

Ive been a certified mechanic for over 20 years graduated from out of new york in 1993 now live in Fl after gaining enough experience I went on to open up my own shop it is the most stressful thing a man can ever put himself through.įrom dealing with code enforcement,taxes,hard to find good workers,etc…. That is the number one way we grow our community. I really appreciate when you guys share the site with others. At the top and bottom of the post, you can click the icons to share to Facebook, twitter, Stumble Upon, Reddit, and Google +. This is also a great post to share with folks. What do you guys think? Are there other ways that people can “get ripped off” by a mechanic? If so, post them in the comments below. Following the tips I gave you will eliminate most of the problems.
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If you drive at the beach your air filter may be clogged long before the owners manual recommends replacement. You may not be due for a service, but really need it. The other thing about getting ripped off is, each situation is different. If they get the diagnosis wrong, or find other issues, a good shop will work with you. Times like this is when having a good mechanic is vital. If your check engine light is on, the computer rarely says “replace this part”. I have said before that diagnosing a car is a process. Selling repairs to fix your car, that do not fix your car. I didn’t include it on the list because it requires more discussion. There is one other way people get “ripped off”. It will show that you understand the way Flat Rate works. Things like “How long will it take to complete?” “Is this a hard job to do?” “What other parts need to be removed?”. The best advice here, ask more questions. There are so many factors that play in to it. You can read more about How mechanics get paid on Flat Rate.So how do you decide what is “too much”? The truth is I don’t really know. It may take them 2 hours to complete, or 4 hours to complete.

The easy way to think about Flat Rate is, a mechanic is paid by the job, no matter how long it takes.If a mechanic does a repair that pays 3 hours, they get paid 3 hours. The sticky part comes in when we try to figure out what “too much” means. The labor time is used to create a price for the labor part of your bill. A repair is generally assigned a labor time. There is no such thing (as of 2013) as replacing headlight fluid, changing the muffler bearings, putting summer air in your tires, and who know what people come up with. If a service doesn’t sound right, ask more questions. I am not sure this type of thing really happens, but I need to talk about it. Ask to see the part, and refer to your owners book But this type of talk should send up a huge red flag! The bad part is, you may actually need the service the shop is recommending.

It is also something that happens all the time.

“If you don’t replace your air filter, your car will catch of fire” This is an extreme (and insane) example of exaggeration. Understand that sometimes parts are updated, but you can ask about that too 😉 If you are paying top dollar for factory parts, you need to be sure you are getting them. This does not really come up at the dealer level. Selling non factory parts as factory parts.Ask to see the parts, and compare to your owners book. Or selling a brake job when the car has thousands of miles left on the brakes. A mechanic recommending a tune up at 30,000 miles when it is not due until 60,000 miles. Here are the most common ways that a mechanic “rips you off” If you know how you can be ripped off, you have even more ammunition to avoid it. This is an interesting way to look at it.
