Don't trust mechanics!

[BrianFestiva]

Don't trust mechanics for anything! They killed my steering rack on my Festy cos they didn't do the wheel alignment properly!
They for got to loosen the clamps on the boot and when they aligned the wheels they just twisted the hell outta the boots.
I didn't check there work and didn't notice for 9 months untill I started getting a real bad clunking from the front end when I took off and changed gears slightly rough. If I changed it rough it sounded like something was gonna go flying from the car lol. Anyway I checked the whole front end over and found the boots all twisted, hardly any grease inside and wet!
I replaced the rack, did a by eye alignment. which if I say so my self wasn't half bad! It drove straight but the steering wheel was a little off lol. I don't think it had enough toe-in though.
Anyways, I chucked the rack in the back and went back to the mechanic and said "you were the last one to do an alignment on that rack when it was on my car!"
He just looked at me and went "ok, so what do you want" and I replied "at least a free wheel alignment!'
And they did just that! Just now I have prematurely worn tyres
Anyways I have just found my camera so I will take pics of the massacured part tomorrow.

The moral to this story is always check there work! Tis why I do everything that I can do my self. Its almost everything, but my tool cache is only small lol

[bravekozak]

trust

I don't even trust them to complete an oil change properly. I always get out to check if they replaced the oil cap. What a mess I had when they left it off (which they denied). They almost toasted my engine when they cracked the distributor hold down clamp doing a timing adjustment and let me drive off. Luckily I caught it before the distributor twisted while driving.

[Flyin4stroke]

Thats why they have schools to teach people how to do things... But auto places cant afford ASE certified technicians so you get the guy that learned from the last guy who learned it from the last guy who did it wrong...

[schads]

I worked on cars for almost 4 years at firestone and have seen some really messed up cars come in from the owner trying to fix it and i had to fix it. I agree that when someone else works on your car you need to check there work. Were just human after all we all make mistakes. I would have taken the car back to them and made them replace the parts or better yet give you the parts you put them on so that way you know its done right.

[FB71]

Thats why they have schools to teach people how to do things... But auto places cant afford ASE certified technicians so you get the guy that learned from the last guy who learned it from the last guy who did it wrong...

And that's why people like me teach at those schools; http://www.ccbcmd.edu/sait/tech_studies/automotive.html

[sketchman]

I now leave my boot clamps loose when I get an alignment. They are always loose still after it's done, so I can assume they never get checked. Pretty stupid.

[Team Lightning]

So far I'm not impressed with the ASE certification. I've had 2 different shops spin the right rear axle nut off with an impact wrench and strip it. Then tell me it was already cross threaded. THEN they discovered that it was LEFT handed!! I told one of them (who was complaining about working on my Festy) that I thought they would understand the concept of using an impact wrench. Guess I was wrong! They also never got anymore of my business. This is the same ones that replaced the front bearings twice because they didn't torque the axle nuts. They ran them down still they stopped. They lasted about 20 miles and started screaming. I took it back and they replaced them and did it right. I'm very careful who I let work on my vehicles, period.

[Ephet]

thats why i do everything my self but i did have only one mechanic that i trusted and he was 100% honest plus he would let me in the shop as well, when i lived in PA

[schads]

ASE tests are a joke iv got a few and they have nothing to do with working on cars. Just things everyone should know if there working on there own car. Anyone could take them and pass them. They just look good hainging up on the wall for the people that dont have a clue as to how there car works or how to fix it.

[sketchman]

The sign out front of the shop in question says "Expert Alignments", and the typical ASE certificate on the wall. They came back the first time and said, "He(the tech) did the best he could." This was after me doing new struts and springs all around. I said, "No way." He called me a liar and reluctantly did it again after much beating.

I too know one good shop. Problem is, he doesn't do alignments. I'm learning to do everything myself too.

[BrianFestiva]

Heres the pics! Its such a simple task and they stuffed it! I will have to drive another 40ks to a better mechanic now. I could go to someone I used to work with but they are a 160k drive



:EDIT: Rescaled the pics they were way too big

[Slyder]

that sucks. i recently had a wheel alignment done. (runs out to car to see if the boots are messed up)

[Stuart]

I'm glad my Dad is my mechanic... And I help him on my car so I can do it my self next time...

[DriverOne]

I dislike 'professionals' that tell you one thing and do another. They told us they had the proper equipment for what I needed at this alignment/tire shop in town. I had had a set of Volkswagen Beetle 17" Axel $600 rims ruined by a standard tire mounting machine and my $6/each chrome air valve stems STOLEN and replaced with standard stems. I was livid, and went in there asking where they were. "We ain't got no chrome stems with your wheels," is all I got. They're now out of business, and I'm proud to be one of those people who, through refusing to take my car to them, was a part of that. Oh... I only mentioned the dollar amount because I saved a long time to get those wheels & stuff, but they could have been $50 for all four wheels, and I still would've been mad.

[Tommychu]

Come to think of it, I didn't take the clamp off the boot when I aligned my own... oops

I would have noticed if I twisted the crap out of it like that though.