Everyone requirements a good auto mechanic from time to time. The question is where do you uncover a dependable 1?
There are numerous stories of car repair rip offs by auto mechanics that many people have trouble deciding exactly where to take their vehicles for repairs. Here will be the story about a rip off that occurred in Flagstaff, Arizona several years ago. The victims in this case had been from out of town. The radiator on their Chevrolet Suburban sprung a leak outside of Flagstaff, along with the owners had to have the automobile towed into town for repairs.
The Suburban owner dealt with a mechanic at an Exxon station in Flagstaff a couple of months earlier, and was treated fairly. The owner attempted to call exactly the same Exxon automobile mechanic to order a tow truck, but he read the wrong line inside the telephone book while looking for Exxon’s telephone quantity. When the tow truck arrived, it was from a distinct mechanic shop. Since the tow truck was there, the Suburban owner agreed to let the tow driver take the automobile to his shop.
The auto mechanic told the Suburban owner that the car necessary a radiator recore, which was when a frequent procedure. The bill came to nearly $600. The owner balked, but the mechanic assured him that was a common cost. When the Suburban owner returned residence, each and every mechanic he named said the process ought to happen to be carried out for much less than $200. Some shops would have performed it for $100.
The victim of the rip off named the Arizona Attorney General’s office to complain, but he was told that there was insufficient funds loss for the Lawyer Common to turn out to be involved. The victim gave up on the complaint, and figured he was just going to have to live with the $400 rip off. A few weeks later, the radiator sprung one more leak. This time the victim took his car to a trusted vehicle mechanic who mentioned that there had been no radiator recore installed. The only repair that the Flagstaff mechanic had performed was a spot weld at the leak, a procedure that really should not have cost far more than $20 or $30.
A pleased sidebar to this really is that the complaint towards the Arizona Attorney General helped trigger an investigation of the offending vehicle mechanic in Flagstaff. The Lawyer Common sent a vehicle with 100% operating parts to the mechanic shop. The mechanic told the undercover investigator that a number of parts needed to be replaced. The shop was fined $10,000 for trying to rip off the Lawyer General’s office. Unfortunately, the State of Arizona kept the fine cash. The victim of the Suburban rip off received no recompense.
Here are a couple of tips to help preserve you from becoming an auto repair rip off victim:
- Get an estimate in writing with details of all repairs to be done
- Be certain about what you want the mechanic to do and what you do not want the mechanic to do
- Use a mechanic you know and trust whenever possible
- If you are new to town, ask some of the locals to suggest an excellent vehicle mechanic
- Check to determine if the shop is AAA approved
- Get a written guarantee
- Follow the manufacturer’s recommended scheduled maintenance, and don’t let a car mechanic vary widely from that schedule
- Call for estimates from various shops before getting any repairs done
- Read the bill cautiously and ask about any questionable charges
Following these easy guidelines will help you stay away from a lot of of the troubles auto owners face when attempting to choose a vehicle repair shop to do organization with.
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