why NOT to let someone else work on your truck

[84CUCV]

its cold and there is snow. i needed a oil change and some other small things. i thought for this time what the heck just get it done. go to this place my friends girl goes to.

My oil is way over filled. no grease fitting was touched. plastic clip for the fuel filter was just ripped in 1/2 to put the new filter in real fast. of course i look at this after i get home. a$$holes, why bother?? im going to say there is 2 quarts of oil to much in the crank case. 2 full quarts?? i have a gone over a bit but that a lot.


lesson learned. im going to call the Manager just bust balls. dumb people

 

[yellowK20]

Yeah I hate those oil change places they have some real idiot bottom feeders working in alot of those places

 

[Dabba]

gotta find a good mechanic man and keep going to him only. I have one, though i like to do my work myself. Though i think during the winter im gonna bring to truck to him, think i just blew the engine, or the rear main at least..

 

[sweetk30]

i have a good customer base at the shop i work at that ask for me only.

 

[Clod_King]

Yeah that blows man.

I brought my car to a supposedly reputable mechanic to get my brake lines done. And when I crawled under the car to check out the job, some of my fittings were still loose...

Either way I tightened them up, and found other things. Overall a shotty job, that I could've done better. So no more mechanics for me.

 

[4-play]

Always do it yourself. You can trust no-one.. If you dont know how, search it on the internet. JMO

 

[ryoken]

not to mention, on old stuff, your gonna get raped...

I had a buddy like that.. bought a Chevelle, didn't want to learn to fix it himself, and everything cost him a FORTUNE... in the end, the car turned into a POS cuz he had different shops working on it...

I farm NOTHING out...

 

[howdiy]

After hearing stories told by mechanics I could never have someone else fix something

 

[Dabba]

After hearing stories told by mechanics I could never have someone else fix something

?? like?

 

[jonrpick]

The thought behind this thread is the whole reason I'm on CK5 (or any other forum).

Where to begin?!?!?!

Let's see...

1. Alternator went out. Me and the Pep Boys manager argued (based on the symptoms) over whether it was a voltage regulator problem or not. He replaced a blown fusable link, I said it'd just blow again. He laughed. He started the K5, it blew. 8 hrs later, I finally have a new alternator. If I'd known the regulator was internal in the alternator, I would've just bought a new unit and did it in the parking garage at work.

2. Installed crate 350 after the 305 started to age (mistake--should've just put new head gaskets on and called it good). 350 has NEVER run right. The guy that put it in was apparently unable to tune a Q-Jet on a 350. I'm taking matters into my own hands.

3. Rebuilt rear axle starts to make noise--or so I thought. Pep Boys (different location/state) says it's toast, along with the t-case. I rebuild the rear axle. While it's apart, I realize that NOTHING is wrong. Replaced t-case with used/rebuilt unit.

4. TV cable hold-down bolt breaks off in tranny while I'm trying to replace it. Mr. Transmission says they tried to drill and re-tap, but the tranny case just "disintegrated". What? So, a rebuild is out of the question. Instead, a used one is rebuilt--for twice the money. Fockers.

5. K5 starts shaking... Can't figure out why, but I suspect a tire. Take it to Expert Tire (Expert huh?). They rotate and balance, and call it good. .000001 miles out of the parking lot it's shaking REALLY bad. I pull into a gas station. Right rear lug nuts are just started on the threads--not actually tightened down. Just so happens that every time I parked it, I had the bad spot of the tire pointed down. The tread had separated. Somehow in the balancing / rotating process the "Experts" at Expert Tire had failed to see this. They gave me a brand-new tire at cost and replaced my ruined wheel studs and lugs nuts on their dime.

I could go on.

This all happened on the K5, between 2002 and 2006.

Don't even get me started on the asshattery I've dealt with on my other cars.

 

[udy2554]

I live in a small town. My wife and I have a great local mechanic that always treats us well. All the work on my wife's Subaru is done by him. We buy our regular tires from the same shop. I'm no mechanic, but all the info that is available on CK5, or on-line, or in the Haynes/Chiltons has helped me do ALL the work on my Blazer. Again, I'm no mechanic, but I'm learning, learned alot, and am quite proud of the work that I've done. I can't wait to rebuild my first motor myself!

Thanks to all you out there on CK5, for your info, support, and priceless help!!!!

 

[Burbdood 74]

I do all the work on my Suburban and my 72 Ventura myself. I don't trust any mechanics in this town. My wife's car is a prime example shady mechanics. She has a 96 Grand Am and I can't work on it for crap. You have to have arms the size of pipe cleaners to get to anything on it. We took it to a shop a few months ago because the intake manifold gasket blew out on it. We get it back and suddenly the radiator is bad. She sent it in because we don't have a garage and it was -20 out. Got it back and the alt. went bad. I fixed that and now it idles at a lovely 3000 rpm's in park.

Me-thinks sabotage but I can't prove it because that car only has 112,000 on it and it ran like new until we took it to that shop. If you can do the work yourself, do it, or be prepared to shell out a ton of money.

 

[toomany]

I live in a small town, there are 3 auto repair shops and there was a quicke oil change place. I do all the work for the people I work with...plus the other bar in town. I also get tons of work by word of mouth. No one trusts 2 of the shops...the other does great work, but they are always busy.

A couple years back I took my moms Camaro into the quicke lube place (we were going out of town and wanted to get it done fast). As I'm sitting in the drivers seat reading a Summit catalog, the "mechanic" comes up to the window with a dip stick. Now this dip stick is about 8" long, I have no idea what it came from but it wasn't from anything an that car. He tells me that it's from the rear end and that the fluid level looks low and I should probably have it changed. I camly put my Summit down and say "Ok ****wad, I know that dip stick didn't come from my car, I know for a fact that isn't gear oil on it either (looked to be ATF). I know my way around a vehicle, so why don't you finish changing my oil and go get you manager." I got the service done for free, plus a bunch of free carwash tokens. They offerd some free service coupons...but I told them I was never coming back again. When I got home I checked the oil/filter, they never even changed the filter. I was pissed. Atleast they got the correct ammount of oil in it though.

 

[nchinca]

I do all the work on my cars and trucks myself. The only things I do not do are exahust work abd tires. I take those to guys I know and trust. I have paid extra for some of it, but I trust their judgement and they KNOW what they are doing.

I have now also started looking up parts myself on the internet and just walk into Autozone and Kragen armed with the numbers I need. This came from trying to get a part for a Chevy 350 and having to explain to the parts kid that it would be the equivalent of 5.7 liters after I got the deer in the headlights look from him. I have gotten into a few arguments with parts guys when they tell me the part I am fixin does not exist - even though I am holding the old one!

There is no more customer service unless you are willing to spend the extra money to go to a small place - which I now am.

 

[jt512]

Like the old saying goes............................. " If you want it done right, do it yourself!"

 

[bodacious]

This came from trying to get a part for a Chevy 350 and having to explain to the parts kid that it would be the equivalent of 5.7 liters after I got the deer in the headlights look from him.

I've gotten that same look from some of the MORONS at the parts counter, too. It's like they have no idea about cubic inches. All they know is liters. And they know even less about old trucks/cars. The Advanced Auto in my town is the worst, I hate going in there for parts. Hell, it takes 15 minutes to get in and out of there with just oil and filter.

I do all of the work on my stuff, all that I can anyway. I do have a buddy who runs a shop at his house. He does all the stuff that's over my head, which isn't too often. He's going to install my 4.56s and I'm going to watch/help so I can learn how, since I have never done it.

My wife uses one of those "quickie lube" places. I keep telling her to let me know when she's due an oil change, and I'll do it, but it always seems to fall when I off shore. I tell her that it will be OK to let it go over a little until I get home. The TV commercials have that 3000 mile oil change mess etched in her brain. So far though, the place she uses hasn't goofed up.....yet.

 

[imiceman44]

I do all the work on my Suburban and my 72 Ventura myself. I don't trust any mechanics in this town. My wife's car is a prime example shady mechanics. She has a 96 Grand Am and I can't work on it for crap. You have to have arms the size of pipe cleaners to get to anything on it. We took it to a shop a few months ago because the intake manifold gasket blew out on it. We get it back and suddenly the radiator is bad. She sent it in because we don't have a garage and it was -20 out. Got it back and the alt. went bad. I fixed that and now it idles at a lovely 3000 rpm's in park.

Me-thinks sabotage but I can't prove it because that car only has 112,000 on it and it ran like new until we took it to that shop. If you can do the work yourself, do it, or be prepared to shell out a ton of money.

When I was younger I remember that happening with my dad, he used to do all his repairs like me now, but then he got tired so he started taking it to a mechanic, and funny but after the first time, he had to go backk all the time because mysteriously something wrong happened after every trip to this guy, and then one day, our neighbor who had the same kind of car had a bad rear axle so my dad sent him to his mechanic, the next day our car is missing the rear axle.
After a few days it all became clear and the mechanic was cought steeling other parts fromcustomer's cars to fix other customers cars.

 

[udy2554]

HTML]I do all the work on my Suburban and my 72 Ventura myself[/html]

What are the odds the Ventura has the shaker scoop on it? I don't remember if it was later (73 or 74) and on the GTO only? I love those cars. I am, or was, a Pontiac nut. I've only owned 2 cars since 1984. As a teen, I had a 70 1/2 455TA with the RockCrusher 4-speed and a Hurst T-top shifter, lots of money in that one! Got rid of it with a blown motor in '88 or so. THen in'06, had an '01 WS6 6-speed TA with the Ram Air and Hurst shifter. Got rid of that so as to survive my 40's.

Put some pics of it up.

Sorry for the hijack!!!

 

[dyeager535]

I'm to the point of taking old wheels/tires into the store myself to have them changed, instead of having the shop take the wheels off the car.

Had my car serviced by a shop (to keep from having any warranty questions later on) and they rotated the tires.

Had a flat afterwards, damn lucky the stock lug nut wrench was of the right shape that I could stand on it. Pretty obvious they didn't torque it to spec. And I *know* that using an impact gun is the norm in shops for putting tires on. Just wish they would credit me for my labor since I don't make them pull and reinstall the wheels!

 

[udy2554]

I'm to the point of taking old wheels/tires into the store myself to have them changed, instead of having the shop take the wheels off the car.

Had my car serviced by a shop (to keep from having any warranty questions later on) and they rotated the tires.

Had a flat afterwards, damn lucky the stock lug nut wrench was of the right shape that I could stand on it. Pretty obvious they didn't torque it to spec. And I *know* that using an impact gun is the norm in shops for putting tires on. Just wish they would credit me for my labor since I don't make them pull and reinstall the wheels!

I hear you on that!! The shop I buy my tires from, over does it with the impact gun. The one time I asked them to use a torque wrench, I watched him actually rocking my whole truck bouncing on the wrench!! The spec was 88ft/lbs. It turns out he had the wrench set at 135lbs., but didn't want the lug nuts to come free! ANy how, I now go home, back off the nuts, (with a breaker bar!) Then retorque them. I now go about 5-10lbs. over spec to account for any stretch he added to the lugs. I think that torque wrench is probably f*cked for any kind of practical usage!