About a decade ago, i came to the conclusion that i do not trust mechanics. My old falcon spent one week a month at the Ford dealership being repaired, and then something else would break that should have been obvious for them last time the car was in the shop.
So when i bought my current falcon it was new, i was giving it to a local mechanic that was honest and easy to get along with. however i had a rough idle problem that he could not diagnose, and it went back to the ford dealer as they had the computers, they could resolve the issue. They took my money, did injector clean, plugs, leads, oils. I asked the question "what did the computer say?, did it bring up the fault?" The service manager said "no, it was all clear" "but it was the injectors, the problem is gone" so great, here is the better part of a thousand dollars for all the mechanical work, drive it home, seems ok, in the morning, the problem is back
So when i called the back to say, the problem is still there the response i received was "thats common in the sports model, they all do that" Take my money, not fix my problem and then tell me there is no problem
So i hated my car, the rough idle, i couldnt sell it becuase i owed too much money on it. So my love for it was wiped away, until i was told from my mate some 7 years later that his work mates one didnt have that problem. At this point, cheap OBD scanners were availiable, bought one, plugged it in, found a cam sensor fault, replace the sensor, the car is like new !!!
Why is it that my honest mechanic and the ford dealership didn't pick this up? Laziness? perhaps with my honest mechanic, but at Ford, i am guessing, they put into the machine possible faults "injector clean" and the apprentice did an injector clean, rather than someone troubleshooting the problem. They have KPI's to meet and just want to pump them out quickly.
My mother had been paying for mechanics to service her Nissan TIIDA, and they would do the plugs/filters etc. 300,000kms later the car is sluggish and not running properly. A new mechanic pluged in the tool, and found the coil packs were faulty. So he started to pull it apart only to find that the original nissan plugs were still in the car, burn out and that had cooked the cables around the coils. She had been charged for plugs at least 4 times, and they were not done, that could be becuase the entire intake needed to be removed to replace the plugs and it was a big job. However, that laziness and charging for something not done, is what cost her alot more money
My friend knows my view on mechanics, and he crapped on about how good his mechanic was, and how he takes care of locals, and checks tyre pressures on the spare tyres as well and he does everything but cook you a baked dinner. I said, "well, i am glad you have found a good one, but you can save some money (as money was tight for them), do these things yourself" no, i was told how great he was. UNTIL - his brake fluid boiled going through the city, had to make an emergency stop at a mechanic with his car loaded up with the kids, only to find the brake fluid was old and dirty, and suggested it had never been replaced. I dont know if he was charged, but charged or not. His great mechanic inability to check these things meant that his family were on the side of the road for a basic thing.
I just heard last weekend an apprentice was caught with a coffee filter pouring old oil back into a car filtering the gunk.
Now, you might have a genuine great mechanic, or you might have been lucky to have no problems with your car. But everyones Mechanic is wonderful until it is exposed that they have not done the simplest of maintenance which has caused unecessary problems.
If you have a great mechanic, please recommend them, If you have a mechanic who has done a poor job, or you have been caught out, TELL EVERYONE.
We need to get mechanics to stand by their work. If they do a good thorough service and checks, you shouldn't have problems. Maybe there should be service tabs, that are on all resovoirs, so you can look and see when it was last replaced, and you mechanic can see this too.
Or you can do what i do, replace these items myself. I know then that it is done, and i have not paid money to a mechanic in the hope he has done it.
Cheers
Mike
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