Tell Us Your Dodgy Stories or Prices You Been quoted/had to Pay for your vehicle...

the ute was running a getrag and was stuffed so went to a place to get a T5 put in ended up costing me $2500 which i thought wasnt too bad as it was pretty much a conversion. after a week i got the ute back
-no dust cover over
-modified the getrag bracket to fit the t5 (gearbox was bouncing when going over bigish bumps)
-it had no weights on it so there was alot of vibration
-had no reverse lights

lets just say i wasnt happy i took it back they fixed the reverse lights and put a dust cover on but thats all apparently didnt have any t5 brackets in stock!?
so found one and my mate who does most of the work on the ute installed it for me (only reason he couldnt do the gearbox is he was at uni and i needed it done to get to work)

 

oh hahaha thats right the dust cover was rubbing on the flywheel in my ss, so they removed it, they said it would cool my clutch and fly wheel better hahahahahaha i asked if the extra rocks and dirt i collect would help polish the surfaces XD

 

Last year my sister wanted her brake pads changed on her Getz, the mechanic wanted $300 to do the front pads, so i done them for free and cost $40 for the pads

 

I agree with the mechanic bashing comment from earlier. Half the examples Ive read in here sound reasonable quotes to me (I work in a workshop, in parts not a mechanic). Just because you can ring around and source a similar part for 10% cheaper from your cousins mates fathers parts shop across town doesnt mean your quote was a rip off. Mechanics are not a charity, they are a business. Businesses are there to make money. Of course if you can get something across town for trade price from a mate or a re-cond one its going to be cheaper. As for the comments re: mechanics breaking **** and then asking you to pay for parts, its fair call in lots of cases (not all). Have you guys never worked on cars before? Sometimes **** is worn and breaks. Why should the workshop be responsible for paying for it just because they were the ones that happened to touch it when it broke.
Please note Im not saying ALL of you are wrong, I realise some places rip people off but some of the stories on here are just people having a sooky whinge.

 

when the exhaust fell apart on the vr i went to the bordertown exhaust place for a quote on a 2.5" redback no resi and was told it would cost about $400 just for the exhaust, so went home and rang horsham exhaust and got quoted $190 with no resi $210 with resi or $350 with resi fitted, i went for no resi and fitted it my self.

 

my side business has pretty much turned into a tech labour company..... im surviving because of the amount of shops doing a crap job and alienating customers, it really has to stop.

Your few examples, JB hifi quoting people $60-100 to install a headunit in a car, then another $40-50 per set of speaker installed (if done with the head unit.)

So your thinking.... well if thats the going rate they'd have all the right tools and do a good job.

Unfortunately not, I saw a few jobs come out of there with cut solder jobs (sign of a dodgey install, a lot of them didnt even have the flux cleaned off the solder).

When I bought my WRX was told it had been professionally installed by jb hifi over in sydney... I was like uh crap so the wiring harness has been cut.

Oh no.... we asked the guy at jb if they did that and he said they didnt..... asked if they could check, nah sorry dont know how to check but have the reciept to prove it.

an hour after bought my wrx (slipped my mind to check so flew over with a decent usb headunit).

Was freaking spewing when I pulled the headunit out to see what adapter they'd put in so I could plug mine in with no dramas.... and low and behold all I find are uncovered wires (most of the electrical tape had fallen off)..... call the previous owner and im like yeah they did a cut solder job.... not happy and get told..... they told us they didnt do that.... they also said the car's antenna was too weak and we needed to buy an external antenna upgrade to make the radio work......

Stopped at jaycar in katoomba bought a cigarette adapter soldering iron, de-soldered the headunit.... built a conversion cable with $2.00 worth of cables and installed my headunit to find one spare wire didnt recognise..... looked up on my phone and found out within 30 seconds it was the antenna POWER wire.... wired that in and instantly had crystal clear radio... emailed the jbhifi that did the install and asked for a please explain.... never got one.

Thanks to that and seeing lots of people getting ripped off in adelaide been doing this as part of my side business..... I honestly cant see how anyone can charge more than $50-80 and justify it.... and thats with 1 hour labour included to install it and using a universal harness so your not doing a bodge job thats 100% secure.

I still remember when I had my first holden the VR and being told by this fat guy at strathfield before I had my trade (well what got me into it).... that oh it would be $100 to install my headunit.... you see some idiot cut the harness off to wire in a headunit.... asking him how can it be that much.... oh we need to locate what the wires are, strip them recoat them all complicated you see.....

Oh then what?..... oh its complicated we can book you in today do you want some new speakers with it we've got these great sony xplod...

it has them on the back parcel shelf and my mate who use to own the car said they were crap.... back to the wiring of the headunit... surely you just need to know the wire colours can you sell me a book that has it in there?

Sorry trade secret mate no one will give you that info

Um my father said it would be in the gregorries book but would be easier to have you guys do it and shouldnt cost that much because its only a few minutes work.

Nah he's wrong $100 is a good price thats a special price for you.


And that gentlemen is how I found justcommodores.com.au and joined. first site that had the wiring colours on google

 

I agree some mechanics can deliberately rip off people, and some are just plain stupid and shouldnt be employed. The vast majority though are just employees, doing a job that they are trained to do. They have nothing to do with billing, they just write down how many hours they worked on your car.

Sure, everyone has a horror story of bad stuff that has happened to them. I've had bad experiences shopping at Coles too, but its pretty rare.

If you go to anywhere with a decent reputation, you will find they cost more. Thats because time is money and they take the time to do the job properly. Thats how they get a good reputation. Of course if greasy harry down the corner offers a great deal, and you are happy with his work, go for it.

Its no good complaining because a mechanic takes 2 hours at $60 an hour so the job cost $120 more than it would have if you did it yourself. Most of the solutions offered here say exactly that.. 'I could have bought this part and that part and fitted it myself for a fraction of the cost'.

Yes, you could have. How very unreasonable of the mechanic to want to be paid for his time when you could have done it for free.

Yes, sometimes extra parts are fitted that you may feel weren't needed. Usually you are asked first anyway, you can always say no? The mechanic probably wants to make sure the car remains fixed.. you want a fuel pump, he'll also install a couple filters and maybe replace a hose that shows sign of wear.

You might think its unnecessary, he is just covering his arse. If a hose starts leaking a week after he fixes your fuel pump, guess who is going to get the blame? And if he does screw up, are you able to say you never have? So long as he fixes the mistake, its all good in my view.

You have two choices. You find a mechanic who you believe is doing a good job, and pay the going rate, or you buy a Gregorys and do it yourself.

 

I wanted lube mobile to come and swap my ignition barrel and code the new tumblers to my key and they quoted me $312 over the phone so I thought thats not too bad and I can sit at home all day too and he arrived and was insistent that if he put in a new barrel i would need a new key/head and new door locks and have the whole lot recoded lol. Can't believe he was a mechanic. sent him packing went and bought some graphite powder and got a new key cut and its been ok so far...

 

^ that reminds me of the RAA and reason im not with them...... when i had my VR my ignition barrel broke one night....... tried to bypass but couldnt. was at servo next to my sisters house in st marys (south adelaide) and im in modbury.

Called up told yeah not to worry will have someone out to you in 30m.

45m passes and I see a RAA van.... it comes up to the servo and doesnt pull in keeps going.

Call RAA apologises tells me that someone else had a higher priority.... they have now put me at the top of the que. 25m later I see another RAA van.... i try and flag it down and it speeds past... I call up..... oh sorry that had to go to someone with a higher priority....... tell them the girl put me at the top of the list....... oh she did too dont know why they ignored you. I cant send you anyone now he was the last one in south adelaide section. Nearest one is an hour away.

I tell her to send him and spend an hour and thirty minutes waiting..... he finally gets there i tell him the problem show him ID and my rego for the car and just tell him to bypass it, i'll get a new ignition barrel the next day.

Nah cant do that, how do you know thats the problem he goes..... I tell him my trade what happens...... and he's like nah you dont know im a professional let me look at it.

i've already got the wheel to the barrel dismantled I show him and he's like...... looks at it like he has no idea whats going on.

I explain that the car has had the immobilizer deactivated by the key, its just a jammed ignition barrel so if you do a manual by pass to start the car i'll be fine to limp home.

-Oh no I cant do that...

why cant you.

-I dont know if your the real owner of the car.

Heres my license and my rego.

-yeah but nah im not allowed to

what if i had left my keys inside

-i'd undo the door and get you in

how is that differant from this

-im not allowed to show someone how to steal a car

its not stealing a car your just manually starting it....... and you can make sure i dont watch.

he finally calls it in and says he objects to it and they tell him to do it...... he goes to the engine bay fiddles around a bit looking like he has no idea what to do
demands i sit in the car and not watch..... i then hear him on the phone asking for directions on what to do...... lots of swearing. He then comes back and gives me this bs story about how my VR has serious problems blah blah blah.... he can only start it on the LPG.

im thinking its cold..... i have to work in 7 hours and I just want to limp this car to my mechanic. Can you just start it.

Car starts sounds horrible doing it....... next morning at work I get a call from my mechanic asking what the hell happened to it...... apparently the RAA guy fiddled with everything (my mechanic had only serviced it a week before)....... damaged cables busted a few things.... unplugged a few things and did a bypass my mechanic was telling me was dangerous. Told me to send the bill to the RAA and have the guy fired.

Got him to email some pictures to them..... called them at work and couldnt get through to anyone...... so sent in an email at work....... went and picked up my car to be told the only thing that had gone wrong with it was the ingition barrel...... $60 to fix..... came with 2 new key fobs which we transferred the old keys on to, the rest of the repairs cost me another $120 of my mechanics labour and parts to be replaced..... sent that part of the bill to the RAA.

No response..... sent it again

6 weeks later I get a letter from them.

Loyal customer, blah blah blah

bad things happen to us at the worst of times blah blah blah

"we understand that you experienced a minor inconvenience with a longer then expected callout response where your assistance was slightly late"


No mention of the hours waited..... the RAA vans that went past...... and no mention of settling the bill from the damage the RAA guy caused, sent them tons of letters about it and not one response to them or an email..... and when I went to visit them I was told unless I was renewing my membership or purchasing an insurance policy no one in the office could help me.

So when they sent me a letter a year later asking why I didnt want to renew my membership.... I sent them the bill again with a copy of my mechanic's bill and a copy of the letter they sent me and a copy of the official complaint made against them with no response.

And as per RAA fashion...... this was met with..... no response.

And this week they had the balls to send me another renewal form for a membership lol

 

Yeah, lube mobile is funny like that, with them it seems to totally be down the the mechanic on the day. I always ask for te same bloke, had another bloke come one day and he was good but ridiculously slow and wanted to talk more than work, costing me a big whack in labour.

 

I just took my mechanic a 4kg slab of sirloin steak.

When his wife had her 3rd baby i made sure there was a giant bunch of flowers in her room.

Every christams for the last three years i have had a bbq at his shop before he shuts for holidays.

 

Clearly there will be no carbon tax in any government I lead.

 

Mate, I don't know what the #### you're on.


Sent from here, so you can read it there via iPhone.

 

Well, I have had a few good stories over the years.

I once had a master cylinder spring in a Triumph 2500PI fail. Clutch sort of worked, but smoothly took up again after being pushed in as fluid leaked past the cup.

The Triumph dealer could supply, but needed to get it in. Cost would have been $1.25, but being Christmas, I didn't have the time to wait. Went to a brake/clutch specialist, who said that the spring was not available, but he could sell me a new master cylinder for $180. Knocked his offer back, but noticed from his parts book that the same master cyclinder was fitted to a Hillman. Went to the local Valiant dealer, and found a box of the needed springs on the spare parts counter at $0.70.

I once had a F**d Fairmont Ghia. The pressure switch on the power steering rack started to leak, spraying fluid all though the engine bay. The local dealer quoted two hours labour plus parts. I bought the switch, and stared intently at the broken switch for about two minutes. Got a 14mm spanner, but it could not undo the switch as there was not enough room around it. Got a motorcycle 14mm spanner that I had. Undid the switch, and put the new one in. Time taken: 5 minutes all up, including the two minutes I wasted trying to figure out why it was going to take so long.

 

Lubemobile are hit and miss.

Alternator dies in the parents 4wd and they called lube mobile out, no problems.

Fuel pump in wife's barina died, lube mobile came out and replaced fuel pump. After that fuel guage not working. They got called out another three times to fix it but didn't get anywhere. Went to fill up with fuel and was rewarded with fuel pissing out all over the floor. Not happy. Called lube mobile again and was basically told to suck it up because all of their mechanics were busy and other customers had priority. After 10 minutes of heated discussion and me reminding the manager that if it wasn't for their incompetence then I wouldn't be on the phone, all of a sudden a mechanic was available and turned up within 5 minutes.

The young bloke takes fuel pump out and puts it back in and starts hammering away with a wooden mallet. He reckons they are a bit tight to get in and need a bit of persuasion when i asked him wtf is he doing.

A week later when I filled up again, another fuel leak. This time I drove the car to my regular mechanic and they pulled the fuel pump out. The lubemobile had bashed away at the tank and royally farked up the lip that the fuel pump drops and clips into. Also several clips were broken. Mechanics used pliers to straighten it out and reinstall fuel pump. All good now but they have told me if it develops another leak, they are going to be hitting lubemobile up for the cost of a new fuel tank.

 

Yep heard lots of similar storys with lube mobile. Ive been lucky. There all I use now but you have to be cautious with them. At least the bonus is you can watch over what there doing and question them if you think somethings sus.

 

I'll never be using them again personally.

Father in law called them out for a service on his magna and some repairs (can't remember what they were as this is going back nearly 5 years). Basically at the end of the day the mechanic was left with a few bolts left over and a part he couldn't figure out how to fit. Father in law hit the roof when presented with the bill and an unfinished job, got on the phone to lubemobile and ended up with another guy in who redid the job.

The mechanic I go to now is great - I'd rather pay the cost of towing my car there rather than let lubemobile touch it!

 

Got a quote for a new oem clutch from holden for 3.5k incl labour.
My local brake and clutch service quoted 1100 w/ labour included.
Rort much?

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Also 350 for a service. (oil change)

Cost me 50 for 6L of oil and 8 for a new filter. Grand total to do it myself was $58 and an hour of my time lol

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