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Entry bubble Car Repair Problems

By: Joanne | December 09, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

overheating car

Last week I told you the sad story about my car trouble. It’s going to take some effort to reach the happy ending.

The good news is that the Ford is happily rolling down the road with a shiny new water pump. The Subaru has not been so lucky. I mentioned last week that we mistakenly took the Subaru to an unfamiliar garage, and now we’re paying the price. We racked up $500 in charges for parts and labor and it appears that in the course of the repair (and I use the term loosely) the mechanic actually damaged the engine.

The Subaru was towed to a dealer. I didn’t think that I should have to pay for the ($200!) tow and calmly and politely told the garage the same. They said no.

This garage just doesn’t know that I work for the people that wrote the Consumer Action Handbook.

I let them know that I had already been in touch with the state Attorney General’s office and would file a consumer complaint. They immediately backed down and took care of the tow. One minor victory for the informed consumer.

The Subaru is with the dealer. I’ve given the service manager instructions to figure out what’s wrong with the car and if it’s the result of normal wear and tear or if it was damaged by the previous mechanic.

I’m prepared for the worst. If it was damaged by the mechanic, I’ll talk to the shop manager and ask them to pay for the repair. If that doesn’t work, I’m going to write a complaint letter to document the problem, and fill out the consumer complaint form that the Attorney General’s office sent me so we can begin mediation. Any other advice?

| View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: car   complaint   consumer   garage   joanne   mechanic   repair   tow  

Comments (5):

blue comment bubble Posted by Bean Counter on December 09, 2008 at 12:40 PM EST

Good luck Joanne!

it's so hard to find a good mechanic these days, and especially when they think you are just passing through and they can slack off because by the time it gets noticed you'll be too far away to care.

I went thorugh something similar with one of those franchise mechanics.. the ones with the autoparts store attached.. no i won't mention them by name. They changed my wife's alternator belt... but used a hammer to adjust the tension. WEll, no descent mechanic keeps a hammer in his toolkit.... they made good on it, towed the car back, replaced the damaged alternator, and apologized. Apparently when the same guy got multiple complaints they let him go. I decided then i was going to learn how to do most of the stuff myself. It's been worth it.

keep up the good work, i love reading your bolgs, Always full of good info.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Guru on December 09, 2008 at 12:52 PM EST

A good auto insurance policy should have free towing, which I have and I used it more than once. I believe AAA does too. And never ever use car dealerships mechanics, it costs over a $100 just to look at it for a few moments. You can access the car's computer using a laptop and USB interface ($120) (Auto-Tap is what I use) you can even use your PDA to monitor your car's performance, etc. After the computer tells you the problem, buy the parts yourself even with shipping you will save a ton of money, take the part to the mechanic and you tell him what to replace. Even a lady can do it without breaking a nail.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Joanne on December 09, 2008 at 01:56 PM EST

Thanks Bean Counter. It turns out that the mechanic (unintentionally, I think) caused damage to my engine. The garage is sending their insurance adjuster out to the dealer to look at it and hopefully I'll have this whole thing resolved soon. The Consumer Action Handbook has been so valuable to me - it's really empowered me to make sure that the mechanic takes responsibility for the damage he did.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Joanne on December 09, 2008 at 02:00 PM EST

Guru, I was surprised about the towing too. My AAA policy would only pay for 3 miles (I don't have special coverage with the generous towing package) and my insurance company wouldn't pay any of it. sheesh! I had no idea you can access the car's computer with your laptop - that's brilliant!

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blue comment bubble Posted by Mema on December 10, 2008 at 09:44 AM EST

Joanne, I truly sympathize with you. Do you ever stop and consider why they all attempt to sell service packages? The car industry has all of us at their mercy. I remember that your Subaru is not that old. As for the tow job, everyone is out there for a buck.

I hope your vehicle was put on a flat bed, AND NOT JUST DRAGGED BEHIND THE TOW TRUCK. You mentioned AAA, well they do offer a larger package for perhaps towing a greater distance than 3 miles.
But using your state attorney generals office, is what more of us should do.
Good luck, I am following this very closely.

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