Dodgey Mechanic

[Richard GTST]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share my experience with a certain mechanic in western sydney and also ask for some advice on how to approach the situation.

I took my girlfriend's 2001 Astra Hatch to him back in february. It had 180,000kms on the clock so the major service was due. I had previously taken it to one mechanic who told me it needed new brake pads, timing belt, tranny service etc etc and he quoted me $1300 to do everything. I decided to go to the other mechanic instead because at the time I thought he was a better mechanic and would do a better job. So I told him everything the other mechanic told me and also told him I got quoted around the $1300 mark. So I dropped the car off to him and 3 (yes 3!!) days later he was finished with it. To my absolute shock the bill was $1812.. and he didn't even do a tranny service (although he did replace the brake discs as well as pads because he said it was needed). I would have much preferred he call me and let me know it is going to be alot more than expected. I payed the bill nonetheless (which I now regret), asI thought well the car didn't cost much to begin with and now hopefully it will be all sweet and last another 100,000kms if I look after it. A couple of days later however I noticed a strong smell of oil after I drove and parked it, and upon looking in the engine bay found a large pool of oil. Basically the engine was pissing out oil. So I took it straight back to him but as luck would have it he was on holidays and wouldn't get back for a week. So I had to risk driving it for a week not knowing whether I was going to starve the engine of oil or what. I texted him and had a bit of a go at him saying thanks alot for the inconvenince and THEN he turns around and starts having a go at me calling the car a "sh!tbox" and saying I shouldn't blame him just because he was last to work on the car (excellent customer service yes?). When he came back from his holiday he inspected the problem and found that it WAS in fact his fault (some seal wasn't put on properly or something) and he fixed it (didn't apologise or anything). Basically he rushed while he was working on my car, just wanted to get it in and out as quick as humanly possible and charge me top dollar in the process.

Ok that was back in February. Now recently I have noticed the car has started overheating. I popped the bonnet and found there was barely any coolant in the car, and there is an oil leak of some sort. I took it to a different mechanic and he has told me that my radiator hoses are pretty much effed, and the oil leak is due to a seal that should have been done when the timing belt was done, or that it was done but with poor quality seals. On my $1812 receipt though it clearly states "checked radior hoses for condition", and for that price I would have expected quality genuine holden seals. On top of all this, he tells me that my head gasket is on its way out and that to fix everything I will have to fork out another $2000!!!! I strongly believe that because the mechanic who did my timing belt did not pick up on my effed radiator hoses, the car over heated which caused the head gaskets to start to fail. I also strongly suspect that half the things he supposedly replaced on the car he didnt, such as the $200 thermostat he charged me.

So I would just like any thoughts/coments/advice on what I should do now. If nothing else it felt good to get that all out.

I am definatly going to contact department of fair trading because I feel that I did not recieve a service that I paid for, and I strongly believe that he caused the car alot more harm than good.

Thanks heaps

PS sorry for the essay

Edited October 26, 2011 by Richard GTST

[zebra]

Kinda hard to do anything being that this all happened in Feb

Also its the owners responsibility to check coolant/oil levels etc.

Its kinda like taking Holden to court because you ran out of fuel and got stranded.

Also radiator hoses can be fine 1 morning and burst later in the afternoon, if they are not leaking or cracked etc then why would he replace them?

Also head gasket on the way out???????

They either work or they dont!

I dont mean to sound like a twat....but the new mechanic is taking you for a ride...

Also...when you sent an SMS to the guy telling him "thanks for the inconvenience, what did you expect?

If I got a message like that I would tear your head off.

[Galois]

Damn that sucks mate, I'm sorry to hear it. There are so many mechanic horror stories on these forums, hopefully this will be your only big one and at least it's not on your dream car.

Definitely get in touch with the department of fair trading and also it's probably worth calling legalaid (? whatever it's called), or one of the other free legal advice services.

It's good to get all the info you can before making a decision on what to do. I've called both services for advice a couple of times, once for a mechanic that stuffed up a clutch change on an r34 gtt, and once for a guy who was selling a car and tried to rip me off (both times a tense compromise was reached, but it was good to know where I stood if I needed to take it further).

[Richard GTST]

Kinda hard to do anything being that this all happened in Feb

Not really, its called warranty.

Also its the owners responsibility to check coolant/oil levels etc.

Its kinda like taking Holden to court because you ran out of fuel and got stranded.

Also radiator hoses can be fine 1 morning and burst later in the afternoon, if they are not leaking or cracked etc then why would he replace them?

I probably should have checked the coolant level more regularly, but I think he should have picked up on the poor state of the hoses. Even if the coolant wasn't leaking at the time, doesn't mean they shouldn't have been replaced if they are in such a poor state. That's why it specifically says on the receipt "check condition of hoses".

Also head gasket on the way out???????

They either work or they dont!

I dont mean to sound like a twat....but the new mechanic is taking you for a ride...

Yeah that wouldn't surprise me. He was saying coolant is leaking slowly into the cylinder or something so who knows, might get a second opinion.

Also...when you sent an SMS to the guy telling him "thanks for the inconvenience, what did you expect?

If I got a message like that I would tear your head off.

Well it was his fault after all (which was obvious) and regardless that is no way to speak to a customer who just spent $1800 at your shop.

Damn that sucks mate, I'm sorry to hear it. There are so many mechanic horror stories on these forums, hopefully this will be your only big one and at least it's not on your dream car.

Definitely get in touch with the department of fair trading and also it's probably worth calling legalaid (? whatever it's called), or one of the other free legal advice services.

It's good to get all the info you can before making a decision on what to do. I've called both services for advice a couple of times, once for a mechanic that stuffed up a clutch change on an r34 gtt, and once for a guy who was selling a car and tried to rip me off (both times a tense compromise was reached, but it was good to know where I stood if I needed to take it further).

Thanks for the support mate. Trying to find a decent honest mechanic is like finding a needle in a hay stack!! Yeah I'm glad my beast is all sweet, but being full time uni students $1800 is ALOT of money to us.

Yeah I think it would def be worthwhile getting some legal advice first.

[GTR-N1]

Even after you've sorted things out - legally or not, it makes you think, "Next time I take a car to get a major service, I should put my initials on different parts of the car eg hoses, filters, inside of tyres to see if they're rotated, belts, plugs etc."

Moral:- A criminologist can't catch a crim. unless he can think like a crim. > Checkmate!

[Giuseppe]

This is why life is easy when your cousin & bro-in-law are both fully qualified mechanics

[Kujotk]

Doubt you will get anything out of it. This is from Feburary, 8 months ago.... you mentioned warranty but there is no warranty now (assuming because your car has 180 000km and 10 years old). At worst mechanics have to give 3 months on their work but as stated 8 months is much more than 3 months. Also price of a service does not mean they have to use top quality products, although they should, you should also have checked but i know easier said than done.

You seem to have been done pretty bad, DFT wont be able to help though, they will send him a letter that explains the issue and would he like to rectify it directly with you. He will say get lost.

Just like he did when you txt him, this guy doesn't care about you or customer service to you, it is his shop, he can treat you how he likes, you have to love it or leave it, no one has to be nice to anyone in business, all you can do is not take the car back to him and tell your friends about what a shit mechanic he is...

Radiator hoses are one of those things, especially in higher milage and aged cars, they can look fine on the outside and even on the inside, but there can be a part that has aged more than the rest that gets brittle and just breaks. Over 8 months a lot of change can happen to a used radiator hose in that time. Probably better this mechanic didn't do your hoses as well, otherwise your bill would be like $3k and the bloody thing would still break lol.

I would recomend putting the whole experience behind you but learn from it. And maybe start doing some work yourself. The only way to get exactly what you pay for is to DIY, besides it can be fun, rewarding and generally save $$$$, unless you wreck something or then get addicted to mods and then start doing everything possible to your caqr which then also gets expensive, but well worth it lol.

Good luck

[tweety bird]

op if you wanted him to use genuine holden parts you should of told him to use genuine holden parts, most mechanics dont use genuine parts because they cost 2 to 3 times as much and there's no difference between them anyways,

he was just trying to save you money.

edit little story.

my friend lives in bundaberg qld, she was have problems with her car so she want to a mechanic and he fixed the problem, she came back down to civilization (nsw) and we started to talk about her car it was then she said the problem

was the panhard rod bushes were gone, then she told me that it cost her $800 to have these changed and she thought that was good proudly saying and a small town it's not about what you know it's about who you know,

it was then that i told her that it was a $60 part and there was two bolts holding them on the car (pointing to the panhard rod), boy didn't her face turn red......i loled.

moral of the story get a quote before the work starts then research it.

Edited October 26, 2011 by tweety bird

[zebra]

Doubt you will get anything out of it. This is from Feburary, 8 months ago.... you mentioned warranty but there is no warranty now (assuming because your car has 180 000km and 10 years old). At worst mechanics have to give 3 months on their work but as stated 8 months is much more than 3 months.

Good luck

The only issue that was the mechanics fault was the leaky seal...which was fixed

[Hot33r]

Mate u got ripped hard out

[tridentt150v]

Over capitalising on a car that isn't worth it..........mechanics can see you coming!!!!

[NISMO]

Doubt you will get anything out of it. This is from Feburary, 8 months ago.... you mentioned warranty but there is no warranty now (assuming because your car has 180 000km and 10 years old). At worst mechanics have to give 3 months on their work but as stated 8 months is much more than 3 months. Also price of a service does not mean they have to use top quality products, although they should, you should also have checked but i know easier said than done.

You seem to have been done pretty bad, DFT wont be able to help though, they will send him a letter that explains the issue and would he like to rectify it directly with you. He will say get lost.

Just like he did when you txt him, this guy doesn't care about you or customer service to you, it is his shop, he can treat you how he likes, you have to love it or leave it, no one has to be nice to anyone in business, all you can do is not take the car back to him and tell your friends about what a shit mechanic he is...

Radiator hoses are one of those things, especially in higher milage and aged cars, they can look fine on the outside and even on the inside, but there can be a part that has aged more than the rest that gets brittle and just breaks. Over 8 months a lot of change can happen to a used radiator hose in that time. Probably better this mechanic didn't do your hoses as well, otherwise your bill would be like $3k and the bloody thing would still break lol.

I would recomend putting the whole experience behind you but learn from it. And maybe start doing some work yourself. The only way to get exactly what you pay for is to DIY, besides it can be fun, rewarding and generally save $$$$, unless you wreck something or then get addicted to mods and then start doing everything possible to your caqr which then also gets expensive, but well worth it lol.

Good luck

+1

8 months is a whole heap of time for a part to go from good/ok to shit, its stuffed.

[dnissi]

Even after you've sorted things out - legally or not, it makes you think, "Next time I take a car to get a major service, I should put my initials on different parts of the car eg hoses, filters, inside of tyres to see if they're rotated, belts, plugs etc."

Moral:- A criminologist can't catch a crim. unless he can think like a crim. > Checkmate!

try using liquid ink to mark the part and where it joins to another part.

easy to tell if something has moved or been replaced, and its not noticable to many people

[ydr030]

i have billd and done soooo many major services on astras, call holden and find out how much they charge, i think youl be surprised. they are junk. 1200-1300 is a bout the goin rate to do a major on one of those. ad pads and discs, and there you go. adss up. oil leek should be covered under warranty though if it is leaking from one of the front seals.

moral to the story,do your research before you start bagging out mechanics and dont buy an astra.

[shinyurikai]

Ah just take this as a lesson learnt never trust anyone with your car. I stay at the shop and watch what they do to my car so I can learn how to do it for myself later. You can google most problems these days research it first before going to a mech. Mechs treat you differently if you go there and ask what's wrong with the car then say if you call them up asking for a quote. always have a price check done making sure he understands your not gonna pay for extra shit he does unless you see the problem yourself and let him fix it.

Also buy your own parts it always works put cheaper!! And the most important part is check his work!!! If it's not done then don't pay him! Easy as that. When I crashed my old r34 my control arms were completely bent and cracked the mech told me he would replace them but guess what I WATCH HIM HAMMER THE f**k OUT OF IT and charge me for new ones did even realize I was watching him through the window. I as a angry as i was paid him anyway but I will never make the same mistake again!!!

[Kujotk]

i dont buy an astra.

Not true, my gf had an 06 astra coupe and it never missed a beat. Although she bought it at 10 000km and sold it at 60 000km.

But an 01 model is vastly different to the 06. And it is common knowledge that they arnt the most reliable cars around.

[MBS206]

It's an Astra... My HONEST advice (Even though it's a run about) GET RID OF IT!

My mother just had all matter of issues with hers. We finally got everything fixed, and before driving it any more (In case it broke again) went and traded it in...

Different troubles the car had over 18 months, BHG, snapped a timing belt, was over heating (With the whole cooling system replaced), in that time it also had the radiator explode, a hose that looked in perfectly fine condition burst, as well as a number of other problems... As well as all of the oil leaks you've been mentioning... These cars for some reason, once they start breaking, they keep breaking.

GET RID OF IT!

[Hiroshima Screamer]

imo its irrelevant which car you take to a mechanic,im sure you yourself know if you have been taken for a ride ,If something is busted you take it to get fixed now weather its a car or anything else once fixed youd expect it come back with less problems than you had in first place.I know heaps of mechanics that intentionally sabotage cars in order to get customers returning.so in your case and if it were me id give him the opportunity to make good or give him the the ugly words(department of fair trading)Im sure if his done wrong by you,he will make do with a better attitude after that, if i took 99% advice given to me about not following up such things id be 99% efd up.Having said that there are very good and honest mechanics out there so my second piece of advice once sorted dont go back there do your research and find yourself a GOOD mechanic.

one maybe honest enough to tell you from min one,how bad Astra's are to work on before they take on such a mammoth job.