When you book a car in for work, how much detail do you go into?

[Daff_Duck]

Found a good mechanic about 17 years ago, have used him ever since and only go elsewhere for specialist jobs. he's a one man band now, I'd guess he is 10 years older than me, god knows what I'll do when he packs up.

Same boat here. MD are Technicians ( if it doesn’t have a fault code, they are stuffed )

The guy we use fir all our cars is a one man band, old school and has a passion for anything that is mechanical. We are just lucky we have found him I suppose, as we have over the years has some horrendous bodge jobs

 

[wesley]

I wouldn't "advise" him on more run of the mill stuff.

For instance I had him do lower arms, CV joints, drop links, ball joints, subframe bushes, etc in the past (through sheer laziness on my part) and didn't say anything at all.

But this time I sent him a message saying things like:

The rear top mount bolts may need replacing with shorter ones and they are M8x12.5.

The rear top mount holes might need a tickle with a file so the coilover assembly clears the body.

Check the rear toe and camber before deciding where to put the adjustment plates so they allow for the proper range of adjustment.

The front ABS sensors might be a fight to remove so try not to break them but its not the end of the world if you do, just unplug them and remove them.

Two wheels are 7J and two are 8J and the tyres are directional so you might want to have your morning coffee first. (This one was tongue in cheek, and he knew it.)

That sort of thing... But when fleshed out into proper sentences, and adding on things like alignment specifications and asking him to keep the caster setting in the middle, and showing him the ride height I want, it ended up as a 400 word wall of text...

After I sent it and saw just how god damn long it looked on the narrow Facebook message display I started to worry that he would read it and think "I wish this guy would just let me do my job" or whatever.

In fact I'll just show you what I sent, which ended up being longer than I intended, and prompted me to post this thread:

Spoiler

To be honest with you. If I receive this. I wouldn't want to touch your car

 

[Akagi]

To be honest with you. If I receive this. I wouldn't want to touch your car

OK, why? Are you a mechanic? Do you believe you know better? Which bit was too much in your opinion?

I wrote too much waffle but I feel like most of the stuff needed to be said, I'd normally say it in person but I didn't know if I was going to have an opportunity to speak to him.

But I did make this thread for a reason after all. I hit send and thought "Oh balls thats a bit much"

 

[wesley]

No not mechanic..I just feel your car is too personalised to touch.

 

[The Running Man]

My guy is fine, he's happy for me to get the bits.

I trust him to do the work as he sees appropriate.

In some cases I have given him some direction, for example a how to sheet for example 2zz lift bolts/ocv cleaning as I wasn't sure he'd done them before.

I guess I'm quite Fortune ive known him for 10 years and trust him.

 

[[TW]Fox]

'Hello, item XYZ doesn't work. Please can you fix it'

 

[Akagi]

No not mechanic..I just feel your car is too **** to touch.

Say what you mean.

'Hello, item XYZ doesn't work. Please can you fix it'

With a modern car with no weird quirks, sure! But I only usually take my car in for "weird" work, and its old and things get stuck and stuff isn't quite how it should be in some places.

That and you probably take your car to a specialist or the dealership, not your mate Dave who recently opened his own garage and is cheap.

 

[dacads]

Not sure how up to date but there's a list of independent specialists on PH

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=796191

Obviously doesn't mean much without doing your own research in terms of their knowledge and attitude

 

[The Running Man]

'Hello, item XYZ doesn't work. Please can you fix it'

That's fine, until you want a rear subframe polybushing...or something a bit more custom...

And I bet the local indy doesn't sit on YouTube watching the how to videos to do it quicker/without damaging anything.

 

[Holst1981]

OK, why? Are you a mechanic? Do you believe you know better? Which bit was too much in your opinion?

I wrote too much waffle but I feel like most of the stuff needed to be said, I'd normally say it in person but I didn't know if I was going to have an opportunity to speak to him.

But I did make this thread for a reason after all. I hit send and thought "Oh balls thats a bit much"

As you are asking for something unusual that he likely hasn't done before, good advice and research should help.

On the other hand I can understand most mechanics ignoring ill informed advice from armchair mechanic customers.

 

[[TW]Fox]

With a modern car with no weird quirks, sure! But I only usually take my car in for "weird" work, and its old and things get stuck and stuff isn't quite how it should be in some places.

That and you probably take your car to a specialist or the dealership, not your mate Dave who recently opened his own garage and is cheap.

It goes to the main dealer where the warranty takes care of it. But actually your points are very relevant as the reason it does this is exactly because I began to get absolutely fed up with exactly the problems which are frustrating you.

My E39 was main dealer serviced, but obviously you'd need to be absolutely made of money to take a 140k+ mile 5-12 year old 5 Series to a main dealer for diagnostic and repair work so repairs were at local 'specialists'. Where I experienced exactly the same problems as you - random part swapping - at my expense - was my favourite bugbear. The saga of the leaky radiator still haunts me to this day.

I took it in with what I suspected was a leaking radiator - with coolant dripping off the bottom corner of the radiator. No no, said the specialist, it's Random Part instead. So they replaced that. And it still leaked. Oh its Other Random Part. So another bill. Finally, its the radiator, yea, fancy that. All my expense. It became a total lottery as to whether anything would ever get properly diagnosed first time properly regardless of where I took it. It began to seriously impact on my enjoyment of the car. The problem I had was that I became, in my opinion, quite knowledgeable about the inner workings of the E39, what went wrong, why, etc etc and I felt able to accurately diagnose most things that went wrong with it. But I lack both the ability and the inclination to fix things myself and as you can imagine people who run garages are uninterested in the knowledge garnered by armchair mechanics such as myself. So they could work a spanner, I knew what was wrong, but they wouldn't be interested in my view of what was wrong because I couldn't work the spanner and who cares if he replaces the wrong parts? I still pay the bill.

In the garage trade, the worse you are at diagnostics the more money you get. Great isnt it!

So I moved to the 'throw money into the bin via BMW warranty' option which has doubtless cost me more than it ever would have done paying random people to fix the wrong stuff all the time but honestly the ownership experience is so much better now.

It seems anyone can be a 'specialist'.

 

[Akagi]

As you are asking for something unusual that he likely hasn't done before, good advice and research should help.

On the other hand I can understand most mechanics ignoring ill informed advice from armchair mechanic customers.

For sure, but when you're asking to have the subframe cut about and adjuster plates welded in with eccentric bolts and lock washers put on, etc, chucking some info I've read in a message probably isn't a bad thing.

Adding camber and toe adjustment to a car which has never had it is fairly unusual work. And I would do it myself if I a.) still owned a welder and b.) could be bothered.

With commonplace stuff like the tyres, if I don't mention that there are two different wheel widths etc he might put tyres on the wrong way round before noticing, because typically they would all be the same width.

I took it in with what I suspected was a leaking radiator - with coolant dripping off the bottom corner of the radiator. No no, said the specialist, it's Random Part instead. So they replaced that. And it still leaked. Oh its Other Random Part. So another bill. Finally, its the radiator, yea, fancy that. All my expense. It became a total lottery as to whether anything would ever get properly diagnosed first time properly regardless of where I took it. It began to seriously impact on my enjoyment of the car.

I don't think its right that the customer should have to pay for parts installed because of incorrect diagnosis, it isn't your fault. I'd have kicked up a fuss personally. Something I don't often do, as an awkward person.

 

[[TW]Fox]

With commonplace stuff like the tyres, if I don't mention that there are two different wheel widths etc he might put tyres on the wrong way round before noticing, because typically they would all be the same width.

To be fair I've never had to tell a tyre fitter which tyres go where

 

[Akagi]

To be fair I've never had to tell a tyre fitter which tyres go where

Haha OK well I guess having different wheel widths front to rear is alien to me then!

But the tyres are all the same size and they are directional tyres, so no two tyres will be going the same way round on two wheels of the same width.

The wheels are also not fitted to the car, they are in the boot, so he wouldn't be doing the usual of taking a wheel off at a time and mounting the tyre.

Thought it would be worth mentioning!

 

[[TW]Fox]

Haha OK well I guess having different wheel widths front to rear is alien to me then!

But the tyres are all the same size

Ok this is weird, probably worth mentioning, generally if the wheels are wider so too are the tyres

 

[Akagi]

Ok this is weird, probably worth mentioning, generally if the wheels are wider so too are the tyres

Yeah, I wanted to do that, but size availability of the tyre stopped that idea pretty quickly.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I don't think its right that the customer should have to pay for parts installed because of incorrect diagnosis, it isn't your fault. I'd have kicked up a fuss personally. Something I don't often do, as an awkward person

It always happens in slow motion though. You go to get it, all fixed! Great! Pay the bill and drive off happy. Oh, its still broken. Back it goes, oh this is broken as well as the other thing we replaced. Great. Then what do you do? Argue like mad for a refund which they won't accept is due as they did the work even though really we know it was useless work? Then you've lost yet another garage you can go to and suddenly there are none left. It was always a pain no matter where I went.

Meanwhile if my main dealer replaces the wrong bit it goes back in and I get another courtesy car to play with whilst they have another go and I don't get the bill*. Wonderful.

*Well I do, every single month, and of course the price is a product of the overall cost to the insurer which of course includes all this part swapping but hey, it feels better this way

 

[Akagi]

It always happens in slow motion though. You go to get it, all fixed! Great! Pay the bill and drive off happy. Oh, its still broken. Back it goes, oh this is broken as well as the other thing we replaced. Great. Then what do you do? Argue like mad for a refund which they won't accept is due as they did the work even though really we know it was useless work? Then you've lost yet another garage you can go to and suddenly there are none left. It was always a pain no matter where I went.

Meanwhile if my main dealer replaces the wrong bit it goes back in and I get another courtesy car to play with whilst they have another go and I don't get the bill*. Wonderful.

*Well I do, every single month, and of course the price is a product of the overall cost to the insurer which of course includes all this part swapping but hey, it feels better this way

One day I'll have a car with warranty...

looks wisfully off into the distance

To be honest, in the past when I've kicked up a fuss, I don't go back there again because I feel too awkward having been, in their eyes, the "difficult" customer previously! No idea if they would actually care, or even remember!

 

[[TW]Fox]

To be honest, in the past when I've kicked up a fuss, I don't go back there again because I feel too awkward having been, in their eyes, the "difficult" customer previously! No idea if they would actually care, or even remember!

And this is the problem. It's not like they do it on purpose, so they'd be sufficiently offended that its another place off the list. Its just how it always seems to work..

You don't need a new car for warranty btw, my F10 has just had its 5th birthday

 

[Akagi]

And this is the problem. It's not like they do it on purpose, so they'd be sufficiently offended that its another place off the list. Its just how it always seems to work..

You don't need a new car for warranty btw, my F10 has just had its 5th birthday

If I walk into BMW and try and apply for warranty on my E30 this is what would happen: