THIS IS the kind of stuff that pisses me off

[CAP1]

While we are talking machanics, anybody know any good, honest, and reliable shops in South Georgia?  I am in Douglas, Ga and it seems every shop here (dealer or otherwise) tries to rip you off.  You go in for one thing, they may fix it, but they try to fix 100 other things while they are doing it. 

I don't know if anybody else lives in this backwards area, but if anybody knows of a good shop within 50 miles of Douglas, GA I would be happy.

check here.....
http://www.iatn.net/

go to the member directory. you should find someone there.

 this is a forum of automotive professionals that network together to help other shops out. i've found them to be generally honest on here.

[VonMessa]

I would say that it is the service writers more than the mechanics that try to screw you

The last place I worked at as an inspection mechanic had a blanket policy (verbal, of course, from the service writer) which stated that every car that came into a bay had SOMETHING wrong with it, even if it was just wipers.

One of my grandparents friends came in for an oil change one time, but I was off that day.  They charged her $35 for an oil change and another $30 to change a turn signal light.  Unbelievable!  The worst part is that the love muffin mechanic (who was the service writer's brother) left the oil filler cap off when he was finished.  I almost felt like telling her to run it dry of oil til it seized and sue them over it.

There was another time that a friend of the service writer had come in for an inspection and his rotors were way under spec.  Almost .015" or something ridiculous like that.  The service writer told me to put a sticker on it anyway.  I flat out refused and told him to put his license in jeopardy, and that he should sign off on it if it was so important.  It would be MY bellybutton in a sling if his buddy's brakes failed and he hurt someone because of it. He said he couldn't because his inspection license was issued in N.J. and, if I didn't do it, he was going to make my life "very difficult"  I told him to blow it out of his bellybutton and that I would make his life simple for him.  I quit immediately with a garage full of cars, two of which I had on a lift, in various states of disrepair.

It is usually the family owned shop with a full parking lot (usually meaning he is popular and does good work) with an owner that will come out with smile, a greasy handshake and dirty coveralls to shake your hand, being the shop you can trust.

[ink]

yup I met a mechanic many years ago and I brought my challenger to him alone, now he is retired, but his son took over the business, he was at the shop as a 10 year old kid, the only guy I bring my cars to, and its cool that he is into Tattoos :-)

[guncrasher]

I used to work for a shop back in 2k.  My salary was 8% of whatever the shop made and we are talking including taxes and whatever.  thankfully the owner was honest and never asked me to overcharge anybody.  he fired the prior guy for overcharging people, since that way he could make more money.  A lot of sales people work on commission or bonuses and they will stick it to you, because they're greedy.

I once had a guy wanting to charge me 80 to turn the rotors when they were doing the brakes.  I told him that normal charge was about 20 buck and he insisted that they was a lot of work involved, I laughed my bellybutton off and asked the mechanic to explain to the guy what extra work was needed to remove rotors when brakes were already out.  he still insisted on the 80 dollar charge so I told him to forget it and put all my stuff back and I went next door.  that was at midas, but also had similar experiences at meineken and most major auto repair shops. including dealers.

the dealer wanted 700 to replace the motor  and center console for my gf's car when her window wouldnt roll down.  I laughed about that also, I went to auto zone bought the motor for 25 bucks and had the windchill replace place install it for 30.  most mechanics are a bunch of thieves in my opinion.  there's some good ones, but they are rare, specially in los angeles where I live.

semp

[VonMessa]

Again, I'll say that shops are the one thieving before it is the mechanics.

Especially the box-store shops.

Pep Boys, R & S Strauss, Meineke, Midas, Aamco, etc.

Most mechanics are stand-up guys that are just trying to earn a living by bending wrenches.

[CAP1]

I used to work for a shop back in 2k.  My salary was 8% of whatever the shop made and we are talking including taxes and whatever.  thankfully the owner was honest and never asked me to overcharge anybody.  he fired the prior guy for overcharging people, since that way he could make more money.  A lot of sales people work on commission or bonuses and they will stick it to you, because they're greedy.

I once had a guy wanting to charge me 80 to turn the rotors when they were doing the brakes.  I told him that normal charge was about 20 buck and he insisted that they was a lot of work involved, I laughed my bellybutton off and asked the mechanic to explain to the guy what extra work was needed to remove rotors when brakes were already out.  he still insisted on the 80 dollar charge so I told him to forget it and put all my stuff back and I went next door.  that was at midas, but also had similar experiences at meineken and most major auto repair shops. including dealers.

the dealer wanted 700 to replace the motor  and center console for my gf's car when her window wouldnt roll down.  I laughed about that also, I went to auto zone bought the motor for 25 bucks and had the windchill replace place install it for 30.  most mechanics are a bunch of thieves in my opinion.  there's some good ones, but they are rare, specially in los angeles where I live.

semp

midas and mienke are 2 of the worst. i worked for a midas shop. stayed there for 6 months. it only took me a month or less to realize how effing horrible they were, but it took me  a little time to find another job........i ended up going back to work for the guy that gave me my first job in this field. after we talked, i gave notice, and he sent a rollback over to pick up my  toolbox for me.

[ebfd11]

LOL here is a good one pertaining to trucks but with the DOT. I had just picked up my truck and had less than 65 miles on it, before I left I did a thourough pre-trip inspection. I hadn't even gone 300 miles when at the first scale I got shut down due to the fact as the officer had said, my brakes were below federal minimum standard. WTF??? it has less than 500 miles on it and the nibbs on the tires were still there (somewhat). Well he called a mechanic to the scale house and the mechanic proceeded to tell me my fanbelt was worn the engine was leaking oil and i had an airleak that requires me to be towed to his shop for repairs. Between the fine handed to me and the towing and *cough*repairs*cough* it was a total of 11,345 dollars on a BRAND NEW TRUCK.

Well about 6 months later I went through that scale again, this time i had a "co driver" with me. Well the officer tried to do the same thing to me, bad brakes and an airleak on a truck coming off the show room floor. It was checked out by no less than 3 mechanics adn 2 DOT officers earlier that day. About this time my "co driver" steps up and makes his precence know, he was a Lt. with the Tennessee State police. 2 scumbags arrested and my company got reimbursed the money they doled out.

[Dichotomy]

BRILLIANT!!!! 

[ink]

ebfd~oh man I wish I coulda seen there faces....haha

[CAP1]

LOL here is a good one pertaining to trucks but with the DOT. I had just picked up my truck and had less than 65 miles on it, before I left I did a thourough pre-trip inspection. I hadn't even gone 300 miles when at the first scale I got shut down due to the fact as the officer had said, my brakes were below federal minimum standard. WTF??? it has less than 500 miles on it and the nibbs on the tires were still there (somewhat). Well he called a mechanic to the scale house and the mechanic proceeded to tell me my fanbelt was worn the engine was leaking oil and i had an airleak that requires me to be towed to his shop for repairs. Between the fine handed to me and the towing and *cough*repairs*cough* it was a total of 11,345 dollars on a BRAND NEW TRUCK.

Well about 6 months later I went through that scale again, this time i had a "co driver" with me. Well the officer tried to do the same thing to me, bad brakes and an airleak on a truck coming off the show room floor. It was checked out by no less than 3 mechanics adn 2 DOT officers earlier that day. About this time my "co driver" steps up and makes his precence know, he was a Lt. with the Tennessee State police. 2 scumbags arrested and my company got reimbursed the money they doled out.

 ya know? i know a truck driver, and i never even thought of weigh stations trying crap like that............

[Big Rat]

I'm a sevice manager at a mom & pop garage, and the dealers kill me with what they try to push off.  It's at least twice a week I get a customer that calls and says they need brakes.  I ask them what kind of problem are they having, they say the dealer told them it needs brakes right away.  At least 75% of the time there's more then half the linings left .  It's sad, but I do make a lot of new customers by bringing them out and showing them the truth, and backing them out, no charge.  I run by a simple policy that the owners agree with me with,  "what would I do if it was my wife's (add family memeber you care about here) car".

 
BigRat       

[CAP1]

I'm a sevice manager at a mom & pop garage, and the dealers kill me with what they try to push off.  It's at least twice a week I get a customer that calls and says they need brakes.  I ask them what kind of problem are they having, they say the dealer told them it needs brakes right away.  At least 75% of the time there's more then half the linings left .  It's sad, but I do make a lot of new customers by bringing them out and showing them the truth, and backing them out, no charge.  I run by a simple policy that the owners agree with me with,  "what would I do if it was my wife's (add family memeber you care about here) car".

 
BigRat       

the dealer brake thing......you're right. i see that a LOT.

[Babalonian]

I used to work for a shop back in 2k.  My salary was 8% of whatever the shop made and we are talking including taxes and whatever.  thankfully the owner was honest and never asked me to overcharge anybody.  he fired the prior guy for overcharging people, since that way he could make more money.  A lot of sales people work on commission or bonuses and they will stick it to you, because they're greedy.

I once had a guy wanting to charge me 80 to turn the rotors when they were doing the brakes.  I told him that normal charge was about 20 buck and he insisted that they was a lot of work involved, I laughed my bellybutton off and asked the mechanic to explain to the guy what extra work was needed to remove rotors when brakes were already out.  he still insisted on the 80 dollar charge so I told him to forget it and put all my stuff back and I went next door.  that was at midas, but also had similar experiences at meineken and most major auto repair shops. including dealers.

the dealer wanted 700 to replace the motor  and center console for my gf's car when her window wouldnt roll down.  I laughed about that also, I went to auto zone bought the motor for 25 bucks and had the windchill replace place install it for 30.  most mechanics are a bunch of thieves in my opinion.  there's some good ones, but they are rare, specially in los angeles where I live.

semp

Oh yeah, definetley.  My current Honda mechanic is golden.  He used to work for one of the mega Honda dealers in Van Nuys, got sick of it and went into buisness with a budy who he used to work with at the same dealership. I bought a (i think) '84 civic hatchback from him when I was 19 that he was selling to help start his buisness, it was a great little car I put loads of mileage on while driving 80 miles a day for technical school and when I worked all over the LA area as a non-union sound production assistant.   Was a real PITA for them to setup, get the proper diagnostic equipment and all that, but once that was done things have been smooth from there for them because word spread fast about their buisness, and he's got plenty of customers and steady buisness now.  He also charges $35 still for an oil change these days, and he'll lookover the car top to bottom honestly and usualy (unless he's rediculously busy) will adjust the valves on my Honda for free.

Anyone around the central or west San Fernando valley that needs a good foreign mechanic (they do most of them these days) lookup R&M Automotive in Northridge.

[catdaddy]

I've had two shops try to figure out why my Caddy is sporadicly overheating.

One changed the thermostat, it still overheated. $185.00 (its a Northstar, its a head gasket)

BTW--this is the second time in about 6 months this has happened. I starts overheating(260) then a few days later it will just suddenly stop.

lol....it sure sounds like a sticky thermostat, did they give you the old one?......

 if that ain't it it's gonna be the engine controller or one of sensors (mass air, o2,), there are very few things that can MAKE the engine overheat...but the thermostat can stick from crud in the coolant and do this randomly and drive a mechanic half crazy (this one anyways).

 When Michigan had the engine pollution testing mandated I had sent the wife unit out to gitter done....I told her to drive it around for at LEAST 20 mins. to make sure it was nice and hot to pass the test (a 1965 100K+ car would pass if hot enough)....she didn't, drove right over and it failed (of course) and the mechanic tried to talk her into getting the injectors cleaned for a discounted $159.95 a DISCOUNT !
 I had her come back to the house, pick me up and we would go  discuss  the dirty injector issue with the mechanic. It was truly a kodak moment when we showed up at the shop....darn it if the car didn't pass that test with flying colors, and didn't seem to need that injector cleaning after all !?!

[catdaddy]

the dealer wanted 700 to replace the motor  and center console for my gf's car when her window wouldnt roll down.  I laughed about that also, I went to auto zone bought the motor for 25 bucks and had the windchill replace place install it for 30.  most mechanics are a bunch of thieves in my opinion.  there's some good ones, but they are rare, specially in los angeles where I live.

semp

It's sad that people like this are able to stay in business praying on the ignorant masses. People like this need a decent bellybutton kicking for screwing the average mechanics reputation to the point of no return