it says on the tin! I wouldn't take my pet cat to a doctor to get her checked over, I'd take it to a vet, a specialist in animals. There is good reason why some traditional sayings are passed on through generations - because they are true. In this case, you get what you pay for and often, for example, the service turns out to be just an oil & filter change, a long scary list of costly repairs apparently needing to be done….and nothing more!

Premature shock/strut replacement
Sooner or later, you’ll need to replace your car’s shock absorbers or struts. The mechanic scam here is when “sooner” is pushed too hard. So my advice here is: do a little pushing of your own! The old bounce test on your bumper in many cases is still in my opinion a reliable way to tell if your shocks or struts are really bad, but also pay close attention while driving.

If the car is like a bobble-head doll after hitting bumps, or it pitches and rolls in slow corners, or it is noticeably unable to quietly absorb all but the slightest imperfections, then it’s probably time.

Worn shocks are one thing and can be an advisory item for the future. Leaking shocks are quite another however, and will be a reason to fail an MOT test.

Engine treatments
This mechanic scam often comes up at oil change places, but it’s also at some garages and they’re on store shelves too. The pitch is that by adding just a little of the product to the oil, the engine will run like new. Between my own experience and the expertise of my boys as well as from other mechanics I know, results are mixed.

Personally, I am not a lover of engine treatments. They may not necessarily harm your engine, but the benefits, if any, seem minimal and temporary at best. For example, if the idea is to quieten noisy lifters or a big end (if you’ll pardon the expression), you may have bigger issues not to be ignored.

Fuel treatments on the other hand are a wonderful invention. They have obvious and immediate effects on your engine’s fuel economy and performance. Fuel is generic after all, whereas engines require specific grades of oil where additives may change the manufacturer’s specification of oil.

Timing belt (cambelt) replacement intervals
A broken timing belt could cost you a recovery bill, a good walk to a pay phone for help, and possible internal engine damage that can cost you big time and take days to repair. Despite what people think, the timing belt is not always visible and should be replaced as a minimum by the mileage of or age of the car, whichever comes sooner, and not what the belt looks like.

Don’t get talked into having the timing belt changed just because of an assumed ignorance or from scare mongering because of the horror stories you hear about ruined engines and huge repair bills. Check your car’s handbook and use this as a guide. If it states to replace the timing belt at 72,000 miles or 6 years, for example, then don't wait any longer! If you bought the car second-hand and do not have the service record showing timing belt replacement, my advise would be to have it replaced, at least at the mileage the manufacture recommends and not to take a chance on assumed replacement by the previous owner. And please - get a quote first. Some timing belt changes take around 2½ hours to do. Others can take 8 or 9 hours. All should include changing the belt and tensioner and good practice is to change the (visible) alternator belt at the same time.

Premature brake pads/discs replacement
The mechanic’s not lying: You do need fully functional brakes, and the discs and pads  are often found to be worn and not at their peak thickness levels. But think about it. Technically, “peak thickness” only exists upon installation; everything after that is compromised. So, don’t ignore your brake system by any means, but also be aware of what does and doesn’t happen when you use them.

If there’s truly a legitimate issue, address it. If not, don’t get taken by this mechanic scam and spend money prematurely. Ask by how much they are worn as an approximate percentage and roughly how much mileage you have left in them. Often, a simple brake service will suffice which will clean off any corrosion and lubricate the moving parts to give you many more months of effective braking.

Servicing new cars still in warranty
Did you know that in October 2003, changes in European legislation meant that it is possible to have your car serviced at an independent garage without invalidating your manufacturer's warranty? This legislation is referred in the trade as Block Exemption Regulations and gives you the freedom to choose who should look after you car. The Office of Fair Trading reports that the average service costs £199 at a typical main dealer, whereas an independent garage average is £116 without any apparent difference in quality. Our own services start at even less than that at around £95!


Most garages that I know of do not possess a crystal ball to see into your car's future, so please do not hold us accountable for making precise time estimates for how long things will last if you neglect them. I get asked most days "If I don't replace the timing belt today how many miles do you think I can get out of it?" In 1987 the manufacturer of the Challenger space shuttle’s fuel rocket o-rings were probably asked the same question!

So my message is this. Stay alert and be aware of these mechanic scams some may try to run past you. But let the garage do their job. My primary goal as a garage owner is to keep your car running safely and to help you understand the repairs required and why. We will not carry out unnecessary work and regularly send customers away telling them, for example, that they’ve got six months left on their brake discs, or you’ll hear me say “We like wheel bearings to be a lot noisier than that before we’ll change them!”

One of the first actions I took when I started running MECA Services was to join the Good Garage Scheme which, among others things, gives you the customer the opportunity to give independent feedback on us the garage for a change. We are also a member of The Best of Exeter which promotes the best businesses in the local area using recommendations - word of mouth.

It is a start. All feedback is independently collated and published by the two organisations on their respective websites so that potential customers can view the testimonials given when considering whether to trust us with their car. Hopefully my customers do not drive off feeling as if they’ve been ripped off or scammed, and they will tell their friends about the wonderful service they have received from Exeter’s only lady owned, award winning garage!

The Best of Exeter       http://www.thebestof.co.uk/local/exeter
Good Garage Scheme   http://www.goodgaragescheme.co.uk/

3 comments:

Unknown said...

There has been a lot of instances, where my friends has been tricked by other repairman which in turn made their car more prone to accidents, and that is why I have recommended them to a trusty car repair (Indianapolis, IN based shop), since based on my judgment, I haven't encountered any problems with them.

In our place of Indianapolis, auto repair are quite abundant and they perform at their best to serve the motorists.

taxi driver reporting said...

Thanks for the awesome post. Looking forward to staying current with your website

Erin Fred said...

Thanks for the post. Every type of people live in this world in every industry.
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