# Bad luck or bad repair shop?



## 12 Volt Man (Sep 7, 2007)

So I take my '96 Suburban in to a shop where I had the brakes redone last March. They had started grinding and were still under warranty. This truck runs great and was not having any issues other than the brakes. 

I dropped it off Saturday morning early. Later in the day I get a call. "Sure this is something we will fix under warranty, we can't do it till Monday though". So I let them keep it there through the weekend.

Then yesterday (Monday), I get a call from them saying, "Hey, your Suburban won't start.". They wanted to know if there had been any issues. I tell them it worked fine when I dropped it off. He says, "they will keep trying." 

Later, I get a call saying that they want $75.00 from me to "Diagnose" the problem. I tell them that they are putting both of us in a bad spot. It worked fine when I dropped it off. They say it's either not getting spark or not getting fuel. I finally agree that I'll split the $75.00. Actually I didn't agree, I just told them how it would be. 

Now we're half way through Tuesday and I haven't heard anything. 

Does this seem right? Bad luck or am I being asked to bend over?

oh and.......... Smitty's just off 89 at the base of Weber Canyon.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

I'd say bad luck to both you and the repair shop. Any word yet? :?


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Coincidence.


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## 12 Volt Man (Sep 7, 2007)

Just got it back. They said the spark plugs went bad. 149.00 to replace them and and diagnose. Who knows if it was legit. They held all the cards. They have been a reasonable shop and treated me good in the past.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

I got that little Blinker dilemma I'm dealing with. :evil: Would you go back to them ????


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## Seven (Jan 8, 2009)

12 Volt Man said:


> Just got it back. They said the spark plugs went bad. 149.00 to replace them and and diagnose. Who knows if it was legit. They held all the cards. They have been a reasonable shop and treated me good in the past.


I am a little skeptical also. How do spark plugs go bad over a couple of days? I have never heard of that one. Now if they had said it was the coil or distributer then I would of accepted it. Also didn't you say it was 75 to diagnose? So you paid 75 to have them replace 8 plugs? if that is the case I would not go back there. Sounds like they were trying to recoup some of the money that they lost on the warranty work.


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## legacy (Sep 30, 2007)

I call BS! Spark plugs don't just go "bad" out of the blue. Did you ask them to give you the old plugs back? Well, you should have!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Al Hansen said:


> I got that little Blinker dilemma I'm dealing with. :evil: Would you go back to them ????


Probably just needs more fluid :mrgreen:

I call BS 12.


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## Spry Yellowdog (Sep 8, 2007)

Being a auto mechanic myself I can understand both sides, that being said
there are a few things that sound wrong here.
I can believe the it won't start now everything can break somewhere and it's
best to have it happen at a shop so there no tow bill or inconvience but it rarely happens that way.
The comment that gets me is ..well it's either not getting fuel or spark...well duh!!
It only takes a few minutes to tell which one its missing. The real time is spent diaginsosing why its missing either of the above.
Then to say its bad spark plugs I call BS.
Yes sometimes you will see a plug problem cause a no start but very very rare. And the likelyhood of all 8 failing at once causing the condition seems unlikely. look at the odds.
Since they still in my mind don't know why it didn't start I would be ready for it not to start again.
My first thought was a fuel pump that failed to turn on but then started working after cranking it and shaking the vehicle during there services.
If it fails to start again when your out and about something to try is smacking the fuel tank 
(with a rock,hammer or big stick)while someone is cranking the engine.
Your trying to jar the intank pump enough to get it spinning again. If it starts you have just diaginsosed your problem. A bad fuel pump with a intermintent failure.

Good Luck
Spry


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## copper (Sep 11, 2008)

I dropped my car off last year at the tire shop to get new ones. When I came back they told me they had to push it into the garage since it wouldn't start. I got the same dumbfounded look, "Well it started perfectly fine when I left it here."

After some diagnosing myself I determined the starter went out. Just a coincidence. 

I don't trust Mechanics at all though. So who knows.


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## vdogs (Sep 22, 2007)

Definitely not the plugs Rob. I would also suspect the fuel pump..if anything at all. :evil:


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

The more I think about this the more I don't like it! I would always ask for the old parts to be provided to me when I come back unless you know them very well. There are so many stories of this crap, they really irk me. My last story was a co-worker who dropped off a car and wanted a call back after they took a look see. After three hours he realized that they had not called, so he called and found out that it was ready for pickup???? So, it did not need the tranny filter change or the brakes or the tuneup? No, it did, it is all ready to go that will be $750. First of all, he did not agree to any of it, secondly the tranny filter change/fluid alone was $175 on the same car I had just had done at the dealer for $110. It was hysterical how the tone changed when he mentioned that his neighbor was the owner and would not charge him for the tranny and the price changed to about $400, which is reasonable if a person really requested all of that work. Of course, I do that personally myself and it would have been $150 for parts, although I don't touch trannies anymore. Any who, just my $0.02. 

It would have been priceless to test those 8 plugs in front of them and see how all still work, right?


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

I had a problem once on a old geo tracker wouldn't run worth a crap took it in, I had already figured it was a injector problem but didn't have the time to do it myself. Well I went in three days later to see what they had found out and the guy tells me my head gasket was gone and the head was warped. I said really can I see it, he goes no it is still on the car. What? you mean you haven't even checked it yet? We have seen it before he says. I told him that if the head gasket was bad I would have antifreeze in my exaust or leaking from the block. He said I would have to pay $1400 up front for a new head. I was pissed and told him to check the injector first and not touch the head. Later that day I get a call and they said the 2 of the 4 injectors were pluged $185 later it ran just fine. 
I now only take my cars to a mechanic I know and trust, that is if I can't do it myself.


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## TAK (Sep 9, 2007)

Rob you would not think anyone would lie to you... would ya! 

Interesting this has came up. I have heard about some interesting things over the last few weeks... Most happen to women that take the family ride in..... I would have never paid it and went and check the vehicle myself....


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

TAK said:


> Rob you would not think anyone would lie to you... would ya!
> 
> Interesting this has came up. I have heard about some interesting things over the last few weeks... Most happen to women that take the family ride in..... I would have never paid it and went and check the vehicle myself....


Stories like this make you appreciate a Bob Olsen type even more. For those not from Carbon, Bob is a guy who must be 70 now; been in business 40+ years and never had a single ad or even a sign in 40 years. Word of mouth is all it takes. The old stake Pres, big shop behind his house so no overhead at all. Won't work on imports or any major job that takes a really long time to do. His rates are about what they were in 1975 and always a 3day waiting line if not more. Amazing how a guy could do the same thing with more mark up, of course, but just working with integrity and little overhead to pay the actual mechanic rather than paying for two secretaries, two service writers and their huge mortgage. Just a thought.


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## stuckduck (Jan 31, 2008)

Spry Yellowdog said:


> Being a auto mechanic myself I can understand both sides, that being said
> there are a few things that sound wrong here.
> I can believe the it won't start now everything can break somewhere and it's
> best to have it happen at a shop so there no tow bill or inconvience but it rarely happens that way.
> ...


+1

Im an auto teck my self and own a small repair shop..... belive it or not this has happened to me more than once... as for the 75 diagnostic fee.. well each shop has there own way of buisness. I personally, when this has happened to me I dont charge much to find the problem most no starts a usually not to hard to find the problem (unless you get in to anti-theft problem)


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